The Curse of Frankenstein – 1957

A Hammer production released by Warner Brothers
Copyright MCMLVII
Clarion Film Production.
MPAA Approved Certificate No. 18491
RCA Sound Recording
Produced at Bray Studios
Eastmancolour by Humphries Laboratories
81 Mins
Storyline
The film introduces itself with the on-screen information:- “More than a hundred years ago, in a mountain village in Switzerland, lived a man whose strange experiments with the dead have since become legend. The legend is still told with horror the world over…..It is the legend of…..The Curse of Frankenstein.”
Watch the original trailer on YouTube



Crew
Function | Credited | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Productions | |||
Click a link for more info | Credited | Uncredited | Total | ||||||
Art Director | Ted Marshall | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Assistant Director | Derek Whitehurst | 28 | 2 Oct 1928 | 6 Dec 2005 | 77 | 16 | 16 | ||
Associate Producer | Anthony Nelson-Keys | 45 | 13 Nov 1911 | 19 Mar 1985 | 73 | 41 | 41 | ||
Camera Operator | Len Harris | 41 | 19 May 1916 | 21 Feb 1995 | 78 | 52 | 1 | 53 | |
Casting | Dorothy Holloway | 59 | 7 Mar 1898 | 1972 | 73 | 1 | 5 | 6 | |
Continuity | Doreen Soan | 31 | 1 Jan 1926 | 96 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
Director | Terence Fisher | 53 | 23 Feb 1904 | 18 Jun 1980 | 76 | 31 | 31 | ||
Director of Photography | Jack Asher BSc | 41 | 29 Mar 1916 | Apr 1991 | 75 | 14 | 14 | ||
Editor | James Needs | 37 | 17 Oct 1919 | 4 Feb 2003 | 83 | 110 | 1 | 111 | |
Executive Producer | Michael Carreras | 29 | 21 Dec 1927 | 19 Apr 1994 | 66 | 82 | 3 | 85 | |
Hair Stylist | Henry Montsash | 51 | 17 Sep 1905 | 29 Sep 1974 | 69 | 16 | 16 | ||
Make-up | Phil Leakey | 49 | 4 May 1908 | 26 Nov 1992 | 84 | 48 | 48 | ||
Music Composer | James Bernard | 31 | 20 Sep 1925 | 12 Jul 2001 | 75 | 24 | 1 | 25 | |
Music Director | John Hollingsworth | 41 | 20 Mar 1916 | 29 Dec 1963 | 47 | 36 | 2 | 38 | |
Producer | Anthony Hinds | 34 | 18 Sep 1922 | 30 Sep 2013 | 91 | 84 | 1 | 85 | |
Production Designer | Bernard Robinson | 44 | 28 Jul 1912 | 2 Mar 1970 | 57 | 46 | 3 | 49 | |
Production Manager | Don Weeks | 52 | 15 Nov 1904 | Mar 1988 | 83 | 30 | 30 | ||
Screenplay | Jimmy Sangster | 29 | 2 Dec 1927 | 19 Aug 2011 | 83 | 65 | 2 | 67 | |
Uncredited | |||||||||
Assistant Make-up Artist | George Turner | 54 | 2 May 1903 | 9 Dec 1962 | 59 | 1 | 1 | ||
Assistant Make-up Artist | Roy Ashton | 48 | 16 Apr 1909 | 10 Jan 1995 | 85 | 36 | 4 | 40 | |
Boom Operator | Jim Perry | 8 | 8 | ||||||
Chief Electrician | Jack Curtis | 3 | 23 | 26 | |||||
Clapper Loader | John Pratt | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Construction Manager | Fred Ricketts | 44 | 1913 | 19 Jan 1968 | 55 | 4 | 4 | ||
Costume | Molly Arbuthnot | 48 | 19 Dec 1908 | 31 Oct 2001 | 92 | 48 | 4 | 52 | |
Draughtsman | Don Mingaye | 28 | 1 Jan 1929 | 8 Nov 2017 | 88 | 26 | 14 | 40 | |
Electrician | Bob Palmer | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Electrician | Harold Marland | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Executive Producer | James Carreras | 48 | 30 Jan 1909 | 9 Jun 1990 | 81 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
First Assistant Editor | Roy Norman | 36 | 30 Jan 1921 | 16 Aug 1987 | 66 | 3 | 3 | ||
Focus Puller | Harry Oakes | 36 | 16 Jan 1921 | 11 Dec 2012 | 91 | 53 | 53 | ||
Hanged Man/ Burning Creature | Jock Easton | 45 | 27 Apr 1912 | 1980 | 67 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Lighting: Second Unit | Steve Birtles | 42 | 12 Nov 1914 | 2003 | 88 | 13 | 14 | 27 | |
Master Plasterer | Arthur Banks | 18 | 29 | 47 | |||||
Matte Painter | Les Bowie | 43 | 10 Nov 1913 | 27 Jan 1979 | 65 | 32 | 11 | 43 | |
Production Secretary | Faith Frisby | 29 | 1928 | 1997 | 69 | 2 | 2 | ||
Property Master | Tom Money | 40 | 1917 | 1974 | 56 | 2 | 20 | 22 | |
Publicity Director | Leslie Frewin | 39 | 8 Aug 1917 | 27 Aug 1997 | 80 | 1 | 1 | ||
Second Assistant Director | Jimmy Komisarjevsky | 36 | 27 Aug 1920 | Nov 1986 | 66 | 1 | 1 | ||
Second Assistant Editor | Max Wheeler | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Sound | Jock May | 52 | 1 Jan 1905 | 8 Jan 1991 | 86 | 30 | 1 | 31 | |
Sound Camera Operator | Michael Sale | 8 | 8 | ||||||
Still Photographer | Tom Edwards | 1999 | 26 | 26 | |||||
Still Photographer | John Jay | 36 | 14 Nov 1920 | 29 Apr 2005 | 84 | 13 | 22 | 35 | |
Stunt Double : Christopher Lee | Jock Easton | 45 | 27 Apr 1912 | 1 Jan 1980 | 67 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Third Assistant Director | Hugh Harlow | 17 | 17 Jun 1939 | 83 | 3 | 28 | 31 |
Cast
Character | Actor | Age at Release | Birth | Death | Age | Hammer Productions | |||
Click a link for more info | Credited | Uncredited | Total | ||||||
Aunt | Noel Hood | 46 | 25 Dec 1910 | 15 Oct 1979 | 68 | 1 | 1 | ||
Victor Frankenstein | Peter Cushing | 43 | 26 May 1913 | 11 Aug 1994 | 81 | 24 | 1 | 25 | |
Burgomaster | Andrew Leigh | 69 | 30 Nov 1887 | 21 Apr 1957 | 69 | 1 | 1 | ||
Creature | Christopher Lee | 34 | 27 May 1922 | 7 Jun 2015 | 93 | 22 | 22 | ||
Elizabeth | Hazel Court | 31 | 10 Feb 1926 | 15 Apr 2008 | 82 | 2 | 2 | ||
Grandpa | Fred Johnson | 57 | 6 Aug 1899 | 4 Dec 1971 | 72 | 6 | 2 | 8 | |
Justine | Valerie Gaunt | 24 | 26 Jun 1932 | 27 Nov 2016 | 84 | 2 | 2 | ||
Lecturer | Middleton Woods | 70 | 20 Sep 1886 | 1974 | 87 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
Little Boy | Claude Kingston | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Paul Kempe | Robert Urquhart | 35 | 16 Oct 1921 | 21 Mar 1995 | 73 | 2 | 2 | ||
Priest | Alex Gallier | 36 | 20 Mar 1921 | 9 Jun 1969 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Professor Bernstein | Paul Hardtmuth | 68 | 2 Jul 1888 | 5 Feb 1962 | 73 | 1 | 1 | ||
Uncle | Raymond Ray | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Warder | Michael Mulcaster | 45 | 3 Oct 1911 | 10 Aug 1984 | 72 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
Wife | Anne Blake | 48 | 4 Nov 1908 | 27 Jan 2000 | 72 | 3 | 3 | ||
Young Elizabeth | Sally Walsh | 7 | 15 May 1950 | 72 | 1 | 1 | |||
Young Victor | Melvyn Hayes | 22 | 11 Jan 1935 | 88 | 4 | 4 | |||
Uncredited | |||||||||
2nd Priest | Eugene Leahy | 74 | 14 Mar 1883 | 25 Feb 1967 | 83 | 2 | 2 | ||
Coachman | Jimmy Millar | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Ellen | Helen Ford | 62 | 6 Jun 1894 | 19 Jan 1982 | 87 | 1 | 1 | ||
Father Felix | Raymond Rollett | 50 | 9 Mar 1907 | 19 Dec 1961 | 54 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Fritz | Joesf Behrmann | 31 | 25 Jun 1925 | Aug 1995 | 70 | 1 | 1 | ||
Guard | Philip Johns | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Mother | Marjorie Hume | 64 | 27 Jan 1893 | 13 Mar 1976 | 83 | 1 | 1 | ||
Pallbearer | Fred Wood | 35 | 26 Oct 1921 | 25 Jan 2003 | 81 | 19 | 19 | ||
Party Guest | Jack Hetherington | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Prison Gatekeeper | Lindsay Hooper | 9 | 9 | ||||||
Prison Officer | Bill Rooney | 3 | 3 | ||||||
Relative | James Ure | 3 | 3 | ||||||
Schoolmaster | Harry Caine | 68 | 19 Jul 1888 | 9 Jul 1962 | 73 | 1 | 1 | ||
Servant | Paddy Smith | 5 | 5 | ||||||
Tramp | Bartlett Mullins | 52 | 13 Aug 1904 | 15 May 1992 | 87 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
Uncle | Trevor Davis | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Undertaker | Ernest Jay | 63 | 18 Sep 1893 | 8 Feb 1957 | 63 | 1 | 1 |
Production
FILMING BEGAN | 19 November 1956 | |
UK RELEASE | 2 May 1957 | |
STUDIO | Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England | |
LOCATION | Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England | |
Oakley Court Hotel, Windsor Road, Oakley Green, Buckinghamshire, England | Chateau Frankenstein exterior |
Footnotes
Little did they know it, but with the arrival of actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, Production Designer and miracle-worker Bernard Robinson and Photographer Jack Asher, Hammer now had more or less in place the team which would transform their fortunes virtually overnight.
So much has been said and written about “The Curse of Frankenstein” that it seems superfluous to say more. Suffice it to say that it was a seminal horror movie, showing dismembered body parts and large quantities of blood and gore in all their full-colour glory, and it (and its successors) have influenced the making of films of the genre ever since.
Hazel Court was already a dab hand at horror, having been scared witless by the rather unfriendly “Devil Girl from Mars” (1954). She worked again for Hammer in “The Man Who Could Cheat Death” (1959) and then starred in “Doctor Blood’s Coffin” (1960), before appearing for Roger Corman in his adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘”The Premature Burial” (1961); “The Raven” (1963) and “The Masque of the Red Death” (1964).
With Hazel Court playing Elizabeth, her own daughter, Sally Walsh, was cast as Young Elizabeth. At the time Hazel was married to actor Dermot Walsh (who later played Ken in the Journey to the Unknown episode “Matakitas is Coming”)
Melvyn Hayes, who plays the young Baron here, gained further fame, or perhaps notoriety, as Gloria in the BBC TV sitcom “It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum”.
Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection