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Competition

Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, individuals, economic and social groups, etc. The rivalry can be over attainment of any exclusive goal, including recognition.

Competition occurs in nature, between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. Animals compete over water supplies, food, mates, and other biological resources. Humans usually compete for food and mates, though when these needs are met deep rivalries often arise over the pursuit of wealth, power, prestige, and fame when in a static, repetitive, or unchanging environment. Competition is a major tenet of market economies and business, often associated with business competition as companies are in competition with at least one other firm over the same group of customers. Competition inside a company is usually stimulated with the larger purpose of meeting and reaching higher quality of services or improved products that the company may produce or develop.

Competition is often considered to be the opposite of cooperation; however, in the real world, mixtures of cooperation and competition are the norm. In economies, as the philosopher R. G. Collingwood argued "the presence of these two opposites together is essential to an economic system. The parties to an economic action co-operate in competing, like two chess players". Optimal strategies to achieve goals are studied in the branch of mathematics known as game theory.

Competition has been studied in several fields, including psychology, sociology and anthropology. Social psychologists, for instance, study the nature of competition. They investigate the natural urge of competition and its circumstances. They also study group dynamics, to detect how competition emerges and what its effects are. Sociologists, meanwhile, study the effects of competition on society as a whole. Additionally, anthropologists study the history and prehistory of competition in various cultures. They also investigate how competition manifested itself in various cultural settings in the past, and how competition has developed over time.

Biology and ecology
Competition within, between, and among species is one of the most important forces in biology, especially in the field of ecology.

Competition between members of a species ("intraspecific") for resources such as food, water, territory, and sunlight may result in an increase in the frequency of a variant of the species best suited for survival and reproduction until its fixation within a population. However, competition among resources also has a strong tendency for diversification between members of the same species, resulting in coexistence of competitive and non-competitive strategies or cycles between low and high competitiveness. Third parties within a species often favour highly competitive strategies leading to species extinction when environmental conditions are harsh (evolutionary suicide).

Competition is also present between species ("interspecific"). When resources are limited, several species may depend on these resources. Thus, each of the species competes with the others to gain access to the resources. As a result, species less suited to compete for the resources may die out unless they adapt by character dislocation, for instance. According to evolutionary theory, this competition within and between species for resources plays a significant role in natural selection. At shorter time scales, competition is also one of the most important factors controlling diversity in ecological communities, but at larger scales expansion and contraction of ecological space is a much larger factor than competition. This is illustrated by living plant communities where asymmetric competition and competitive dominance frequently occur. Multiple examples of symmetric and asymmetric competition also exist for animals.

Consumer competitions – games of luck or skill
In Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, competitions or lotto are the equivalent of what are commonly known as sweepstakes in the United States. The correct technical name for Australian consumer competitions is a trade promotion lottery or lotto.

Competition or trade promotion lottery entrants enter to win a prize or prizes, hence many entrants are all in competition, or competing for a limited number of prizes.

A trade promotion lottery or competition is a free entry lottery run to promote goods or services supplied by a business. An example is where you purchase goods or services and then given the chance to enter into the lottery and possibly win a prize. A trade promotion lottery can be called a lotto, competition, contest, sweepstake, or giveaway.

Such competitions can be games of luck (randomly drawn) or skill (judged on an entry question or submission), or possibly a combination of both.

People that enjoy entering competitions are known as compers.

Competitiveness
Many philosophers and psychologists have identified a trait in most living organisms which can drive the particular organism to compete. This trait, called competitiveness, is viewed as having a high adaptive value, which coexists along with the urge for survival. Competitiveness, or the inclination to compete, though, has become synonymous with aggressiveness and ambition in the English language. More advanced civilizations integrate aggressiveness and competitiveness into their interactions, as a way to distribute resources and adapt. Many plants compete with neighboring ones for sunlight.

The term also applies to econometrics. Here, it is a comparative measure of the ability and performance of a firm or sub-sector to sell and produce/supply goods and/or services in a given market. The two academic bodies of thought on the assessment of competitiveness are the Structure Conduct Performance Paradigm and the more contemporary New Empirical Industrial Organisation model. Predicting changes in the competitiveness of business sectors is becoming an integral and explicit step in public policymaking. Within capitalist economic systems, the drive of enterprises is to maintain and improve their own competitiveness.

Education
Competition is a major factor in education. On a global scale, national education systems, intending to bring out the best in the next generation, encourage competitiveness among students through scholarships. Countries such as England and Singapore have special education programmes which cater for specialist students, prompting charges of academic elitism. Upon receipt of their academic results, students tend to compare their grades to see who is better. In severe cases, the pressure to perform in some countries is so high that it can result in stigmatization of intellectually deficient students, or even suicide as a consequence of failing the exams; Japan being a prime example (see Education in Japan). This has resulted in critical re-evaluation of examinations as a whole by educationalists. Critics of competition as a motivating factor in education systems, such as Alfie Kohn, assert that competition actually has a net negative influence on the achievement levels of students, and that it "turns all of us into losers". Economist Richard Layard has commented on the harmful effects, stating "people feel that they are under a great deal of pressure. They feel that their main objective in life is to do better than other people. That is certainly what young people are being taught in school every day. And it's not a good basis for a society."

However, other studies such as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking show that the effect of competition on students depends on each individual's level of agency. Students with a high level of agency thrive on competition, are self-motivated, and are willing to risk failure. Compared to their counterparts who are low in agency, these students are more likely to be flexible, adaptable and creative as adults.

Economics
Merriam-Webster gives as one definition of competition (relating to business) as "[...] rivalry: such as [...] the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms". Adam Smith in his 1776 book The Wealth of Nations and later economists described competition in general as allocating productive resources to their most highly valued uses and encouraging efficiency. Later microeconomic theory distinguished between perfect competition and imperfect competition, concluding that no system of resource allocation is more efficient than perfect competition. Competition, according to the theory, causes commercial firms to develop new products, services and technologies, which would give consumers greater selection and better products. The greater selection typically causes lower prices for the products, compared to what the price would be if there was no competition (monopoly) or little competition (oligopoly).

However, competition may also lead to wasted (duplicated) effort and to increased costs (and prices) in some circumstances. For example, the intense competition for the small number of top jobs in music and movie-acting leads many aspiring musicians and actors to make substantial investments in training which are not recouped, because only a fraction become successful. Critics have also argued that competition can be destabilizing, particularly competition between certain financial institutions.

Experts have also questioned the constructiveness of competition in profitability. It has been argued that competition-oriented objectives are counterproductive to raising revenues and profitability because they limit the options of strategies for firms as well as their ability to offer innovative responses to changes in the market. In addition, the strong desire to defeat rival firms with competitive prices has the strong possibility of causing price wars.

Another distinction appearing in economics is that between competition as an end-state – as in the case of both perfect and imperfect competition – and competition as a process. It is a process of rivalry between firms (or consumers) intensifying selective pressures for improvements. One can restate this as a process of discovery.

Three levels of end-state economic competition have been classified:
 * The most narrow form is direct competition (also called "category competition" or "brand competition"), where products which perform the same function compete against each other. For example, one brand of pick-up trucks competes with several other brands of pick-up trucks. Sometimes, two companies are rivals and one adds new products to their line, which leads to the other company distributing the same new things, and in this manner they compete.
 * The next form is substitute or indirect competition, where products which are close substitutes for one another compete. For example, butter competes with margarine, with mayonnaise and with other various sauces and spreads.
 * The broadest form of competition is typically called budget competition. Included in this category is anything on which the consumer might want to spend their available money. For example, a family which has $20,000 available may choose to spend it on many different items, which can all be seen as competing with each other for the family's expenditure. This form of competition is also sometimes described as a competition of "share of wallet".

In addition, companies compete for financing on the capital markets (equity or debt) in order to generate the necessary cash for their operations. Investor typically consider alternative investment opportunities given their risk profile, and not only look at companies just competing on product (direct competitors). Enlarging the investment universe to include indirect competitors leads to a broader peer universe of comparable, indirectly competing companies.

Competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. For example, business writers sometimes refer to internal competition. This is competition within companies. The idea was first introduced by Alfred Sloan at General Motors in the 1920s. Sloan deliberately created areas of overlap between divisions of the company so that each division would compete with the other divisions. For example, the Chevrolet division would compete with the Pontiac division for some market segments. The competing brands by the same company allowed parts to be designed by one division and shared by several divisions, for example parts designed by Chevrolet would also be used by Pontiac. In 1931 Procter & Gamble initiated a deliberate system of internal brand-versus-brand rivalry. The company was organized around different brands, with each brand allocated resources, including a dedicated group of employees willing to champion the brand. Each brand manager was given responsibility for the success or failure of the brand, and compensated accordingly.

Most businesses also encourage competition between individual employees. An example of this is a contest between sales representatives. The sales representative with the highest sales (or the best improvement in sales) over a period of time would gain benefits from the employer. This is also known as intra-brand competition.

Shalev and Asbjornsen found that success (i.e. the saving resulted) of reverse auctions correlated most closely with competition. The literature widely supported the importance of competition as the primary driver of reverse auctions success. Their findings appear to support that argument, as competition correlated strongly with the reverse auction success, as well as with the number of bidders.

Business and economic competition in most countries is often limited or restricted. Competition often is subject to legal restrictions. For example, competition may be legally prohibited, as in the cases of a government monopoly or of a government-granted monopoly. Governments may institute tariffs, subsidies or other protectionist measures in order to prevent or reduce competition. Depending on the respective economic policy, pure competition is to a greater or lesser extent regulated by competition policy and competition law. Another component of these activities is the discovery process, with instances of higher government regulations typically leading to less competitive businesses being launched.

Nicholas Gruen has referred to The Competition Delusion, in which competition is taken to be unambiguously good, even where that competition leaks into the rules of the game. He claims this drives financialisation (the approximate doubling of proportion of economic resources dedicated to finance and to 'rule making and administering' professions such as law, accountancy and auditing.

Interstate
Competition between countries is quite subtle to detect, but is quite evident in the world economy. Countries compete to provide the best possible business environment for multinational corporations. Such competition is evident by the policies undertaken by these countries to educate the future workforce. For example, East Asian economies such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea tend to compete by allocating a large portion of the budget to the education sector, including by implementing programmes such as gifted education.

Law
Competition law, known in the United States as antitrust law, has three main functions:
 * First, it prohibits agreements aimed to restrict free trading between business entities and their customers. For example, a cartel of sports shops who together fix football-jersey prices higher than normal is illegal.
 * Second, competition law can ban the existence or abusive behaviour of a firm dominating the market. One case in point could be a software company who through its monopoly on computer platforms makes consumers use its media player.
 * Third, to preserve competitive markets, the law supervises the mergers and acquisitions of very large corporations. Competition authorities could for instance require that a large packaging company give plastic bottle licenses to competitors before taking over a major PET producer.

In all three cases, competition law aims to protect the welfare of consumers by ensuring that each business must compete for its share of the market economy.

In recent decades, competition law has also been sold as good medicine to provide better public services, traditionally funded by tax-payers and administered by democratically accountable governments. Hence competition law is closely connected with the law on deregulation of access to markets, providing state aids and subsidies, the privatisation of state-owned assets and the use of independent sector regulators, such as the United Kingdom telecommunications watchdog Ofcom. Behind the practice lies the theory, which over the last fifty years has been dominated by neo-classical economics. Markets are seen as the most efficient method of allocating resources, although sometimes they fail, and regulation becomes necessary to protect the ideal market model. Behind the theory lies the history, reaching back further than the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds and governments have always been subject to scrutiny and sometimes to severe sanctions. Since the twentieth century, competition law has become global. The two largest, most organised and influential systems of competition regulation are United States antitrust law and European Community competition law. The respective national/international authorities, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States and the European Commission's Competition Directorate General (DGCOMP) have formed international support- and enforcement-networks. Competition law is growing in importance every day, which warrants for its careful study.

Game theory
Game theory is "the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers." Game theory is mainly used in economics, political science, and psychology, as well as logic, computer science, biology and poker. Originally, it mainly addressed zero-sum games, in which one person's gains result in losses for the other participants.

Game theory is a major method used in mathematical economics and business for modeling competing behaviors of interacting agents. Applications include a wide array of economic phenomena and approaches, such as auctions, bargaining, mergers & acquisitions pricing, fair division, duopolies, oligopolies, social network formation, agent-based computational economics, general equilibrium, mechanism design, and voting systems; and across such broad areas as experimental economics, behavioral economics, information economics, industrial organization, and political economy.

This research usually focuses on particular sets of strategies known as "solution concepts" or "equilibria". A common assumption is that players act rationally. In non-cooperative games, the most famous of these is the Nash equilibrium. A set of strategies is a Nash equilibrium if each represents a best response to the other strategies. If all the players are playing the strategies in a Nash equilibrium, they have no unilateral incentive to deviate, since their strategy is the best they can do given what others are doing.

Literature
Literary competitions, such as contests sponsored by literary journals, publishing houses and theaters, have increasingly become a means for aspiring writers to gain recognition. Awards for fiction include those sponsored by the Missouri Review, Boston Review, Indiana Review, North American Review and Southwest Review. The Albee Award, sponsored by the Yale Drama Series, is among the most prestigious playwriting awards.

Philosophy
Margaret Heffernan's study, A Bigger Prize, examines the perils and disadvantages of competition in (for example) biology, families, sport, education, commerce and the Soviet Union.

Marx
Karl Marx insisted that "the capitalist system fosters competition and egoism in all its members and thoroughly undermines all genuine forms of community". It promotes a "climate of competitive egoism and individualism", with competition for jobs and competition between employees; Marx said competition between workers exceeds that demonstrated by company owners. He also points out that competition separates individuals from one another and while concentration of workers and development of better communication alleviate this, they are not a decision.

Freud
Sigmund Freud explained competition as a primal dilemma in which all infants find themselves. The infant competes with other family members for the attention and affection of the parent of the opposite sex or the primary caregiving parent. During this time, a boy develops a deep fear that the father (the son's prime rival) will punish him for these feelings of desire for the mother, by castrating him. Girls develop penis envy towards all males. The girl's envy is rooted in the biologic fact that, without a penis, she cannot sexually possess mother, as the infantile id demands, resultantly, the girl redirects her desire for sexual union upon father in competitive rivalry with her mother. This constellation of feelings is known as Oedipus Complex (after the Greek Mythology figure who accidentally killed his father and married his mother). This is associated with the phallic stage of childhood development where intense primal emotions of competitive rivalry with (usually) the parent of the same sex are rampant and create a crisis that must be negotiated successfully for healthy psychological development to proceed. Unresolved Oedipus complex competitiveness issues can lead to lifelong neuroses manifesting in various ways related to an overdetermined relationship to competition.

Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi speaks of egoistic competition. For him, such qualities glorified and/or left unbridled, can lead to violence, conflict, discord and destructiveness. For Gandhi, competition comes from the ego, and therefore society must be based on mutual love, cooperation and sacrifice for the well-being of humanity. In the society desired by Gandhi, each individual will cooperate and serve for the welfare of others and people will share each other's joys, sorrows and achievements as a norm of a social life. For him, in a non-violent society, competition does not have a place and this should become realized with more people making the personal choice to have fewer tendencies toward egoism and selfishness.

Politics
Competition is also found in politics. In democracies, a free and fair election is an electoral competition for an elected office. In other words, two or more candidates strive and compete against one another to attain a position of power. The winner gains the seat of the elected office for a predefined period of time, towards the end of which another election is usually held to determine the next holder of the office.

In addition, there is inevitable competition inside a government. Because several offices are appointed, potential candidates compete against the others in order to gain the particular office. Departments may also compete for a limited amount of resources, such as for funding. Finally, where there are party systems, elected leaders of different parties will ultimately compete against the other parties for laws, funding and power.

Finally, competition also exists between governments. Each country or nationality struggles for world dominance, power, or military strength. For example, the United States competed against the Soviet Union in the Cold War for world power, and the two also struggled over the different types of government (in these cases representative democracy and communism). The result of this type of competition often leads to worldwide tensions, and may sometimes erupt into warfare.

Sports
While some sports and games (such as fishing or hiking) have been viewed as primarily recreational, most sports are considered competitive. The majority involve competition between two or more persons (sometimes using horses or cars). For example, in a game of basketball, two teams compete against one another to determine who can score the most points. When there is no set reward for the winning team, many players gain a sense of pride. In addition, extrinsic rewards may also be given. Athletes, besides competing against other humans, also compete against nature in sports such as whitewater kayaking or mountaineering, where the goal is to reach a destination, with only natural barriers impeding the process. A regularly scheduled (for instance annual) competition meant to determine the "best" competitor of that cycle is called a championship.

Competitive sports are governed by codified rules agreed upon by the participants. Violating these rules is considered to be unfair competition. Thus, sports provide artificial (not natural) competition; for example, competing for control of a ball, or defending territory on a playing field is not an innate biological factor in humans. Athletes in sports such as gymnastics and competitive diving compete against each other in order to come closest to a conceptual ideal of a perfect performance, which incorporates measurable criteria and standards which are translated into numerical ratings and scores by appointed judges.

Sports competition is generally broken down into three categories: individual sports, such as archery; dual sports, such as doubles tennis, and team sports competition, such as cricket or football. While most sports competitions are recreation, there exist several major and minor professional sports leagues throughout the world. The Olympic Games, held every four years, is usually regarded as the international pinnacle of sports competition.

Trade
Competition is also found in trade. For nations, as well as firms it is important to understand trade dynamics in order to market their goods and services effectively in international markets. Balance of trade can be considered a crude, but widely used proxy for international competitiveness across levels: country, industry or even firm. Research data hints that exporting firms have a higher survival rate and achieve greater employment growth compared with non-exporters.

Using a simple concept to measure heights that firms can climb may help improve execution of strategies. International competitiveness can be measured on several criteria but few are as flexible and versatile to be applied across levels as Trade Competitiveness Index (TCI)

Hypercompetitiveness
The tendency toward extreme, unhealthy competition has been termed hypercompetitiveness. This concept originated in Karen Horney's theories on neurosis; specifically, the highly aggressive personality type which is characterized as "moving against people". In her view, some people have a need to compete and win at all costs as a means of maintaining their self-worth. These individuals are likely to turn any activity into a competition, and they will feel threatened if they find themselves losing. Researchers have found that men and women who score high on the trait of hypercompetitiveness are more narcissistic and less psychologically healthy than those who score low on the trait. Hypercompetitive individuals generally believe that winning is the only thing that matters.

Consequences
Competition can have both beneficial and detrimental effects. Many evolutionary biologists view inter-species and intra-species competition as the driving force of adaptation, and ultimately of evolution. However, some biologists disagree, citing competition as a driving force only on a small scale, and citing the larger scale drivers of evolution to be abiotic factors (termed 'Room to Roam'). Richard Dawkins prefers to think of evolution in terms of competition between single genes, which have the welfare of the organism 'in mind' only insofar as that welfare furthers their own selfish drives for replication (termed the 'selfish gene').

Some social Darwinists claim that competition also serves as a mechanism for determining the best-suited group; politically, economically and ecologically. Positively, competition may serve as a form of recreation or a challenge provided that it is non-hostile. On the negative side, competition can cause injury and loss to the organisms involved, and drain valuable resources and energy. In the human species competition can be expensive on many levels, not only in lives lost to war, physical injuries, and damaged psychological well-beings, but also in the health effects from everyday civilian life caused by work stress, long work hours, abusive working relationships, and poor working conditions, that detract from the enjoyment of life, even as such competition results in financial gain for the owners.

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Talk:List of sword parts

Those look like the visible parts. Don't forget the tang, the extension of the blade that forms a core within the hilt (grip) to transfer stresses to the blade, and which is commonly locked in place by the pommel. PML.

I'd like to move details to specific articles (blade, hilt) and merge what's left into sword. Martin 22:11, 10 Sep 2003 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:List of sword parts


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Pommel

Pommel may refer to:

 * Pommel (saddle), the raised area at the front of an equestrian saddle
 * Pommel (sword), the cap at the end of the hilt of a European sword

title: Pommel


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The Edge (1997 film)

The Edge is a 1997 American survival thriller film written by David Mamet and directed by Lee Tamahori starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. The plot follows wealthy businessman Charles Morse (Hopkins), photographer Bob Green (Baldwin), and assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau), who must trek through the elements and try to survive after their plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness, all while being hunted by a large Kodiak bear and the men's fraying friendships. Bart the Bear, a trained Kodiak bear known for appearances in several Hollywood movies, appears in the film as the bloodthirsty Kodiak, in one of his last film roles.

Plot
Billionaire Charles Morse, photographer Robert "Bob" Green, and Bob's assistant Stephen arrive at a remote Alaskan resort with Charles's wife Mickey, a model, and a team of photographers. Styles, the proprietor of the lodge, warns everyone about leaving uncovered food out, as it will attract bears. During a surprise birthday party, Mickey gives Charles a watch, while Bob gives him a pocket knife.

At a photo shoot, Charles observes Bob and Mickey flirting from a distance. Short on time and missing a model, Bob decides to seek out Jack Hawk, a local hunter. Charles, Bob and Stephen fly to Jack Hawk's home, only to find a note on his door that indicates he is miles away hunting. They fly to where the man is supposed to be, but the plane strikes a flock of birds and nose-dives into a lake, killing the pilot. Charles, Bob and Stephen barely reach the shore of the lake. Lost in the crash is a book that Charles was recently given on surviving in the wild.

The three men gather wood for a fire and spend the night by the lake. The next morning, Charles uses a compass leaf to determine the direction of south. They start a hike that way, but encounter an enormous male Kodiak bear; it gives chase. Bob saves Charles as they flee over a log bridge, leaving Charles in doubt over his earlier suspicions that Bob was planning to kill him for Mickey. The group continues on and they find they had gone in a circle and are back at the lake. Distraught, Stephen distracts himself by carving a spear to fish with. He accidentally stabs his own leg and Charles tends to the wound. That night, the bear, having caught the scent of Stephen's blood, attacks their camp, devouring Stephen and chasing Charles and Bob away.

Charles and Bob adapt to their harsh surroundings; while watching a squirrel fall for a trap they have constructed, they hear a rescue helicopter fly above. They run after it, yet fail to flag it down, and tensions rise when Bob expresses his disgust with Charles and his wealth in an argument. Charles rebuffs Bob, who settles down. They both resolve to walk their way back to civilization and abandon the remote hope of being found.

After hiking for some time, Charles and Bob reach a creek. Charles tries to catch a fish, but is ambushed by the bear and falls back to the campsite Bob is putting together. The bear stalks them throughout the night. Charles realizes that as long as this persists, they will be unable to forage for essentials, and decides that they have to kill the bear in order to survive. The following day, the pair lure the bear into a trap and engage it in a direct battle with spears. The bear wounds Bob but Charles stabs it and the bear advances on him. It rears onto its hind legs and collapses on Charles's spear, impaling itself. Charles and Bob feast and celebrate afterwards.

Sometime later, brought together by their new comradeship, Charles and Bob come across an empty cabin along a river. Charles notices a deadfall trap outside. Inside are supplies, including a canoe, rifle, and ammunition. As Bob checks if the canoe is usable, Charles finds a receipt from the box he kept his knife in to use as tinder. The receipt contains information confirming his suspicions about Mickey's infidelities with Bob. Charles subtly confronts Bob, who reveals that he plans to kill Charles for Mickey. He orders Charles to go outside, but before he is able to shoot him with the rifle, Bob falls into the deadfall and is badly injured. Charles refuses to kill Bob and removes him from the pit to tend to his wounds. They go downriver in the canoe together.

Charles stops and makes a fire to keep Bob warm. Bob apologizes for betraying Charles and says Mickey was unaware that he intended to murder him. A helicopter appears in the distance and Charles successfully attracts its attention, but Bob succumbs to his wounds just as the helicopter approaches. Brought back to the lodge, Charles reveals to his wife that he is aware of her betrayal by handing her Bob's wristwatch. When questioned by the gathered press on how his companions died, Charles emotionally states, "They died saving my life."

Cast

 * Anthony Hopkins as Charles Morse
 * Alec Baldwin as Bob Green
 * Harold Perrineau as Stephen
 * Elle Macpherson as Mickey Morse
 * L.Q. Jones as Styles
 * Kathleen Wilhoite as Ginny
 * David Lindstedt as James
 * Mark Kiely as The Mechanic
 * Eli Gabay as Jet Pilot
 * Larry Musser as Amphibian Pilot
 * Gordon Tootoosis as Jack Hawk
 * Kelsa Kinsly as Reporter
 * Bart the Bear as The Kodiak Bear

Production
The Edge began principal photography on August 19, 1996. Footage was taken primarily in Alberta. Among the Alberta locations were Banff National Park, Canmore, Edmonton, Thunderstone Quarries, Fortress Mountain Resort and Allarcom Studios. Additional scenes were shot in Yoho National Park and Golden both in British Columbia. Filming ended on November 22, 1996.

The shooting of the film is discussed by Art Linson in his 2002 book What Just Happened?, later made into a film starring Robert De Niro. Initially called Bookworm, the script was turned down by Harrison Ford and Dustin Hoffman before Alec Baldwin settled on the role of Green. De Niro showed some interest in the role of Morse but ultimately declined. Baldwin's unwillingness to shave a beard that he had grown for the role is reenacted by Bruce Willis in Barry Levinson's adaptation of Linson's book.

Like many other actors who had worked with Bart the Bear, Baldwin was extremely impressed with how well-trained and docile the bear was. In interviews, he revealed that during filming he was concerned that the film simply would not work because of how docile Bart was. After the film was completed, Baldwin commented that Bart "should send the film editor a fruit basket every day for making him look so scary." As for Hopkins, who had worked with Bart in Legends of the Fall, he "was absolutely brilliant with Bart," according to trainer Lynn Seus, who went on to say that Hopkins "acknowledged and respected (Bart) like a fellow actor. He would spend hours just looking at Bart and admiring him. He did so many of his own scenes with Bart."

Three months before the film was to be released, the studio felt Bookworm needed a more commercial title. Dozens of others were considered, according to Linson, until the film was renamed The Edge.

This movie was shot in Alberta, Canada, in freezing conditions. Elle Macpherson was required to perform one long scene in a Native American get-up of beads, feathers and suede loincloth. "You rehearse with a coat on and then you have to take the coat off," she said. "It feels the coldest under your arms. You don't want to ever uncover your arms again."

Music
The film's musical score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, who worked closely with director Lee Tamahori to develop a score more diverse than other works by Goldsmith in the 1990s. Initially, the score was released on CD in 1997, upon the film's release, by RCA Records. Over time, the first release went out of print, leading to La-La Land Records issuing a limited 3500-unit pressing of the complete score, which was also out of print by July 2013. The new release contains 25 minutes of unreleased music and fixes a problem found on the RCA release affecting the track "Rescued," which contained rustling noises during some quieter parts.

RCA Records track list:
 * 1) Lost In The Wild (3:01)
 * 2) The Ravine (4:38)
 * 3) Birds (2:24)
 * 4) Mighty Hunter (1:34)
 * 5) Bitter Coffee (3:03)
 * 6) Stalking (5:47)
 * 7) Deadfall (6:15)
 * 8) The River (2:21)
 * 9) Rescued (6:04)
 * 10) The Edge (2:57)

La-La Land Records track list:
 * 1) Early Arrival (1:32)*
 * 2) Lost In The Wild(s) (2:59)
 * 3) A Lucky Man/Open Door (1:41)* (does not include the final orchestral outburst as the "bear" bursts through the door, which only lasts for a few seconds)
 * 4) Mighty Hunter (1:31)
 * 5) The Spirit (0:36)*
 * 6) Birds (2:22)
 * 7) The Fire / Breakfast (2:31)*
 * 8) Rich Man (0:58)*
 * 9) The Ravine (4:36)
 * 10) Bitter Coffee (3:01)
 * 11) Wound (1:38)*
 * 12) Stephen's Death (2:26)* (contains an unused ending from 1:45 onwards)
 * 13) The Cage / False Hope / No Matches (3:34)* (contains crossfades between the three cues, although they are separated in the film)
 * 14) Stalking (5:46)
 * 15) Deadfall / Bear Fight (6:21)
 * 16) The Discovery / Turn Your Back (5:01)* (contains a brief alternate segment at 1:34 – 1:46)
 * 17) The River (2:26)
 * 18) Rescued (6:03)
 * 19) End Title (Lost In The Wild)(s) (1:59)*
 * 20) The Edge (2:55)

Bonus tracks:
 * 1) False Hope (Alternate Take) (1:08)* (alternate of 0:56 – 2:00 of track 13, with more percussion and an additional brass melody)
 * 2) Rescued (Film Version Ending) (1:19)* (alternate ending of track 18, reflecting the film version)
 * 3) The Edge (Alternate Take) (3:00)* (alternate recording of track 20)
 * = Previously unreleased

Release
The Edge had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada on September 6, 1997. It was released in the U.S. on September 26, 1997 in 2,351 theaters, and grossed $7.7 million during its opening weekend. It went on to gross $27.8 million in the U.S. and $15.4 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $43.3 million in its theatrical run.

Reception
Upon release, The Edge received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Based on 50 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 62% approval rating, with an average score of 6.3/10. The consensus reads, "The Edge is an entertaining hybrid of brainy Mamet dialogue with brawny outdoors action—albeit one that sadly lacks as much bite as its furry antagonist." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, writing that the filmmakers did well by not going berserk with the action sequences as other films do. He did criticize the ending, saying that: "Having successfully negotiated almost its entire 118 minutes, The Edge shoots itself in the foot. After the emotionally fraught final moments, just as we are savoring the implications of what has just happened, the screen fades to black and we immediately get a big credit for Bart the Bear. Now Bart is one helluva bear (I loved him in the title role of The Bear), but this credit in this place is a spectacularly bad idea."

Home media
Following its initial release on VHS, The Edge was released on a non-anamorphic widescreen NTSC DVD in the US, with no extras, save the original theatrical trailer. Meanwhile, PAL DVDs released in Europe, Australia, etc. feature an anamorphic transfer, the trailer, a six-minute featurette, seven short cast and crew interviews and five text biographies.

As of 2017 (for its 20th Anniversary), the film has also been released on Blu-ray in the US and Germany, with the same extras as each country's DVD.

title: The Edge (1997 film)


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H. A. Lorentz

H. A. Lorentz may refer to:
 * Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (1853–1928), Dutch physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in 1902
 * Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz (1871–1944), Dutch explorer and diplomat

title: H. A. Lorentz


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The Blue Album

The Blue Album or Blue album may refer to:
 * Weezer (Blue Album), 1994 album by Weezer
 * The Blue Album (Valensia album), 2002 rock album by Valensia
 * Blue Album (Orbital album), 2004 electronica album
 * Blue (Diana Ross album), 2006 a soul/jazz album
 * Blue (Joni Mitchell album), 1971 album by singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
 * Blue (Third Eye Blind album), 1999 rock album
 * The Blue (album), 2007 metal album by Novembre
 * Lukas Graham (Blue Album), 2015 album by the band Lukas Graham
 * Sinii Albom (English: The Blue Album), 1981 rock album by Aquarium
 * The Blue Album, 2000 demo album by the All-American Rejects
 * The Blue Album, 2007 parody album by Black Lace
 * The Blue Album, 2010 album by Mr. Capone-E
 * Adolescents (album), 1981 punk album by the Adolescents
 * 1967–1970, a 1973 compilation of songs by the Beatles
 * 311 (album), 1995 alternative rock album by 311
 * One, a 2012 album by C418

title: The Blue Album


text:
Hammer Film Productions

Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series.

During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was, in part, due to its distribution partnerships with American companies United Artists, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, American International Pictures and Seven Arts Productions.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, the saturation of the horror film market by competitors and the loss of American funding forced changes to the previously lucrative Hammer formula with varying degrees of success. The company eventually ceased production in the mid-1980s. In 2000, the studio was bought by a consortium including advertising executive and art collector Charles Saatchi and publishing millionaires Neil Mendoza and William Sieghart. The company announced plans to begin making films again, but none was produced.

In May 2007, the company name was sold to a consortium headed by Dutch media tycoon John de Mol, who announced plans to spend some $50 million (£25m) on new horror films. The new organization acquired the Hammer group's film library of 295 pictures. Simon Oakes, who took over as CEO of the new Hammer, said, "Hammer is a great British brand—we intend to take it back into production and develop its global potential. The brand is still alive but no one has invested in it for a long time."

Since then, Hammer has produced several films, including Beyond the Rave (2008), Let Me In (2010), The Resident (2011), The Woman in Black (2012), The Quiet Ones (2014), and The Lodge (2019).

Early history (1935–1937)
In November 1934, William Hinds, a comedian and businessman, registered his film company, Hammer Productions Ltd. It was housed in a three-room office suite at Imperial House, Regent Street, London. The company name came from Hinds' stage name, Will Hammer, which he had taken from the area of London in which he lived, Hammersmith.

Work began almost immediately on the first film, a now lost comedy, The Public Life of Henry the Ninth at the MGM/ATP studios. Filming concluded on 2 January 1935. The film tells the story of Henry Henry, an unemployed London street musician, and the title was a "playful tribute" to Alexander Korda's The Private Life of Henry VIII which was Britain's first Academy Award for Best Picture nominee in 1934. During this time Hinds met Spanish émigré Enrique Carreras, a former cinema owner, and on 10 May 1935 they formed the film distribution company Exclusive Films, operating from an office at 60-66 National House, Wardour Street. Hammer produced four films distributed by Exclusive:

 * The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (1935; Phantom Ship in the U.S.), featuring Bela Lugosi
 * Sporting Love (1936)
 * Song of Freedom (1936), featuring Paul Robeson
 * The Bank Messenger Mystery (1936)

A slump in the British film industry forced Hammer into bankruptcy, and the company went into liquidation in 1937. Exclusive survived and on 20 July 1937 purchased the leasehold on 113-117 Wardour Street and continued to distribute films made by other companies.

Revival (1938–1955)
James Carreras, Enrique's son, joined Exclusive in 1938, closely followed by William Hinds' son, Anthony. At the outbreak of World War II, James Carreras and Anthony Hinds left to join the armed forces and Exclusive continued to operate in a limited capacity. In 1946, James Carreras rejoined the company after demobilisation. He resurrected Hammer as the film production arm of Exclusive with a view to supplying 'quota-quickies', cheaply made domestic films designed to fill gaps in cinema schedules and support more expensive features. He convinced Anthony Hinds to rejoin the company, and a revived Hammer Film Productions set to work on Death in High Heels, The Dark Road, and Crime Reporter. Not able to afford top stars, Hammer acquired the film rights to BBC radio series such as The Adventures of PC 49 and Dick Barton: Special Agent (an adaptation of the successful Dick Barton radio show). All were filmed at Marylebone Studios during 1947. During the production of Dick Barton Strikes Back (1948), it became apparent that the company could save money by shooting in country houses instead of studios. For the next production, Dr Morelle – The Case of the Missing Heiress (another radio adaptation), Hammer rented Dial Close, a 23 bedroom mansion beside the River Thames, at Cookham Dean, Maidenhead.

On 12 February 1949, Exclusive registered "Hammer Film Productions" as a company with Enrique and James Carreras, and William and Tony Hinds as directors. Hammer moved into the Exclusive offices in 113-117 Wardour Street, and the building was rechristened "Hammer House".

In August 1949, complaints from locals about noise during night filming forced Hammer to leave Dial Close and move into another mansion, Oakley Court, also on the banks of the Thames between Windsor and Maidenhead. Five films were produced there: Man in Black (1949), Room to Let (1949), Someone at the Door (1949), What the Butler Saw (1950), The Lady Craved Excitement (1950).

In 1950, Hammer moved again to Gilston Park, a country club in Harlow, Essex, which hosted The Black Widow, The Rossiter Case, To Have and to Hold and The Dark Light (all 1950).

In 1951, Hammer began shooting at their most fondly-remembered base, Down Place, on the banks of the Thames. The company signed a one-year lease and began its 1951 production schedule with Cloudburst. The house, virtually derelict, required substantial work, but it did not have the construction restrictions that had prevented Hammer from customising previous homes. A decision was made to remodel Down Place into a substantial, custom-fitted studio complex that became known as Bray Studios. The expansive grounds were used for much of the later location shooting in Hammer's films and are a key to the 'Hammer look'.

Also in 1951, Hammer and Exclusive signed a four-year production and distribution contract with Robert Lippert, an American film producer. The contract meant that Lippert Pictures and Exclusive effectively exchanged products for distribution on their respective sides of the Atlantic – beginning in 1951 with The Last Page and ending with 1955's Women Without Men (a.k.a. Prison Story). It was Lippert's insistence on an American star in the Hammer films he was to distribute that led to the prevalence of American leads in many of the company's productions during the 1950s. It was for The Last Page that Hammer made a significant appointment when they hired film director Terence Fisher, who played a critical role in the forthcoming horror cycle.

Towards the end of 1951, the one-year lease on Down Place expired, and with its growing success Hammer looked towards more conventional studio-based productions. A dispute with the Association of Cinematograph Technicians blocked this proposal, and the company purchased the freehold of Down Place instead. The house was renamed Bray Studios after the nearby village of Bray, and it remained Hammer's principal base until 1966. In 1953, the first of Hammer's science fiction films, Four Sided Triangle and Spaceways, were released.

The birth of Hammer Horror (1955–1959)
Hammer's first significant experiment with horror came in a 1955 adaptation of Nigel Kneale's BBC Television science fiction serial The Quatermass Experiment, directed by Val Guest. As a consequence of the contract with Robert Lippert, American actor Brian Donlevy was imported for the lead role and the title was changed to The Quatermass Xperiment to cash in on the new X certificate for horror films. The film was unexpectedly popular, and led to the popular 1957 sequel Quatermass 2 – again adapted from one of Kneale's television scripts, this time by Kneale and with a budget double that of the original: £92,000. In the meantime, Hammer produced another Quatermass -style horror film, X the Unknown, originally intended as part of the series until Kneale denied them permission to use his characters (the writer is known to have disliked Donlevy's performance as Quatermass). At the time, Hammer voluntarily submitted scripts to the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) for comment before production. Regarding the script of X the Unknown, one reader/examiner (Audrey Field) commented on 24 November:

"Well, no one can say the customers won't have had their money's worth by now. In fact, someone will almost certainly have been sick. We must have a great deal more restraint, and much more done by onlookers' reactions instead of by shots of 'pulsating obscenity', hideous scars, hideous sightless faces, etc, etc. It is keeping on and on in the same vein that makes this script so outrageous. They must take it away and prune. Before they take it away, however, I think the President [of the BBFC] should read it. I have a stronger stomach than the average (for viewing purposes) and perhaps I ought to be reacting more strongly."

Directors and writers

 * Michael Carreras, a.k.a. Henry Younger, writer/director of The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, and director/producer of The Lost Continent
 * Terence Fisher, directed 29 films for Hammer, including The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy
 * Freddie Francis, director of The Evil of Frankenstein and Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
 * Roy Ward Baker, director of Quatermass and the Pit, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and others
 * Tudor Gates, writer of The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins of Evil
 * John Gilling, writer and director of The Shadow of the Cat, The Plague of the Zombies, The Reptile, and The Mummy's Shroud
 * Anthony Hinds, a.k.a. John Elder, writer of The Curse of the Werewolf, Frankenstein Created Woman and others
 * Jimmy Sangster, writer of The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula and others; director of The Horror of Frankenstein and Lust for a Vampire
 * Peter Sasdy, director of Taste the Blood of Dracula and Hands of the Ripper
 * Seth Holt, director of Taste of Fear, The Nanny and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
 * Don Sharp, director of Kiss of the Vampire and Rasputin the Mad Monk
 * Alan Gibson, director of Crescendo, Dracula A.D. 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula
 * Don Houghton, writer of Dracula A.D. 1972, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and Shatter
 * Peter Sykes, director of Demons of the Mind and To the Devil a Daughter

Other personnel
The scores for many Hammer horror films, including The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula, were composed by James Bernard. Other Hammer musical personnel included Malcolm Williamson, John Hollingsworth, and Harry Robertson.

Production designer Bernard Robinson and cinematographer Jack Asher were instrumental in creating the lavish look of the early Hammer films, usually on a very restricted budget.

Actors
Hammer's horror films featured many actors who appeared repeatedly in a number of movies, forming an informal "Hammer repertory company".
 * Ralph Bates appeared in a number of Hammer films in the early 1970s when the company considered him as a possible replacement both for Peter Cushing in the role of Frankenstein and for Christopher Lee in the role of Dracula. Despite appearing in one film in each of these horror series, ultimately he permanently replaced neither actor.
 * Shane Briant had leading roles in several well-regarded Hammer films of the early 1970s, such as Straight On till Morning and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.
 * Veronica Carlson was a leading lady in Hammer films of the late 1960s.
 * Peter Cushing was Hammer's pre-eminent star from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s and remains, along with Christopher Lee, the actor most commonly associated with the company; in Hammer films he played Baron Victor Frankenstein six times and Doctor Van Helsing five times, along with many other characters, both heroic and villainous.
 * Michael Gough had supporting roles in Hammer's Dracula and The Phantom of the Opera. Like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, Gough also appeared in horror films made by Hammer's main U.K. rival, Amicus Productions, amongst others.
 * Andrew Keir was a Scottish actor who appeared in leading roles for Hammer in films such as Quatermass and the Pit and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb.
 * Christopher Lee was propelled to international stardom when he played Count Dracula in Hammer's 1958 version of the classic horror tale, a role he would play a further six times for Hammer in various sequels. He is today regarded as one of the biggest horror stars in film history.
 * Miles Malleson was employed by Hammer to provide comic relief in their earlier Gothic horror films, such as The Brides of Dracula.
 * Francis Matthews played second leads in several Hammer films, such as The Revenge of Frankenstein and Dracula: Prince of Darkness.
 * André Morell was employed mainly in supporting parts in British films of the 1950s and 1960s, but took lead roles for Hammer in films like The Shadow of the Cat and The Plague of the Zombies.
 * Ingrid Pitt had the lead roles in the Hammer vampire films The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula.
 * David Prowse, best known for physically portraying Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, appeared in the Hammer films The Horror of Frankenstein, Vampire Circus, and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. In both Frankenstein films, Prowse played the Monster.
 * Oliver Reed had his international film career launched by Hammer, for whom he gave powerful performances in films like The Curse of the Werewolf, Paranoiac and The Damned.
 * Michael Ripper was Hammer's most prolific actor, appearing in dozens of supporting roles for the company, usually as publicans, coach drivers, and minor officials, throughout the company's most successful years. His final Hammer horror film appearance was in Scars of Dracula in 1970.
 * Barbara Shelley was a prolific actress who performed in Hammer films, such as The Gorgon and Quatermass and the Pit.
 * Madeline Smith transitioned from a modelling career to acting and appeared in Hammer's Taste the Blood of Dracula before gaining more prominent roles in The Vampire Lovers and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.
 * Thorley Walters was a well known comedy actor in British films who played semi-comic supporting roles in Hammer films, such as The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein Created Woman and Vampire Circus.
 * George Woodbridge played many supporting roles and minor characters in films such as Dracula, The Revenge of Frankenstein, and The Mummy .

The Curse of Frankenstein
As production began on Quatermass 2, Hammer started to look for another U.S. partner willing to invest in and handle the American promotion of new product. They eventually entered talks with Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) and head, Eliot Hyman. During this period, two young American filmmakers, Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky, who later established Hammer's rival Amicus, submitted to a.a.p. a script for an adaptation of the novel Frankenstein. Although interested in the script, a.a.p. were not prepared to back a film made by Rosenberg and Subotsky, who had just one film to their credit. Eliot Hyman however, sent the script to his contact at Hammer. Rosenberg would often claim he 'produced' The Curse of Frankenstein, an exaggeration repeated in his obituary.

Although the novel by Mary Shelley was long since in the public domain, Anthony Hinds was unsure about the story, as Subotsky's script adhered closely to the plot of the 1939 Universal film Son of Frankenstein, featuring a second-generation Baron Frankenstein emulating his father, the original monster-maker. This put the project at risk of a copyright infringement lawsuit by Universal. In addition a great deal of polishing and additional material was needed, as the short script had an estimated running time of just 55 minutes, far less than the minimum of 90 minutes needed for distribution in the U.K. Accordingly, comments on the script from Hammer's Michael Carreras (who had joined his father James as producer in the early 1950s) were less than complimentary:

"The script is badly presented. The sets are not marked clearly on the shot headings, neither is DAY or NIGHT specified in a number of cases. The number of set-ups scripted is quite out of proportion to the length of the screenplay, and we suggest that your rewrites are done in master scene form."

Further revisions were made to the script, and a working title of Frankenstein and the Monster was chosen. Plans were made to shoot the film in Eastmancolor – a decision which caused worry at the BBFC. Not only did the script contain horror and graphic violence, but it would be portrayed in vivid colour.

The project was handed to Tony Hinds, who was less impressed with the script than Michael Carreras, and whose vision for the film was a simple black-and-white 'quickie' made in three weeks. Concerned that Subotsky and Rosenberg's script had too many similarities to the Universal films, Hinds commissioned Jimmy Sangster to rewrite it as The Curse of Frankenstein. Sangster's treatment impressed Hammer enough to rescue the film from the 'quickie' treadmill and to produce it as a colour film.

Sangster submitted his script to the BBFC for examination. Audrey Field reported on 10 October 1956:

"We are concerned about the flavour of this script, which, in its preoccupation with horror and gruesome detail, goes far beyond what we are accustomed to allow even for the 'X' category. I am afraid we can give no assurance that we should be able to pass a film based on the present script and a revised script should be sent us for our comments, in which the overall unpleasantness should be mitigated."

Regardless of the BBFC's stern warnings, Hinds supervised the shooting of an unchanged script.

The film was directed by Terence Fisher, with a look that belied its modest budget. British TV star Peter Cushing portrayed Baron Victor Frankenstein, and supporting actor Christopher Lee was cast as the imposingly tall, brutish Creature. With a budget of £65,000 and a cast and crew that would become the backbone of later films, Hammer's first Gothic horror went into production. The use of colour encouraged a previously unseen level of gore. Until The Curse of Frankenstein, horror films had not shown blood in a graphic way, or when they did, it was concealed by monochrome photography. In this film, it was bright red, and the camera lingered on it.

The film was an enormous success, not only in Great Britain, but also in the U.S., where it inspired numerous imitations from, amongst others, Roger Corman and American International Pictures (with their series largely based on Edgar Allan Poe – the so-called "Poe Cycle"). It found success on the European continent also, where Italian directors and audiences were particularly receptive.

Dracula
The huge box office success of The Curse of Frankenstein led to the inevitable desire for a sequel in The Revenge of Frankenstein, and an attempt to give the Hammer treatment to another horror icon. Dracula had been a successful film character for Universal in the past, and the copyright situation was more complicated than for Frankenstein. A legal agreement between Hammer and Universal was not completed until 31 March 1958 – after the film had been shot – and was 80 pages long.

Meanwhile, the financial arrangement between a.a.p. and Hammer had broken down when money promised by a.a.p. had not arrived. Hammer began looking for alternatives, and with the success of The Curse of Frankenstein signed with Columbia Pictures to distribute The Revenge of Frankenstein and two films from the defaulted a.a.p. deal, The Camp on Blood Island and The Snorkel. Hammer's financial success also meant the winding-down of the parent film distribution company Exclusive, leaving Hammer to concentrate on filmmaking.

Work continued on the script for Dracula, and the second draft was submitted to the BBFC. Audrey Field commented on 8 October 1957:

"'The uncouth, uneducated, disgusting and vulgar style of Mr Jimmy Sangster cannot quite obscure the remnants of a good horror story, though they do give one the gravest misgivings about treatment. [...] The curse of this thing is the Technicolor blood: why need vampires be messier eaters than anyone else? Certainly strong cautions will be necessary on shots of blood. And of course, some of the stake-work is prohibitive.'"

Despite the success of The Curse of Frankenstein, the financing of Dracula proved awkward. Universal was not interested, and the search for money eventually brought Hammer back to a.a.p.'s Eliot Hyman, through another of his companies, Seven Arts (which later merged with Warner Bros., now the successor-in-interest to a.a.p.). Although an agreement was drawn up, it is alleged that the deal was never realised and funding for Dracula eventually came from the National Film Finance Council (£33,000) and the rest from Universal in return for worldwide distribution rights. However, recent research suggests that the issue of who exactly funded Dracula is still not entirely clear (see Barnett, 'Hammering out a Deal: The Contractual and Commercial Contexts of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958)’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, published online 19 November 2013).

With a final budget of £81,412, Dracula began principal photography on 11 November 1957. Peter Cushing again had top-billing, this time as Doctor Van Helsing, whilst Christopher Lee starred as Count Dracula, with direction by Terence Fisher and a set design by Bernard Robinson that was radically different from the Universal adaptation; it was so radical, in fact, that Hammer executives considered paying him off and finding another designer.

Dracula was an enormous success, breaking box-office records in the U.K., the U.S. (where it was released as Horror of Dracula), Canada, and across the world. On 20 August 1958, the Daily Cinema reported:

"'Because of the fantastic business done world-wide by Hammer's Technicolor version of Dracula, Universal-International, its distributors, have made over to Jimmy Carreras' organisation, the remake rights to their entire library of classic films.'"

Establishing the fanged vampire in popular culture, Lee also introduced a dark, brooding sexuality to the character. The academic Christopher Frayling writes, “Dracula introduced fangs, red contact lenses, décolletage, ready-prepared wooden stakes and – in the celebrated credits sequence – blood being spattered from off-screen over the Count's coffin". The film magazine Empire ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. 1960 saw the release of the first in a long line of sequels, The Brides of Dracula, with Cushing returning to the role of Van Helsing, though Lee did not play Dracula again until Dracula: Prince of Darkness, released in 1966.

The Mummy
With the agreement in place, Hammer's executives had their pick of Universal International's horror icons and chose to remake The Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Mummy's Hand. All were to be filmed in colour at Bray Studios, by the same team responsible for The Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula. The Mummy (the title used for the remake of The Mummy's Hand, which also incorporated significant story elements from that film's first two sequels, The Mummy's Tomb and The Mummy's Ghost) was made in 1959, The Phantom of the Opera followed in 1962, and Hammer collaborated with William Castle on a remake of The Old Dark House in 1963. The Invisible Man was never produced.

Principal photography for The Mummy began on 23 February 1959 and lasted until 16 April 1959. Once again it starred both Peter Cushing (as John Banning) and Christopher Lee (as Kharis the Mummy), and was directed by Terence Fisher from a screenplay from Jimmy Sangster. The Mummy went into general release on 23 October 1959 and broke the box-office records set by Dracula the previous year, both in Great Britain and the U.S. when it was released there in December.

Sequels
Hammer consolidated their success by turning their most successful films into series. This was a practice they had making Dick Barton movies which they continued to their horror movies and other genres.

Quatermass
The success of The Quatermass Xperiment (1955; The Creeping Unknown in the U.S.) led to two sequels:
 * Quatermass 2 (1957; Enemy from Space in the U.S.)
 * Quatermass and the Pit (1967; Five Million Years to Earth in the U.S.)

There were also two Quatermass-style films:
 * X the Unknown (1956)
 * The Abominable Snowman (1957; The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas in the U.S.) – also based on a script by Nigel Kneale and directed by Val Guest

Frankenstein
Six sequels to The Curse of Frankenstein were released between 1958 and 1974:
 * The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
 * The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
 * Frankenstein Created Woman (1966)
 * Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)
 * The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
 * Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1973)

All starred Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein, except The Horror of Frankenstein (which was not a sequel, but a tongue-in-cheek remake of The Curse of Frankenstein), in which Ralph Bates took the title role. The Evil of Frankenstein stars Cushing but due to an agreement made with Universal to more closely pastiche their version of the Frankenstein story, it re-tells the Baron's history in flashbacks that bear no resemblance to the two earlier Hammer Frankenstein films and it portrays the Baron with a very different personality, resulting in a film which permanently breaks the chronological continuity of the series. Each subsequent movie in the series contains elements that do not relate to (or flatly contradict) the events of the movie that went before, whilst the characteristics of Cushing's Baron vary wildly from film to film, resulting in a series that does not progress as a self-contained narrative cycle.

David Prowse was the only actor to star as the creature twice in the Hammer Frankenstein series; he reprised the role from The Horror of Frankenstein in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.

Hammer also produced a half-hour pilot titled Tales of Frankenstein (1958) that was intended to premiere on American television; it was never picked up, but is now available on DVD. Anton Diffring took over Cushing's role of Baron Frankenstein.

Dracula
Eight sequels to Dracula were released between 1960 and 1974:

 * The Brides of Dracula (1960)
 * Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1965)
 * Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)
 * Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)
 * Scars of Dracula (1970)
 * Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
 * The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973; Count Dracula and his Vampire Bride in the U.S.)
 * The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974; The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula in the U.S.), featuring John Forbes-Robertson as Dracula in place of Christopher Lee.

Peter Cushing appeared in the first and final three sequels (with archive footage also used in Dracula: Prince of Darkness). Christopher Lee appeared in all the sequels except the first and last. The first five sequels were direct sequels to the original. The Brides of Dracula did not include Dracula but is still considered part of the series since Peter Cushing reprises his role as Doctor Van Helsing and battles vampire Baron Meinster (David Peel) and the film makes several direct references to the 1958 original. Christopher Lee returned as Dracula for the following six films, which employed ingenuity in finding new ways to resurrect the Count. Only archive footage of Cushing was used in Dracula: Prince of Darkness and he wouldn't return to the Dracula series until Dracula A.D. 1972. Hammer upped the graphic violence and gore with Scars of Dracula in an attempt to re-imagine the character to appeal to a younger audience, but the movie performed poorly at the box-office which led to a further change of style with the remaining three films. Dracula A.D. 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula were not period pieces like their predecessors, but had a contemporary 1970s London setting. Now set in a new timeline, Peter Cushing appeared in both films, playing Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing, as well as his own grandfather (Lawrence Van Helsing) in the prologue of the first of the two films. Cushing returned for a final time as Professor Van Helsing in the horror / martial arts crossover The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, a movie this time set primarily in 1904.

Christopher Lee grew increasingly disillusioned with the direction the character was being taken and with the poor quality of later scripts, although he did improve these slightly himself by adding lines of dialogue from the original novel. Lee speaks at least one line taken from Bram Stoker in every Dracula film he appeared in, except for Dracula: Prince of Darkness in which the Count does not talk at all (Lee claimed repeatedly he was appalled by his dialogue in that film and refused to speak it, but Jimmy Sangster rebutted that no dialogue was written for the character). He was also concerned about typecasting, and after filming The Satanic Rites of Dracula he finally quit the series. John Forbes-Robertson took over the role for one final outing as the Count.

The Mummy
Three sequels to The Mummy were released between 1964 and 1971:

 * The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
 * The Mummy's Shroud (1966)
 * Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee appeared in none of the Mummy sequels, which had stories and characters unrelated to the 1959 film and all three were relegated to second feature status, as by the mid-1960s, Hammer's films were often intended for double features. Often two films would be shot back-to-back with the same sets and costumes to save money, and then each film would be shown on a separate double feature to prevent audiences noticing any recycling, as for example in The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile (both 1966). The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb supported the slightly more prestigious The Gorgon, whilst The Mummy's Shroud was a second feature for Frankenstein Created Woman.

Blood from the Mummy's Tomb was a modern-day take on Bram Stoker's The Jewel of Seven Stars and featured Valerie Leon as a reincarnated Egyptian princess, rather than a mummy. The same novel served as the basis for the 1980 Charlton Heston film, The Awakening, and a later direct-to-video feature, Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy, starring Lou Gossett Jr.

Horror films
Other horror films produced by Hammer included:
 * The Hound of the Baskervilles (1958), starring Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes
 * The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
 * The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960; House of Fright on U.S. TV), a version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
 * The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Hammer's only werewolf film, and Oliver Reed's first starring role
 * The Shadow of the Cat (1961)
 * The Phantom of the Opera (1962), starring Herbert Lom
 * The Gorgon (1964), again starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee
 * The Witches (1966), starring Joan Fontaine
 * The Plague of the Zombies (1966), directed by John Gilling
 * The Reptile (1966), directed by John Gilling
 * Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966)
 * The Devil Rides Out (1968), adapted from the novel by Dennis Wheatley
 * Countess Dracula (1971), directed by Peter Sasdy, based on the stories surrounding the "Blood Countess" Elizabeth Báthory
 * Hands of the Ripper (1971), also directed by Peter Sasdy, about the daughter of Jack the Ripper
 * Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), another version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, this time with a gender-swapping twist

Vampire films
In addition to their Dracula series, Hammer produced a number of other horror movies on the vampire theme, including:
 * Kiss of the Vampire (1962; Kiss of Evil on U.S. TV), directed by Don Sharp
 * Vampire Circus (1972), directed by Robert Young
 * Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1974), directed by Brian Clemens

Hammer also made a loose trilogy of films, known as ″The Karnstein Trilogy″, based on Sheridan Le Fanu's early vampire novella Carmilla, written by newcomer Tudor Gates. These films include:
 * The Vampire Lovers (1970), featuring Polish actress Ingrid Pitt in the central role and directed by Roy Ward Baker
 * Lust for a Vampire (1970; To Love a Vampire on U.S. TV), directed by Jimmy Sangster
 * Twins of Evil (1971), directed by John Hough

Psychological thrillers
Running alongside production of their 1960s gothic horror films, Hammer made a series of what were known as "mini-Hitchcocks" mostly scripted by Jimmy Sangster, and directed by Freddie Francis and Seth Holt. These low-budget suspense thrillers, often in black-and-white, were made in the mould of Les Diaboliques (1955), although more often compared to the later Psycho. This series of mystery thrillers, which all had twist endings, comprised: In addition to these were more traditional thrillers such as:
 * Taste of Fear (1961; Scream of Fear in the U.S.)
 * Maniac (1963)
 * Paranoiac (1963)
 * Nightmare (1964)
 * Hysteria (1965)
 * Fanatic (1965; Die! Die! My Darling! in the U.S.)
 * The Nanny (1965)
 * Crescendo (1970)
 * Fear in the Night (1972)
 * Demons of the Mind (1972)
 * Straight On till Morning (1972)
 * The Snorkel (1958)
 * Passport to China (1960) a Cold War thriller
 * The Full Treatment (1960)

Prehistoric films
Hammer had some success with films set in (or with strong connections to) the prehistoric/ancient world, including:
 * She (1965), based on the novel of the same name by H. Rider Haggard, this starred Ursula Andress and John Richardson alongside Cushing and Lee
 * One Million Years B.C. (1966), with Raquel Welch and John Richardson
 * Slave Girls (1967; Prehistoric Women in the U.S.), with Martine Beswick
 * The Viking Queen (1967)
 * The Vengeance of She (1967)
 * The Lost Continent (1968), starring Eric Porter, adapted from another Dennis Wheatley novel
 * When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970), directed by Val Guest
 * Creatures the World Forgot (1971), directed by Don Chaffey

War films
Hammer made several war films over the years:
 * The Steel Bayonet (1957)
 * The Camp on Blood Island (1958)
 * Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
 * Yesterday's Enemy (1959)
 * The Secret of Blood Island (1965)

Comedies
Hammer were less well known for their comedies, but they made a number in the 1950s and early 1960s, returning to the genre in the 1970s:
 * Up the Creek (1958) and its sequel Further Up the Creek (1958)
 * I Only Arsked! (1958)
 * Don't Panic Chaps! (1959)
 * The Ugly Duckling (1959)
 * Watch It, Sailor! (1961)
 * A Weekend with Lulu (1961)
 * The Old Dark House (1963)
 * The Anniversary (1968), with Bette Davis

Science fiction
Hammer occasionally made science fiction movies. Notable examples were:
 * The Damned (1963)
 * Moon Zero Two (1969)

Swashbucklers
Hammer made a number of swashbucklers, including:
 * The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954)
 * Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960)
 * The Pirates of Blood River (1961), a swashbuckler starring Christopher Lee
 * Captain Clegg (1962; Night Creatures in the U.S.), an adventure starring Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed
 * The Scarlet Blade (1963)
 * The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), a period adventure starring Christopher Lee and Barry Warren
 * A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)

Imperial adventure films
Hammer had some success with films set in the British Empire, such as:
 * The Stranglers of Bombay (1959)
 * The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
 * The Brigand of Kandahar (1965)

Crime films
On 29 May 1968, Hammer was awarded the Queen's Award to Industry in recognition of their contribution to the British economy. The presentation ceremony took place on the steps of the Castle Dracula set at Pinewood Studios, during the filming of Dracula Has Risen from the Grave.
 * Hell is a City (1959), a crime thriller starring Stanley Baker
 * Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960; Never Take Candy from a Stranger in the U.S.), a drama about child abuse starring Patrick Allen and Felix Aylmer
 * Cash on Demand (1961)

Last years of film production
Hammer films had always sold, in part, on their violent and sexual content. In the late 1960s, with the release of Hollywood films like Bonnie and Clyde, Rosemary's Baby, and The Wild Bunch, the studio struggled to maintain its place in the market. Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby was a successful example of psychological horror, while Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch exposed mainstream audiences to more explicit gore, and were more expertly staged than Hammer films. Meanwhile, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) had set a new standard for graphic violence in horror films.

In 1969 Tony Hinds resigned from the Hammer board and retired from the industry. Hammer was not the same without him; it responded to the new reality by bringing in new writers and directors, testing new characters, and attempting to rejuvenate their vampire and Frankenstein films with new approaches to familiar material. (1974's Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, for example, features a scene where the Baron treads on a discarded human brain.)

The company soon realised, however, that if they could not be as gory as the new American productions, they could follow a trend in European films of the time and instead play up the sexual content of their films.

While the studio remained true to previous period settings in their 1971 release Vampire Circus, Dracula AD 1972 and The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), for example, abandoned period settings in pursuit of a modern-day setting and a "swinging London" feel. The Satanic Rites of Dracula, then called Dracula is Dead... and Well and Living in London, indulged the turn toward self-parody suggested by the title, with some humour appearing in the script, undercutting any sense of horror. These latter films were not successful and drew fire not only from critics but from Christopher Lee himself, who refused to appear in any more Dracula films after these. Speaking at a press conference in 1973 to announce ''Dracula is Dead... and Well and Living in London'', Lee said: "I'm doing it under protest... I think it is fatuous. I can think of twenty adjectives – fatuous, pointless, absurd. It's not a comedy, but it's got a comic title. I don't see the point."

TV adaptations
Hammer Films had commercial success with some atypical output during this period, with film versions of several British TV situation comedies, most notably the ITV series On the Buses (1971). The first spin-off made was Hammer's biggest domestic earner of the 1970s and was popular enough to produce two sequels, Mutiny on the Buses (1972) and Holiday on the Buses (1973), seeing Hammer return to their pre-horror practice of adapting television properties for the cinema as they had once done with PC 49 and Dick Barton.

Other adaptations included:
 * Nearest and Dearest (1972)
 * That's Your Funeral (1972)
 * Love Thy Neighbour (1973)
 * Man at the Top (1973)
 * Man About the House (1974)

Final films
In the latter part of the 1970s, Hammer made fewer films, and attempts were made to break away from the then-unfashionable Gothic horror films on which the studio had built its reputation. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974), a co-production with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers which attempted to combine Hammer's brand of horror with the then popular martial arts genre, and To the Devil a Daughter (1976), their third adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel, were both quite successful at the U.K. box office, but Hammer was unable to capitalise on them as most of the profits went to other financial backers.

Hammer Films struggled on throughout the 1970s before going into liquidation in 1979. Hammer's last production, in 1979, was a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 thriller The Lady Vanishes, starring Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd. (The Encyclopedia of British Film characterized the remake as "about as witless and charmless as could be conceived".)

Brand-name resurrection (2007–present)
In the 2000s, although the company seemed to be in hibernation, frequent announcements had been made of new projects. In 2003, for example, the studio announced plans to work with Australian company Pictures in Paradise to develop new horror films for the DVD and cinema market. On 10 May 2007, it was announced that Dutch producer John De Mol had purchased the Hammer Films rights via his private equity firm Cyrte Investments. In addition to holding the rights to over 300 Hammer films, De Mol's company plans to restart the studio. According to an article in Variety detailing the transaction, the new Hammer Films was to be run by former Liberty Global execs Simon Oakes and Marc Schipper. In addition, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair of L.A.-based Spitfire Pictures are on board to produce two to three horror films or thrillers a year for the U.K.-based studio. The first output under the new owners is Beyond the Rave, a contemporary vampire story which premièred free online, exclusively, on Myspace in April 2008 as a 20 × 4 min. serial.

The company began shooting a new horror/thriller film in County Donegal in 2008, backed by the Irish Film Board. The film is titled Wake Wood and was scheduled for release in the United Kingdom in the autumn of 2009. The film was produced in collaboration with the Swedish company Solid Entertainment, makers of the vampire film Frostbiten, which pays homage to the Hammer vampire films among others. It was given a limited UK/Ireland theatrical release in March 2011. In the summer of 2009, Hammer produced in the U.S. The Resident, a thriller directed and co-written by Finnish filmmaker Antti Jokinen and starring Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christopher Lee. It was released in the US and UK in March 2011. In 2010, Hammer, in partnership with Overture Films and Relativity Media, released Let Me In, a remake of Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In.

In June 2010, it was announced that Hammer acquired Wake, a script by Chris Borrelli for an action feature to be directed by Danish filmmaker Kasper Barfoed. In February 2012, the Hammer and Alliance Films adaptation of The Woman in Black was released. Daniel Radcliffe stars as lawyer Arthur Kipps. Jane Goldman wrote the film's screenplay, with James Watkins in the director's chair. In April 2012, the company announced it was to make a sequel to The Woman in Black titled The Woman in Black: Angel of Death. Also in 2012, Hammer and Alliance Films announced two more films going into production during 2012, entitled The Quiet Ones and Gaslight. The Quiet Ones tells the story of an unorthodox professor (Jared Harris) who uses controversial methods and leads his best students off the grid to take part in a dangerous experiment: to create a poltergeist. It was released on 10 April 2014 in the UK and 25 April in the US.

After a few quiet years, the film The Lodge had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2019. It was scheduled to be released on 15 November 2019, by NEON.

In September 2019, Hammer signed a worldwide distribution deal with StudioCanal for its catalogue.

In November 2021, it was announced Network Distributing had united with Hammer to form Hammer Studios Ltd. In August 2023, it was announced Hammer Film Productions, its affiliated companies, and back catalogue had been acquired by the John Gore Organisation.

In July 2022, Hammer Film Productions Ltd was incorporated by independent filmmaker and writer, Ronan Williams  via Companies House in the UK.

Current films

 * Beyond the Rave (2008)
 * Let Me In (2010)
 * The Resident (2011)
 * Wake Wood (2011)
 * The Woman in Black (2012)
 * The Quiet Ones (2014)
 * The Woman in Black: Angel of Death (2015)
 * The Lodge (2019)
 * Doctor Jekyll (2023)

Critical response
Hammer's horror films were often praised by critics for their visual style, although rarely taken seriously. "Altogether this is a horrific film and sometimes a crude film, but by no means an unimpressive piece of melodramatic storytelling" wrote one critic of Dracula in The Times in 1958. Critics who specialise in cult films, like Kim Newman, have praised Hammer Horror more fully, enjoying their atmosphere, craftsmanship and occasional camp appeal. In A History of Horror, Mark Gatiss remarked that Hammer's earlier films were taken seriously at the time, in comparison to the trademark camp appeal of their later works.

In a 2013 retrospective for The Guardian, Michael Newton wrote:"Shot in Eastmancolor, the first batch of Hammer Horror movies – Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959) – are among the loveliest-looking British films of the decade... The early Hammer films offer a last gasp of British romanticism, the solid sets drenched in a soft brilliance of shadows, of greys, reds and blues; when these films stray into the far woods, it's always autumn there, never spring. The leaves fall, and the light shines golden and clear; compared with the well-lit contemporary look of the 'angry young men' films, Hammer's mournful sumptuousness must have been even more striking. They play out a 1950s reverie of contagion, lust and post-Suez anxiety. Questions of guilt circulate in these films, where the virtuous can be transformed into vampires through one moment of sexual weakness..."

Journey to the Unknown
This was a fantasy, science fiction and supernatural anthology series which dealt with normal people in everyday situations that found themselves having to experience something out of the ordinary. 17 episodes of approximately 50 minutes each were produced by Hammer Film Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. In America, eight episodes from the series were broadcast as four made-for-television films consisting of twinned episodes along with new segment introduction footage provided by actors Patrick McGoohan, Sebastian Cabot and Joan Crawford serving as hosts. The series was first aired on ABC from 26 September, 1968 to 30 January, 1969, prior to broadcast in the UK on ITV in 1969.

Hammer House of Horror
In 1980, Hammer Films created an anthology series for British television, Hammer House of Horror. Shown on ITV, it ran for 13 episodes with a running length of approximately 54 minutes each. In a break from their cinema format, these self-contained episodes featured plot twists which usually saw the protagonists fall into the hands of that episode's horror at the end. The series featured a different kind of horror each week, including witches, werewolves, ghosts, devil worship and voodoo, but also included non-supernatural horror themes such as cannibalism, confinement and serial killers. All the stories were set in contemporary England.

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense
A second television anthology series, Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense, was produced in 1984 and ran for 13 episodes. The stories were originally to have been the same 54 min. length as their previous series, but it was decided to expand them to feature-length to market them as 'movies of the week' in the US. The running time varied from 69 to 73 minutes. The series was made in association with 20th Century Fox (who broadcast films as Fox Mystery Theater) and as such, the sex and violence seen in the earlier series was toned down considerably for US television. Each episode featured a star, often American, known to US viewers. This series was Hammer's final production of the 20th century, and the studio went into semi-permanent hiatus.

title: Hammer Film Productions


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Clodia (wife of Metellus)

Clodia (born Claudia, c. 95 or 94 BC), nicknamed Quadrantaria ("Quarter", from quadrantarius, the price of a visit to the public baths), Nola ("The Unwilling", from the verb nolo, in sarcastic reference to her alleged wantonness), Medea Palatina ("Medea of the Palatine") by Cicero (see below), and occasionally referred to in scholarship as Clodia Metelli ("Metellus's Clodia"), was one of three known daughters of the ancient Roman patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher.

Like many other women of the Roman elite, Clodia was very well-educated in Greek and philosophy, with a special talent for writing poetry. Her life, which was characterized by perpetual scandal, is immortalized in the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero and, it is generally believed, in the poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus.

Early life
Clodia Metelli was born into the ancient Roman family of the Claudii. This was an established, aristocratic family whose history stretched back into the legends of Ancient Rome and who were active in the political construct of the city serving as consuls and senators onwards from the third century BC. She was born circa 97 BC, a daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, but her mother is unknown. Many historians believe she was a Caecilia Metella, possibly Caecilia Metella Balearica, or her cousin, Caecilia Metella daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Diadematus. Another theory is that she was a Servilia Caepione. Clodia had three brothers: Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul in 54 BC), Gaius Claudius Pulcher (praetor in 56 BC), and Publius Clodius Pulcher (tribune of the plebs in 58 BC); and two sisters, who were married to Quintus Marcius Rex and Lucullus respectively. It is not certain whether Clodia was the eldest or a middle daughter, it is only known that she was not the youngest sister. Along with her brother Clodius, she changed her patrician name from Claudia to Clodia, with a plebeian connotation.

Marriage
Clodia was married to Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, her first cousin, with whom she had a daughter Caecilia Metella. The marriage was not happy. Clodia had several affairs with married men (probably including the poet Catullus) and slaves. Arguments with Metellus Celer were constant, often in public. When he died in strange circumstances in 59 BC, Clodia was suspected of poisoning him.

Controversies
As a widow, Clodia became known for taking several other lovers, including Marcus Caelius Rufus, Catullus's friend. This particular affair caused an immense scandal. After the relationship with Caelius was over in 56 BC, Clodia publicly accused him of attempted poisoning. The accusation led to a murder charge and trial. Caelius' defense advocate was Cicero, who took a harsh approach against her, recorded in his speech Pro Caelio. Cicero had a personal interest in the case, as Clodia's brother Clodius was Cicero's most bitter political enemy. Cicero accused Clodia of being a seducer and a drunkard in Rome and in Baiae, and alluded to the persistent rumors of an incestuous relationship with Clodius. Cicero stated that he "would [attack Caelius' accusers] still more vigorously, if I had not a quarrel with that woman's [Clodia's] husband—brother, I meant to say; I am always making this mistake. At present I will proceed with moderation ... for I have never thought it my duty to engage in quarrels with any woman, especially with one whom all men have always considered everybody's friend rather than anyone's enemy." He declared her a disgrace to her family and nicknamed Clodia the Medea of the Palatine. Caelius was found not guilty.

Plutarch claims that Cicero's own marriage to Terentia suffered from Terentia's persistent suspicions that Cicero was conducting an illicit affair with Clodia.

Later life
In 45 BC, Cicero hoped to buy a property owned by Clodia. Marilyn Skinner argues that the two must have reconciled following the trial of Caelius. Nothing more is known of her life past this point.

Identification with Lesbia
The poet Catullus wrote several love poems about a frequently unfaithful woman he called Lesbia, identified in the mid-second century AD by the writer Apuleius (Apologia 10) as a "Clodia". This practice of replacing actual names with ones of identical metrical value was frequent in Latin poetry of that era. In modern times, the resulting identification of Lesbia with Clodia Metelli, based largely on her portrayal by Cicero, is usually treated as accepted fact, despite occasional challenges.

The predominant view, however, identifies Clodia with Lesbia primarily on the basis of Catullus 79.1-2:

"Pulcher", the Latin word for "beautiful" (see line 1 above), is also the cognomen of Clodia's brother, Publius Clodius Pulcher. This is the only one of Catullus' poems in which a character named "Lesbius", the masculine form of the name, appears and Lesbia is present in close proximity. Accusations of incest (as here) against the brother and sister also appear in Cicero. Reading Publius Clodius Pulcher for "Lesbius" makes one element of the poem a pun on his name and another a reminder of one of the political attacks Cicero aimed at P. Clodius Pulcher.

Cultural depictions

 * Clodia makes several appearances in the Roma Sub Rosa series of historical mystery novels by the American author Steven Saylor.
 * Clodia plays a significant role in several books of the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts.
 * Clodia also plays a significant role in the novel Lustrum (Conspirata in the US) by Robert Harris, the second book in a trilogy about the life of Cicero. She makes a final appearance in the third book, Dictator, where Cicero shames her into obscurity as retribution for her actions against his wife, Terentia.
 * Clodia is a central character in the novel Clodia by Robert DeMaria.
 * Clodia plays a role in the Ides of March, an epistolary novel by Thornton Wilder covering the events leading to the assassination of Julius Caesar. The author describes Clodia's relationship with Catullus and suggests that Clodia's scandalous lifestyle is inspired by anger at the perceived hypocrisy of her upbringing and by being abused as a child.
 * Historical Consultant Jonathan Stamp of the HBO/BBC series Rome identifies Clodia as the primary basis for the character of Atia of the Julii as little detail is known of the historical Atia.
 * Clodia and Catullus are the main characters in Counting the Stars, a novel by Helen Dunmore.

title: Clodia (wife of Metellus)