Amicus Films, Hammer's main rival in the production of horror films during the 1960s. Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, who adapted Mary Shelley's novel 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". 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 Frankenstein cutting down a highwayman from a wayside gibbet. The film opened at the London Pavilion on 2 May 1957 with an X certificate from the censors. Character actor Patrick Troughton originally had a brief role as a mortuary attendant, but his scenes were cut from the finished movie. Release The Curse of Frankenstein premiered in London on 2 May 1957 at Warner Theatre in Leicester Square. It received a general release in the United Kingdom on 20 May 1957 where it was distributed by Warner Brothers and supported by the film Woman of Rome. The film was reissued in the United Kingdom in the late 1960s where it was distributed by Rank/Universal International where it was a double feature with The Mummy. In the US the film was released by Warner Bros on 20 July 1957 with X the Unknown as supporting feature. It was reissued in the United States on 16 December 1964, when it was