The Fifties

In 1951 Hammer began to co-produce its films with the US producer Robert Lippert, enabling the company to develop its North American market, and cast US stars. Honing its craft the company largely focused on crime thrillers and films noir such as Man Bait, Bad Blonde, and Terror Street.

In 1954 Hammer returned to adventure stories with its first colour feature film ‐ The Men of Sherwood Forest.

In 1955 one film, The Quatermass Xperiment changed the course of Hammer’s film output almost overnight. A commercial and critical hit, the film posed the question what might happen if an alien virus really was brought back to Earth? Audiences flocked to witness the ensuing chaos and gruesome special effects. Following the success of The Quatermass Xperiment, Hammer switched focus from the struggling crime thriller pictures of the early fifties to horror. The company made history with its first full colour creature feature The Curse of Frankenstein. Blood, gore, extravagant costumes and sets were presented in vibrant colour, enraging censors, but delighting audiences in equal measure.

The staggering success of The Curse of Frankenstein was followed by the even greater box office haul of Dracula just one year later. With these two films alone Hammer had cemented the company name in the lexicon of audiences, film critics and censors alike.