Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are captured in one of the most memorable visual compositions associated with Hammer Films’ THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957). Cushing, as Baron Victor Frankenstein, calmly prepares a glove in the foreground while Lee’s seemingly lifeless Creature hangs suspended behind him, creating a stark and disturbing juxtaposition between creator and creation.

PETER CUSHING & CHRISTOPHER LEE - THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957) Suspended Creature Rare Hammer Horror Photo

The staging gives the photograph extraordinary dramatic power. Frankenstein appears controlled and methodical as he concentrates on his hands, while the Creature hangs rigidly in the background with his head tilted to one side and his body completely motionless. Suspended high above the floor, Lee’s figure is presented almost as a laboratory specimen rather than a living being, reinforcing Frankenstein’s clinical detachment from the human consequences of his experiments.

The rich color photography further distinguishes the image. Cushing’s comparatively refined clothing contrasts sharply with the Creature’s dark, crude garments and grotesquely damaged face, while the stone walls, heavy timbers and laboratory surroundings establish the Gothic environment that would become so closely associated with Hammer’s horror productions.

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN marked the beginning of Hammer’s enormously influential cycle of color Gothic horror films. Directed by Terence Fisher, the production stars Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the Creature, with Hazel Court and Robert Urquhart also featured. Cushing’s intelligent but increasingly ruthless Frankenstein and Lee’s physically imposing, tragically damaged Creature offered audiences a striking new interpretation of Mary Shelley’s familiar story.

The film also established one of the most important partnerships in British horror cinema. Cushing and Lee would subsequently appear together in numerous productions, while THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN helped establish both actors internationally as defining figures of the Hammer era.

For collectors, this photograph beautifully encapsulates the creator-and-Creature relationship at the heart of the film. Frankenstein’s almost clinical composure in the foreground and the helpless, suspended Creature behind him create an image of experimentation, domination and macabre detachment that immediately evokes the darker character of Hammer’s revolutionary interpretation of FRANKENSTEIN.

Carefully restored and professionally printed from archival source material, this museum-quality photograph is a distinctive collectible for admirers of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, Frankenstein’s Creature, Terence Fisher, Hammer Films, Hammer Horror and classic British Gothic cinema.

Peter Cushing, who was then best known for his many high-profile roles in British television, had his first lead part in a movie with this film. Meanwhile, Christopher Lee's casting resulted largely from his height (6' 5"), though Hammer had earlier considered the even taller (6 '7") Bernard Bresslaw for the role.

Hammer refrained from duplicating aspects of Universal's 1931 film, and so it was down to make-up artist Phil Leakey to design a new look for the creature bearing no resemblance to the Boris Karloff original created by Jack Pierce. Production of The Curse of Frankenstein began, with an investment of £65,000, on November 19th,1956 at Bray Studios with a scene showing Baron Frankenstein cutting down a highwayman from a wayside gibbet.

The film opened at the London Pavilion on May 2nd, 1957 with an X certificate from the censors. The film was a tremendous financial success and reportedly grossed more than 70 times its production cost during its original theatrical run. In the UK, the film earned theatrical rentals of $1.9 million. According to Kinematograph Weekly the film was "in the money" at the British box office in 1957. According to another account the film made £300,000 in Britain and £500,000 in Japan.

In the US the outstanding box office success was a surprise. In its first week at the Paramount Theatre on Broadway Variety reported,"Curse" Wham $72,000" and noted,"it gave the Par flagship its biggest opening week on straight-film policy in the last two years". Variety continued to be impressed with its box office numbers as it opened across the US.

"Curse" Terrific $30,900" in its first week in Los Angeles with supporting feature X the Unknown. In an era when horror films typically played for one week, Curse was often held over for two and sometimes three weeks in major markets like Boston.