A Case Study of Hammer Films

A Case Study of Hammer Films

Hammer began life in the 1930’s as a tiny production company attached

to a small British distributor called exclusive.

Exclusive was mainly concerned with purchasing less prestigious

American films and renting them to British cinemas.

Hammers name had first appeared before the war on two or three films,

like The Mystery of the Marie Celeste in 1936, but it was not until

1947 (when the post, war demand for features began to accelerate as

people regained the cinema- going habit) that Hammer was reformed and

began production in earnest to take to take advantage of the new

situation.

In may 1957, a British horror film called The Curse Of Frankenstein

opened in London, it was a film that would make international stars of

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Hammer Films a household word.

At the time Hammer Film was making five films a year, no one at the

studio had any idea what a success this film would be. Costing under

70,000 pounds, The Curse Of Frankenstein was an overnight success.

The making of Hammer Films was done is several country houses of the

conventional studio, like in Hollywood. While filming The Lady Craved

Excitement in 1950 at Oakley Court, the studio became interested in

obtaining the neighbouring Down Place as a permanent home for their

studio.

Oakley Court had an historical background. It was built in 1859 by Sir

Richard Hall say. In the 1950’s Exclusive fell into the good fortune

of establishing important distribution rights with American companies.

The partnership was important because it allowed Hammer the rights to

use fading but recognizable American stars in their British

productions making them more accessible to the American Audiences.

A staple of Hammer Films was the BBC radio serials. Hammer secured the

rights to several of these productions and turned them into feature

films. After the purchase of Quatermass Experiment and with some

negotiation, the Quatermass series Quatermass Experiment began.

The film proved to be successful encouraging the studio to look for