The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Victor Frankenstein builds a creature and brings it to life, but it behaves not as he intended.

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (screenplay), Mary Shelley (based on the classic story by) (as Mary W. Shelley)

Stars:

Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Cushing	...	Victor Frankenstein
Hazel Court	...	Elizabeth
Robert Urquhart	...	Paul Krempe
Christopher Lee	...	The Creature
Melvyn Hayes	...	Young Victor
Valerie Gaunt	...	Justine
Paul Hardtmuth	...	Prof. Bernstein
Noel Hood	...	Aunt
Fred Johnson	...	Grandpa
Claude Kingston	...	Little Boy
Alex Gallier	...	Priest
Michael Mulcaster	...	Warder
Andrew Leigh	...	Burgomaster
Anne Blake	...	Wife
Sally Walsh	...	Young Elizabeth

Storyline

In prison and awaiting execution, Dr. Victor Frankenstein recounts to a priest what led him to his current circumstance. He inherited his family's wealth after the death of his mother when he was still only a young man. He hired Paul Krempe as his tutor and he immediately developed an interest in medical science. After several years, he and Krempe became equals and he developed an interest in the origins and nature of life. After successfully re-animating a dead dog, Victor sets about constructing a man using body parts he acquires for the purpose including the hands of a pianist and the brain of a renowned scholar. As Frankenstein's excesses continue to grow, Krempe is not only repulsed by what his friend has done but is concerned for the safety of the beautiful Elizabeth, Victor's cousin and fiancée who has come to live with them. His experiments lead to tragedy and his eventual demise.

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Plot Keywords:

told in flashback | mad scientist | frankenstein's monster | reanimation | teacher student relationship | 

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Taglines:

The creature created by man and forgotten by nature!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankensteins Fluch

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£65,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolour) (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The script called for a child actress to play Hazel Court's character, Elizabeth, as a little girl of three or four in flashback scenes. Court suggested to the producers that her daughter, Sally Walsh, who looked very much like her mother, play the part. As Court said in an interview, "She hated it - HATED being in it! I think it was all foreign to her, and she didn't understand it. She still remembers it to this day, and still doesn't like it!"

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Goofs

In the crypt, Professor Bernstein's corpse is seen breathing in the close-up.

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Quotes

Baron Frankenstein: [after his monster has nearly killed him] I did it, Paul!

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: 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

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Alternate Versions

For its original cinema release the BBFC required cuts to the scene where a man's head is severed by the Baron and dissolved in acid. The severing was reduced to a brief shot and no footage at all survives of the acid scene. Video and early DVD releases featured the U.S print which was cut further to remove a shot of a severed eyeball as seen through a magnifying glass, though the UK cinema print, which contains this shot, was often shown on BBC television. The 2012 Lionsgate release features the restored version which includes the eyeball shot from the UK print.

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Connections

Version of Frankenstein (2015)

User Reviews

Cushing is Terrific.

This was Hammer Films opening entry into their Horror re-imagining of classic Universal Studios Monsters and it is still one of the best. Here we get a new take on the familiar Frankenstein myth with the young Frankenstein coming from a fatherless background and embracing only science and reason with any real conviction. Finally when a breakthrough comes, the Young master will stop at nothing to achieve the fame, glory and notoriety he desires--his lack of regard for others is frightening even to his mentor Paul Krempe(played excellently by Robert Urquhart)who warns him against tampering with the forces of nature and that nothing good will come from it. Cushing is outstanding in the role and adds a real sense of tragedy, genius and malice. Hazel Court is certainly lovely as the innocent cousin Elizabeth who naively becomes entangled into Frankenstein's sinking path of unconscious self-destruction.