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Bandolero! (1968)

 

Bandolero! is a 1968 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen^[3] and starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch, George Kennedy, Andrew Prine, Will Geer, and Clint Ritchie. The story centers on two brothers on the run from a posse, led by a local sheriff who wants to arrest the runaways and free a hostage whom they took along the way. They head into the wrong territory, which is controlled by "Bandoleros".

Plot

Dean Martin and Raquel Welch

A gang of robbers arrive at the Texan town of Val Verde with the intention of robbing a bank. The heist goes wrong and a shootout with the local authorities ensues. During it, gang member Babe Jenkins kills a wealthy civilian, the husband of a woman named Maria Stoner. The gang eventually gets arrested.

Staying at an inn in a neighboring town, a man named Mace Bishop meets the hangman the government sent to execute the gang and learns of what happened in Val Verde. Stealing the hangman's clothes and imitating his way of talking, Mace steals his identity and goes to Val Verde with the intention of freeing his brother Dee, the gang's leader, from the gallows. The day of the execution, he convinces sheriff July Johnson to take every attendant's gun with the excuse of having a safer event and manages to make the whole gang escape. After the gang flees with a posse in pursuit, Mace robs the bank on his own .

Dee decides to take Maria as a hostage after they come across her wagon. The posse, led by sheriff Johnson and deputy Roscoe Bookbinder, chases the fugitives across the Mexican border into territory policed by bandoleros. According to Maria, bandoleros are men out to kill any gringos (foreigners) that they can find. Maria further warns Dee that the sheriff will follow, because they have taken the one thing that he has always wanted: her.

Despite initial protestations, Maria falls for Dee after he protects her from the others and finds herself in a quandary. She had never felt anything for the sheriff, nor for her husband, who had purchased her from her family. The posse tracks them to an abandoned town and captures the gang. The bandoleros also arrive, shooting and killing Roscoe. The sheriff releases the outlaws so that the men can fight back in defense.

In the ensuing battle, almost everyone is killed. Dee is fatally stabbed by the leader of the bandits, Angel, after Dee beats him when he attempts to rape Maria. Then, Mace is shot by another. Babe and gang member Robbie O'Hare die after killing several bandoleros. Gang member Pop Chaney is killed while going after the money Mace stole, and his son Joe dies after trying to rescue him.

Maria grabs Dee's pistol and shoots Angel dead, sending the now leaderless bandoleros into full retreat. Maria professes her love to Dee and kisses him before he dies. Mace returns the money to Sheriff Johnson, and then falls dead from his wound. Maria and the sheriff, with little left of the posse, bury the Bishop brothers and dead posse members, after which Maria remarks that no one will know who was there. They then begin the ride back to Texas.

Cast

• James Stewart as Mace Bishop
• Dean Martin as Dee Bishop
• Raquel Welch as Maria Stoner
• George Kennedy as Sheriff July Johnson
• Andrew Prine as Deputy Sheriff Roscoe Bookbinder
• Will Geer as Pop Chaney
• Clint Ritchie as "Babe" Jenkins
• Denver Pyle as Muncie Carter
• Tom Heaton as Joe Chaney
• Rudy Diaz as Angel
• Sean McClory as Robbie O'Hare
• Harry Carey Jr. as Cort Hayjack (credited as Harry Carey)
• Don "Red" Barry as Jack Hawkins (credited as Donald Barry)
• Guy Raymond as Ossie Grimes
• Perry Lopez as Frisco
• Jock Mahoney as Stoner
• Dub Taylor as Attendant
• Big John Hamilton as Bank Customer
• Robert Adler as Ross Harper (credited as Bob Adler)
• John Mitchum as Bath House Customer
• Patrick Cranshaw as Bank Clerk (credited as Joseph Patrick Cranshaw)
• Roy Barcroft as The Bartender

Production

Originally known as Mace,^[4] The film was shot at the Alamo Village, the movie set originally created for John Wayne's The Alamo.^[5] Parts of the film were also shot at Kanab Canyon and Glen Canyon in Utah.^[6]

Raquel Welch later said of her performance, "No one is going to shout, 'Wow it's Anne Bancroft all over again', but at least I'm not Miss Sexpot running around half naked all the time."^[7] "I think she's going to stack up all right", Stewart said of Welch.^[8]

Larry McMurtry, the author of the novel Lonesome Dove, reportedly paid homage to Bandolero! by using similar names for the characters in his book.^[9] Both tales begin near the Mexican border and involve bandoleros. Both have a sheriff named July Johnson and a deputy Roscoe who travel a great distance in search of a wanted criminal and the woman who has rejected the sheriff's love. Both stories have a charismatic outlaw named Dee, who is about to be hanged and who wins the love of the woman before he dies. In the Lonesome Dove miniseries, the main characters twice pass directly in front of the Alamo—or at least a set built to replicate the Alamo.

Reception

Bandolero! earned North American rentals of $5.5 million in 1968.^[10] According to Fox records, the film required $10,200,000 in rentals to break even, and by 11 December 1970, had made $8,800,000, resulting in a loss for the studio.^[11]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of 5 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.^[12] Roger Ebert awarded the film 2 out of 4 stars. He praised the performances, particularly Stewart's, but viewed the storyline as "routine".^[13]

Soundtrack

Jerry Goldsmith's score was released as an LP by Project 3 Records, and years later multiple times on CD.^{[citation needed]} Because of Martin's exclusive contract with Reprise Records, all traces of him were removed from the cover, even the artwork, despite the album being strictly instrumental and his voice never being heard.^{[citation needed]}

The FACE Act

 

The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE or the Access Act, Pub. L. No. 103-259, 108 Stat. 694) (May 26, 1994, 18 U.S.C. § 248) is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: (1) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is obtaining an abortion, (2) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is exercising or trying to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, (3) the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive health care facility or a place of worship.^[1][2]

Background

Between the years 1978 and 1993, there was an increase in the number of crimes committed against abortion providers and abortion clinics. According to statistics gathered by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), an organization of abortion providers, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, there have been at least 9 murders, 17 attempted murders, 406 death threats, 179 incidents of assault or battery, and 5 kidnappings committed against abortion providers. In addition, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, property crimes committed against abortion providers have included 41 bombings, 175 arsons, 96 attempted bombings or arsons, 692 bomb threats, 1993 incidents of trespassing, 1400 incidents of vandalism, and 100 attacks with butyric acid ("stink bombs").^[3] In April 1992, thousands of "prayer warriors" and anti-abortion protesters met at the entrances of Buffalo Abortion Clinics for a planned month of picketing and blockades, trying to dissuade women from ending their pregnancies.^[4] After seven days of protests, involving Operation Rescue, over 400 protesters were arrested.^[5][6]

One anti-abortion group known as the Army of God was especially active in committing these violent crimes. This group alone was responsible for bombing and setting fire to over one hundred clinics before 1994. They also invaded more than three hundred clinics and vandalized more than four hundred^[7] In 1993, officials found the Army of God Manual, a tactical guide to arson, chemical attacks, invasions and bombing,^[8] buried in the backyard of Army of God activist Shelley Shannon’s home. Shelley Shannon was soon found guilty of the attempted murder of Dr. George Tiller that same year.^[9]

In addition to committing acts of violence, some anti-abortion activists were known to stalk medical personnel and use their photographs on "Wanted for Murder" posters.^[7] This on-going violence reached its peak in March 1993 when Dr. David Gunn, a physician whose medical practice included abortion procedures, was shot and killed by Michael F. Griffin outside of the Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic located in Pensacola, Florida.^[7] This increase in violence had become very burdensome to local law enforcement, and according to some, local policing of the issue was often lax.^[10] Certain senators and representatives believed that such unlawful conduct was interfering with the constitutional right of women to receive reproductive health care services (abortion in particular), which was guaranteed by the Supreme Court after the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973,^[11][12] until revoked by the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022.^[13]

Legislative history

The Act was passed in direct response to the escalation of violent tactics used by anti-abortion activists that culminated in the "Spring of Life" at Buffalo Abortion Clinics, in April 1992^[5] and the murder of Dr. Gunn in March 1993.^[7]

The FACE Act was originally introduced in January 1993^[14] and chiefly sponsored by Representative Chuck Schumer (D–NY),^[15] with Representative Constance Morella (R–MD) as the chief co-sponsor.^[16] A version of the bill was introduced in the Senate in March 1993, this one sponsored by Senator Edward Kennedy (D–MA).^[15] Both the House and the Senate approved the bill in November 1993.^[16] The House passed the bill by voice vote, and the Senate passed it 69–30, with a notable 17 Republicans voting for the bill.^[17] A joint committee between the House and Senate combined the two bills shortly after, and then-President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law which went into effect in May 1994.^[15]

Provisions

Definitions

Many of the words used in the official text of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act are subject to different interpretations. For this reason the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice provided formal definitions for these terms:^[1][18][19]

1. Facility—The term "facility" includes a hospital, clinic, physician's office, or other facility that provides reproductive health services, and includes the building or structure in which the facility is located.
2. Interfere with—The term "interfere with" means to restrict a person's freedom of movement.
3. Intimidate—The term "intimidate" means to place a person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm to him- or herself or to another.
4. Physical obstruction—The term "physical obstruction" means rendering impassable entrance to or exit from a facility that provides reproductive health services or to or from a place of religious worship, or rendering passage to or from such a facility or place of religious worship unreasonably difficult or hazardous.
5. Reproductive health services—The term "reproductive health services" means reproductive health services provided in a hospital, clinic, physician's office, or other facility, and includes medical, surgical, counseling or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.

Prohibited

§ 248. Freedom of access to clinic entrances: (a) Prohibited activities.--Whoever-- (1) by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining or providing reproductive health services ^[20]

The following behaviors have especially to do with reproductive health care clinics but can also be applied to places of worship:^[20][18]

• Blocking a person’s access to the entrance of a facility
• Impairing cars from entering and/or exiting a facility
• Physically stopping people as they are trying to walk toward an entrance or through a parking lot
• Making it difficult or dangerous to get in and/or out of a facility
• Trespassing on the property of a facility
• Committing any act of violence on a clinic employee, escort or patient
• Vandalism
• Threats of violence
• Stalking a clinic employee or reproductive health care provider
• Arson or threats of arson
• Bombings or bomb threats
• Intimidation

Not prohibited

The following behaviors are not prohibited because they are protected under the First Amendment right to free speech:^[20][18]

• Protesting outside of clinics
• Distributing literature
• Carrying signs
• Shouting (as long as no threats are made)
• Singing hymns
• Counseling

Penalties for violation

The criminal penalties for violating FACE vary according to the severity of the offense and the defendant's prior record of similar violations.^[20] A first-time offender can be sentenced to a maximum of one year in prison and fined at most $100,000. For a second violation, the violator may be imprisoned for up to three years and fined at most $250,000. However, a strictly non-violent offense is punishable with up to six months in prison and up to $10,000 in fines for a first offense, and up to 18 months in prison and up to $25,000 in fines for subsequent offenses. If the offense causes injury to a person, the maximum sentence is 10 years, regardless of whether or not it is a first offense, and any offense that results in death is punishable with up to life in prison.^[20] These are maximum sentences; lesser penalties are permitted at the judge's discretion.^[20]

Impact

According to statistics gathered by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), incidents of the more disastrous forms of violence (such as murder, attempted murder, bombing and arson) have decreased since 1994, the year the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act was enacted.^[3] The Clinton administration prosecuted 17 defendants for violations of the FACE act in 1997, and prosecuted an average of about 10 defendants per year since the law was enacted.^[21] The George W. Bush administration, by comparison, only prosecuted about two defendants per year for violations of the FACE act. According to Cathleen Mahoney, Executive Vice President of the National Abortion Federation and former attorney for the Justice Department, "The amount of [violent] activity really did drop a lot after FACE was enacted and it was beginning to be enforced".^[21]

In July 2022, Republican Representative Ted Budd and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina wrote to the state's Attorney General, Josh Stein, asking him to apply the FACE Act to protect CPCs in North Carolina, saying that there was vandalism at the Mountain Area Pregnancy Services facility.^[22][23]

In January 2026 Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced that the Justice Department is investigating potential violations of the FACE Act by people "desecrating a house of worship and interfering with Christian worshippers." She specifically called out ex-CNN journalist Don Lemon for his coverage of the event where a group of anti-ICE protesters halted a Baptist church service in St. Paul, MN.^[24]

Judicial review

In 1995, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia upheld the FACE Act against a challenge by the American Life League.^[25]

Following passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, several states passed analogous laws. The Massachusetts analog, the Reproductive Health Care Facilities Act, was struck down by the Supreme Court in McCullen v. Coakley (2014) as infringing on anti-abortion protesters' First Amendment rights. However, the decision was narrowly tailored to avoid striking down the FACE Act and other state level laws.^[26]

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The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

 

The Revenge of Frankenstein is a 1958 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn, Oscar Quitak, Eunice Gayson and Michael Ripper.^[4] Made by Hammer Film Productions, the film was a sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, the studio's 1957 adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and the second instalment in their Frankenstein series.

The film was released in the US in June on a double-bill with Curse of the Demon. Phil Leakey did makeup, Bernard Robinson was the production designer and Robert Lynn and Tom Walls were assistant directors. The film was originally planned to be called Blood of Frankenstein. While this film was being made, Hammer was simultaneously producing a pilot for their planned American TV series Tales Of Frankenstein in Hollywood, which starred Anton Diffring.^[5]

Plot

In 1860, Baron Victor Frankenstein, sentenced to death by guillotine, escapes execution by having a priest beheaded and buried in his place with the aid of a hunchback named Karl. Three years later, Victor, now going by the alias Doctor Stein, has become a successful physician in Carlsbrück, catering to the wealthy while also attending to the poor in a paupers' hospital. Hans Kleve, a junior member of the medical council, recognizes Victor and, being an admirer, requests an apprenticeship with him. Together with Karl, Victor and Hans continue with the Baron's experiment: transplanting a living brain into a new body, one that is not a crude, cobbled-together creature. The deformed Karl is more than willing to volunteer his brain thereby gaining a healthy body, particularly after meeting Margaret Conrad, the lovely new assistant at the hospital.

The transplant succeeds, but when the excited Hans tells Karl that he will be a medical sensation, Karl panics and convinces Margaret to free him. Hans notes that the chimpanzee into which Victor had transplanted the brain of an orangutan ate its mate. He worries about Karl, but his concerns are brushed off by Victor. Karl flees from the hospital and hides in Victor's laboratory, where he burns his preserved hunchback body. He is attacked by a drunken janitor, who takes him for a burglar, but manages to kill the man. Victor and Hans discover Karl is missing and begin searching for him.

The next morning, Margaret finds Karl in her aunt's stable. While she goes to fetch Hans, Karl experiences difficulties with his arm and leg. When Hans and Margaret arrive, he is gone. At night, Karl ambushes and strangles Gerda, a local girl. The next night, he rushes into an evening reception. Having redeveloped his deformities, he begs Victor for help, using his real name of Frankenstein, before he collapses and dies. Victor, disregarding Hans' pleas that he should leave the country, appears before the medical council, where he denies being the infamous Frankenstein. The unsatisfied councilors open Victor's supposed grave, only to discover the priest's body, and conclude that the real Frankenstein is still alive.

At the hospital, the patients violently attack Victor in rage and Hans rushes his dying mentor to the lab. The police arrive to arrest Victor, but when Hans shows them Victor's dead body, they leave. Hans then transplants Victor's brain into a new body that Victor had prepared earlier, which he made to resemble him. Sometime later in London, Hans assists Victor, now calling himself Doctor Franck, in welcoming some patients.

Cast

• Peter Cushing as Doctor Victor Stein/Frankenstein
• Francis Matthews as Doctor Hans Kleve
• Eunice Gayson as Margaret Conrad
• Oscar Quitak as Karl, in his hunchback form
  • Michael Gwynn as Karl, in his created body
• John Welsh as Bergman
• Lionel Jeffries as Fritz
• Richard Wordsworth as Up Patient
• Charles Lloyd-Pack as President of the Medical Council
• George Woodbridge as Janitor
• Michael Ripper as Kurt
• Ian Whittaker as Boy
• Avril Leslie as Gerda
• Alex Gallier as Priest

Production

Drive-in advertisement from 1958 for The Revenge of Frankenstein and co-feature, Curse of the Demon.

According to Jimmy Sangster, James Carreras presold the film in America, taking a poster with him. When Carreras returned he approached Sangster with the project asking him to write the sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein. Sangster responded, "I killed (Baron) Frankenstein in the first film." Sangster stated that Carreras told him he had six weeks to write the project before shooting started and that "you'll think of something".^[6]

The film was shot at Bray Studios and production commenced on 6 January 1958, three days after filming wrapped on Dracula (1958), which likewise starred Peter Cushing and was directed by Terence Fisher.^[7]

Conductor and composer Leonard Salzedo was hired to write the score,^[8] and most of the regular Hammer crew returned in other roles, including Jack Asher as cinematographer, Bernard Robinson on design and Phil Leakey on make-up.^[9]

Release

The film was released in the United States in June 1958^[10] with Curse of the Demon (1957) on the lower half of the double bill.^[11]

Novelizations

Three novelizations of the film were published. The first, by Jimmy Sangster (as Hurford Janes) was published by Panther Books in 1958; the second was by John Burke as part of his 1966 Pan book The Hammer Horror Film Omnibus; the third, by Shaun Hutson, was published in March 2013 (ISBN 9780099556237).

Critical reception

Variety called The Revenge of Frankenstein "a high grade horror film" with "rich" production values and a script that was "well-plotted, peopled with interesting characters, aided by good performances."^[12]

Motion Picture Daily noted, "a horror picture turned out with creative skill and imagination. The most notable contribution the Hammers have made to the genre is their stunning use of color for frightening effects". Hammer Films "have demolished once and for all the theory that horror films should always be in black-and-white".^[13]

Harrison's Reports declared it "a first-rate picture of its kind."^[14]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A contrived plot and a notable lack of pace and imagination are responsible for the failure of this lavish and painstaking production to be convincing even on the level of a horror film. Peter Cushing's stylish and diffident performance serves only to underline the farcical effects of a crude and pedestrian handling of the little legitimate horror left."^[15]

As of October 2022, The Revenge of Frankenstein held an 87% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 15 reviews.^[16]

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

 

The Curse of Frankenstein is a 1957 British science fiction horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions, loosely based on the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary W. Shelley.^[7] It was Hammer's first colour horror film, and the first of their Frankenstein series.^[8] Directed by Terence Fisher and written by Jimmy Sangster, the film sees Victor Frankenstein who, upon being sentenced to death, recounts the story of his attempt at creating the perfect human, only to create a violent creature. It stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Frankenstein and the Creature, respectively, with Hazel Court and Robert Urquhart in supporting roles.^[7]

The film's worldwide success led to several sequels, and was also followed by new versions of Dracula and The Mummy, establishing "Hammer Horror" as a distinctive brand of Gothic cinema.^[9] Professor Patricia MacCormack called The Curse of Frankenstein the "first really gory horror film, showing blood and guts in colour".^[10]

Plot

In 19th century Switzerland, Baron Victor Frankenstein is awaiting execution for the murder of his maid Justine Moritz. He tells the story of his life to a visiting priest.

At age 15, the death of Victor's mother Caroline leaves him in sole control of the Frankenstein estate. Victor agrees to continue to pay a monthly allowance to his impoverished aunt Sophia and his young cousin Elizabeth Lavenza. Soon afterwards, he engages scientist Paul Krempe to tutor him. After two years of intense study, the two begin collaborating on scientific experiments. One night, after a successful experiment in which they bring a dead puppy back to life, Victor suggests that they create a perfect human from body parts. Paul assists Victor at first but eventually withdraws, unable to tolerate the continued scavenging of human remains, particularly after Victor's fiancée—the now-grown Elizabeth—comes to live with them.

Victor assembles his creation; with a robber's corpse found on a gibbet, and both hands and eyes purchased from charnel house workers. For the brain, he seeks out the ageing Professor Bernstein, so that the creature can have a sharp mind and the accumulation of a lifetime of knowledge. He invites Bernstein to his house in the guise of a friendly visit but, while inviting him to look at a painting — ironically, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt — pushes him over a stair banister and kills him, making it look like an accident. After Bernstein's funeral, Victor proceeds to the vault and removes his brain. Paul attempts to stop him, and the brain is damaged in the ensuing scuffle. Paul also tries to persuade Elizabeth to leave the house, as he has before, but doesn't want to tell her in detail about what Victor is doing; she refuses.

With all of the parts assembled, Victor brings the creature to life. Unfortunately, the creature's damaged brain leaves it violent and psychotic, without Bernstein's intelligence. Victor locks up the creature, but it escapes and kills an old blind man that it encounters in the woods. After Paul shoots the creature in the eye with a hunting rifle, he and Victor bury it in the woods. However, after Paul leaves town, Victor digs up the creature and brings it back to life. Justine, with whom Victor has been having an affair, claims that she is pregnant by him and threatens to tell the authorities about his experiments if he refuses to marry her. He has her killed by the monster.

Paul returns to the house at Elizabeth's invitation the evening before she and Victor are to be married. Victor shows him the revived creature, and Paul threatens to report him to the authorities. The monster escapes up on to the roof, where it threatens Elizabeth. Victor arrives with a pistol and accidentally shoots Elizabeth after seeing the monster grabbing her. She falls unconscious, and without any more bullets, Victor throws an oil lamp at the creature. Its clothes go up in flames, causing it to fall through the roof-light and into a vat of acid, destroying all evidence that it existed.

The priest does not believe Victor's story. When Paul visits him, Victor begs Paul to testify that it was the creature who killed Justine; but he refuses and denies all knowledge of the mad experiment. Paul joins Elizabeth, who is waiting outside, and tells her there is nothing they can do for Victor. After they leave, Victor is led away to the guillotine.

Cast

Christopher Lee as the creature.

• Peter Cushing as Baron Victor Frankenstein
  • Melvyn Hayes as Young Victor
• Hazel Court as Elizabeth Lavenza
  • Sally Walsh as Young Elizabeth
• Robert Urquhart as Paul Krempe
• Christopher Lee as the Creature
• Valerie Gaunt as Justine Moritz
• Paul Hardtmuth as Professor Bernstein
• Noel Hood as Aunt Sophia Lavenza
• Fred Johnson as Grandpa
• Claude Kingston as Little Boy
• Alex Gallier as Priest
• Michael Mulcaster as Warder
• Andrew Leigh as Burgomaster
• Ann Blake as Wife
• Middleton Woods as Lecturer
• Raymond Ray as Uncle

Production

Producer Max Rosenberg originally approached Michael Carreras at Hammer Films with a deal to produce Frankenstein and the Monster (Rosenberg claims that he came up with the title) from a script by Milton Subotsky. Later, both men were cut out of their profit participation making only a $5000 fee for bringing the production to Hammer.^[11] Rosenberg and Subotsky later established Amicus Films, Hammer's main rival in the production of horror films during the 1960s.

Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, who adapted Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein for Hammer, never mentioned seeing Subotsky's script or being aware of Rosenberg's involvement. Sangster had worked as a production manager and said that he was keenly aware of production costs and kept the budget in mind when writing the script. Sangster said that his awareness of cost influenced him to not write scenes involving the villagers storming the castle that was typically seen in the Universal horror films "because we couldn't afford it". Sangster in an interview with film historian Jonathan Rigby indicated that he hadn't seen any of the Frankenstein films that Universal made. He just adapted the book "the way I saw it".^[12]

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 19 November 1956 at Bray Studios with a scene showing Baron Victor Frankenstein cutting down a highwayman from a wayside gibbet.^[13]

Character actor Patrick Troughton originally had a brief role as a mortuary attendant, but his scenes were cut from the finished movie.^{[citation needed]}

Release

Advertisement from 1957 for The Curse of Frankenstein and co-feature, X the Unknown.

The Curse of Frankenstein premiered in London on 2 May 1957 at Warner Theatre in Leicester Square, with an X certificate from the censors.^[14][15] It received a general release in the United Kingdom on 20 May 1957. It was distributed by Warner Brothers and supported by the film Woman of Rome.^[14] In the US, the film was released by Warner Bros on 20 July 1957, with X the Unknown as the supporting feature.^[14]

In the late 1960s, the film was reissued in the United Kingdom, where it was distributed by Rank/Universal International as a double feature with The Mummy.^[14] It was also reissued in the United States on 16 December 1964, with Terence Fisher's Dracula (1958).^[14]

The film was re-mastered in the open matte aspect ratio of 1.37:1 for its 2013 release on Blu-ray. The restored film includes the magnified eyeball shot, missing from the US print, but not the head in the acid bath scene, which remains lost.^[16]

The film received a restored release from Warner Archive on 15 December 2020, in a deluxe edition that included the three different aspect ratios it was exhibited in as well as special features including a commentary by Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr. It also included the following special features: The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein and the Rebirth of the Horror Film; Hideous Progeny: The Curse of Frankenstein and the English Gothic Tradition; Torrents of Light: The Art of Jack Asher; Diabolus in Musica: James Bernard and the Sound of Hammer Horror; and the original theatrical trailer in HD.^[17]

Box office

The film was a tremendous financial success and reportedly grossed more than 70 times its production cost during its original theatrical run.^[2]

In the UK, the film earned theatrical rentals of $1.9 million.^[18] According to Kinematograph Weekly the film was "in the money" at the British box office in 1957.^[19] According to another account the film made £300,000 in Britain and £500,000 in Japan.^[20]

In the US the outstanding box office success was a surprise. In its first week at the Paramount Theatre on Broadway, Variety reported Curse earned $72,000 and noted, "it gave the Par flagship its biggest opening week on straight-film policy in the last two years".^[21] Variety continued to be impressed with its box office numbers as it opened across the US. Curse took in a "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.^[22]

Reception

When it was first released in the United Kingdom, The Curse of Frankenstein outraged many reviewers. Dilys Powell of The Sunday Times wrote that such productions left her unable to "defend the cinema against the charge that it debases", while the Tribune opined that the film was "depressing and degrading for anyone who loves the cinema".^{[citation needed]}

Monthly Film Bulletin declared that the Frankenstein story was "sacrificed by an ill-made script, poor direction and performance, and above all, a preoccupation with disgusting-not horrific-charnelry." The review did praise some elements of the film, noting "excellent art direction and colour" and the film score.^[1]

In the United States reaction was more positive. Film Bulletin deemed the film a "rattling good horror show... the Frankenstein monster has been ghoulishly and somewhat gleefully resurrected by our English cousins."^[23] Harrison's Reports called it "well produced but extremely gruesome", such that it would sicken many people and was unsuitable for women and children, adding, "the photography is very fine, and so is the acting."^[24] Bosley Crowther in The New York Times dismissed it as a "routine horror picture" in which "everything that happens, has happened the same way in previous films."^[25] Variety noted, "Peter Cushing gets every inch of drama from the leading role, making almost believable the ambitious urge and diabolical accomplishment. Direction and camera work are of a high order."^[26]

Later directors such as Martin Scorsese and Tim Burton have paid tribute to it as an influence on their work.^[9] Contemporary reviews have been much more positive, praising the film for its dark atmosphere, Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 85%, based on 26 reviews, with a rating average of 7.2/10.^[27]

Sequels

Unlike the Universal Frankenstein series of the 1930s and 1940s, in which the character of the Monster was the recurring figure while the doctors frequently changed, it is Baron Frankenstein that is the connective character throughout the Hammer series, while the monsters change.^[28] Peter Cushing played the Baron in each film except for The Horror of Frankenstein, which was a remake of the original The Curse of Frankenstein done with a more comedic touch, and featuring a young cast headed by Ralph Bates and Veronica Carlson.^[29]

• The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
• The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
• Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)
• Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
• The Horror of Frankenstein (1970, without Peter Cushing)
• Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

In other media

A novelization of the film was written by John Burke as part of his book The Hammer Horror Film Omnibus (1966). The film was adapted as fumetti by Warren Publishing in 1966 (along with Horror of Dracula).^{[citation needed]}

The film was also adapted into a 20-page comic strip published in two parts in the magazine The House of Hammer (vol. 1) #2-3 (December 1976-January 1977), published by General Book Distribution. It was drawn by Alberto Cuyas from a script by Donne Avenell (based on the John Burke novelization). The cover of issue #2 featured a painting by Brian Lewis of the Baron being attacked by his creation.^[30]

The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

 

The Ghost of Frankenstein is a 1942 American horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton^[2] and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. It is the fourth film in the Frankenstein series by Universal Pictures, and the follow-up to Son of Frankenstein (1939). The film's plot follows the previous film's plot: Frankenstein's Monster (Lon Chaney Jr.) and his companion Ygor (Bela Lugosi) are chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Henry Frankenstein (Cedric Hardwicke) to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can have revenge against his enemies and his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull.

The film was the first in the series with Chaney portraying the monster and was cast one day after the film was announced by Universal. It began production in December 1941 and finished in January 1942. On its release it received praise as being as strong as the previous films from The Hollywood Reporter and The Motion Picture Herald while it received negative reviews from New York Daily News and The New York Times.

Plot

The residents of Frankenstein's village feel they are under a curse and blame all their troubles on Frankenstein's monster. The Mayor allows them to destroy Frankenstein's castle. Ygor finds the monster released from his sulfuric tomb by the explosions. The exposure to the sulfur has weakened yet preserved the monster. After fleeing the castle with Ygor, the monster is struck by a bolt of lightning. Ygor decides to find Ludwig, the second son of Henry Frankenstein, to help the monster regain his strength. Ludwig Frankenstein is a doctor who, along with his assistants Dr. Kettering and Dr. Theodore Bohmer, has a successful practice in Visaria. Bohmer was formerly Ludwig's teacher but is now his envious assistant.

Ygor and the monster arrive in Visaria, where the monster befriends a young girl, Cloestine Hussman. The monster carries her onto a roof to retrieve her ball, killing two villagers who attempt to intervene. After Cloestine asks the monster to bring her back down, the monster returns the girl to her father Herr Hussman and is captured by police. The town prosecutor, Erik Ernst, later asks Ludwig to examine the giant they have captured. Before he can, Ygor visits Ludwig and informs him that the giant is the monster. Ygor implores Ludwig to heal the monster's body and brain. Ludwig refuses, so Ygor blackmails him with the threat of revealing Ludwig's ancestry to the villagers.

At the courthouse, the monster is restrained with chains as a hearing is conducted to investigate the recent murders. When Ludwig denies recognizing the monster, it breaks free in a fit of rage and is led away by Ygor.

Elsa, Ludwig's daughter, finds the Frankenstein journals and learns the story of the monster. She sees Ygor and the monster in the window. After breaking into Ludwig's laboratory, the monster kills Dr. Kettering. The monster grabs Elsa, but Ludwig subdues him with knockout gas. Ludwig is examining the monster when it awakens and tries to kill him. Ludwig tranquilizes the monster and then tries to enlist Bohmer's aid in dissecting him. Bohmer refuses, saying it would be murder.

While studying his family's journals, Ludwig is visited by the ghost of his father, Henry Frankenstein. The spirit implores him to supply the monster with a good brain. Ludwig tells Bohmer and Ygor that he plans to put the deceased Dr. Kettering's brain into the monster. Ygor protests that he will lose his friend, and offers his own brain for the experiment. Ludwig refuses, distrustful of Ygor's nature. Elsa begs Ludwig to stop his experiments, to no avail. Ygor tells Bohmer that he should not be subordinate to Ludwig. Ygor promises to help the disgraced doctor if he puts Ygor's brain into the monster.

The police arrive at Ludwig's house, searching for the monster. They find the secret room, but Ygor and the monster have fled. The monster abducts Cloestine from her home and returns to Ludwig's chateau. The monster wants her brain to be placed in his head. Cloestine does not want to lose her brain, and the monster reluctantly gives her to Elsa. Ludwig then performs the surgery, not knowing that Bohmer has removed Ygor's brain, not Kettering's.

Herr Hussman rouses his neighbors by surmising his daughter has been captured by the monster and that Ludwig is harboring it. Ludwig shows the monster to Erik, saying he has atoned for his father's mistakes by giving the monster a moral brain, but the monster tells Ludwig he is Ygor, not Kettering. The villagers storm the chateau. The Ygor-monster has Bohmer fill the house with gas to kill them. Ludwig tries to stop him, but the Ygor-monster repels the attack and mortally wounds Ludwig. The Ygor-monster goes blind, a complication due to a mismatch in blood type, according to Ludwig. In frustration, the Ygor-monster throws Bohmer onto the apparatus, electrocuting him, and inadvertently sets fire to the chateau. The Ygor-monster becomes trapped in the burning chateau while Erik and Elsa escape, walking out into the sunrise.

Cast and characters

• Lon Chaney Jr. as the Monster
• Cedric Hardwicke as Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein
• Ralph Bellamy as Erik Ernst, town Bail bondsman
• Lionel Atwill as Dr. Theodore Bohmer
• Bela Lugosi as Ygor
• Evelyn Ankers as Elsa Frankenstein
• Janet Ann Gallow as Cloestine Hussman
• Barton Yarborough as Dr. Kettering
• Olaf Hytten as Hussman
• Doris Lloyd as Martha
• Leyland Hodgson as Chief Constable
• Holmes Herbert as Magistrate
• Lawrence Grant as Mayor
• Otto Hoffman as Villager
• Dwight Frye as Villager
• Harry Cording as Frone
• Ernie Stanton as Constable (uncredited)
• Harry Tenbrook as Villager from hearing (uncredited)

Production

Lobby card with Lon Chaney Jr., Evelyn Ankers and Bela Lugosi in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942).

The Ghost of Frankenstein was announced from Universal Pictures on November 13, 1941, searching for a new lead to play the title role of the monster.^[1] Originally Boris Karloff had been planned to reprise his role as Frankenstein's Monster but had scheduling conflicts with Arsenic and Old Lace.^[2] The next day, producer George Waggner was instructed to order the same type of make-up that Karloff wore for the new actor portraying the monster with instructions that changing the appearance may "kill the interest of Frankenstein follower".^[1] Lon Chaney Jr. was chosen for the role of the Monster.^[1] The film, which follows the storyline set up in Son of Frankenstein,^[2] was the fourth part of Universal's Frankenstein series and was the last film in the series with Frankenstein's Monster as the sole monster.^[1]

Early versions of the script were written by Eric Taylor, and included elements not used in the film, such as the return of Basil Rathbone's character from Son of Frankenstein.^[3] Parts that existed in Taylor's original script included the Monster's bond with children, villagers storming a castle, a brain transplant sequence, and a fiery demise of the monster.^[3][4] Universal submitted its script to the Production Code Association under the title There's Always Tomorrow.^[1] The censors there warned against excessive violence and reminded the studio that scenes set in Frankenstein's operating room and insanity ward would be deleted in England.^[1]

The film went into production on December 14, 1941.^[2] Chaney suffered a severe allergic reaction to the monster makeup applied by Jack Pierce and missed several days of shooting.^[2] Janet Ann Gallow, who played Cloestine Hussman in the film, spoke about working with Chaney in 2005, stating that she spent much time with Chaney, "riding his legs, his knees, sitting on his lap. He was nice, gentle with me and easy to work with - better than anyone else!"^[5] She found working with Chaney was like working with a "favourite uncle".^[5] When Gallow's mother died in 1946, Chaney offered to adopt her and her brother, which Gallow's father did not consent to.^[5] Filming completed production in early January 1942.^[2]

Release

The Ghost of Frankenstein was distributed by the Universal Pictures Company on March 13, 1942.^[1][2] The film was banned in Denmark when Universal tried to release it there in 1948.^[1]

The Ghost of Frankenstein was released on DVD as part of The Monster Legacy Collection and Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection on April 27, 2004.^[6] It was released again as a double feature with Son of Frankenstein on July 24, 2007.^[6]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, an anonymous reviewer from The Hollywood Reporter found the film "stands on an imaginative par with all of its interest-gripping, quasi-scientific predecessors" and that Erle C. Kenton's direction "makes magnificent use of every element of suspense".^[5] Another anonymous reviewer in The Motion Picture Herald opined that the film "maintains a standard of performance, effectiveness and quality exceeding the average for horror films by a considerable margin".^[5] Wanda Hale of The New York Daily News described the film as "horrid, not horrendous and horribly boring even though a lot of good players [...] do the best they can with the dreadful material".^[5] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times declared that the thought of Frankenstein's Monster returning in another film following The Ghost of Frankenstein "fills us with mortal terror. That is the most fearful prospect which the picture manages to convey."^[7]

From retrospective reviews, the authors of Universal Horrors opined that later Universal monster movies like The Ghost of Frankenstein lacked the sublime possibilities and subtlety of true horror movies, though they acknowledged that The Ghost of Frankenstein was more embraced by fans than its predecessor Son of Frankenstein and was "fun to watch".^[3] Craig Butler of AllMovie felt that the film was "a significant decline, but it's still passable entertainment (something that is not necessarily true of some later entries in the series)". Butler said the biggest problem was that Chaney's performance as the monster "lacks the special magic that Karloff brought to the role", though he also criticized the fragmented story and flavorless direction. He still considered it essential viewing for horror fans, but concluded that regular viewers would find it only moderately entertaining.^[8]

In 2005, the American Film Institute nominated Hans J. Salter's score for The Ghost of Frankenstein to be on their list of AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.^[9]