I never really think its practical to choose a favourite film from the thousands I've seen over time. I could probably pick a top five, but at least two of the titles contained in the five would change week by week. American Werewolf In London would certainly be in there, as would James Whale’s Frankenstein.
Back in the early days of Channel 4, when I was only about eight years old, at around 10pm on Saturday nights, they ran a long season (which must’ve gone on for around a year) of black and white horror movies. This was my first introduction to names such as Lugosi, Chaney, Lorre, Karloff and so on. A lot of the films I saw back then (including most of the Peter Lorre titles) I haven’t seen since, but this was my first experience of such horror staples as Werewolves, vampires, mad scientists, creatures from black lagoons, invisible men, mummies, and, of course, the Frankenstein story. When its seen today, almost eighty (!) years after it was first released, it’s easy to find Frankenstein a little tame in some respects. It’s acted in the theatrical style which was the norm at the time and some of the scenes of horror which shocked and amazed audiences back then are now hardly likely to frighten anyone over the age of ten. It’s easy to pick faults with these aspects, as it is with many films of the period, and certainly the Universal horrors. But thats not to say that its not still a competely watchable and admirable film. You have to consider these films in the context of their production, budgets and time period to understand exactly what made them so significant to the development of the genre and the industry.
A brief synopsis, just in case there really is no-one out there who doesnt know the basics of the story - Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is a scientist on the verge of a medical breakthrough for mankind. His dream to artificially create life finally comes to fruition when one stormy night he manages to breath the spark of life into a lifeless creature (Boris Karloff). Scavenging the graveyards at night, Frankenstein has assembled the creature from body parts of the dead and has given him the degenerated brain of a criminal. But when the creature comes to life it finds nothing but appalled reactions and horror at its monstrous looks and constant torture at the hands of Fritz (Dwight Frye), Frankenstein’s hunchback assistant. Frightened and lonely the creature breaks free and attacks its oppressors. Roaming the local woods it eventually stumbles into a little girl playing by the lakeside. Enjoying the girl’s company the two watch daisies floating in the water. To show his gratitude the creature tosses the girl in the lake to make her float too, only to see her drown in front of his own eyes. Frightened and confused he retreats into the woods once again but soon a mob of villagers, lead by Henry Frankenstein himself, follows his trail to put an end to the presumed monster.
Much like its stablemate in fiction lore, Dracula, Frankenstein has a varied and often studied history. The story was first written by Mary Shelley in 1818. Within a decade, play interpretations of the text adapted for the stage had started to appear. In 1910, it was first adapted for the screen in a silent short produced by Thomas Edison, and starring Charles Ogle as the monster. The most famous version is, of course, this version - James Whale's 1931 film, which not only made Boris Karloff into an international star, but fixed an image of the creature in the public's consciousness that 80 years on, is still THE image which will form in peoples minds when they think of the Frankenstein story. Since Karloff first wore the 40-plus pound costume and allowed makeup designer Jack Pierce to build casts onto his face (something he did three more times despite the discomfort he often said it caused him: in Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein), dozens of other actors have played the part, from Christopher Lee to Robert DeNiro, but none has left close to the same impression. Considering Karloff's impact as thr monster, it's ironic to consider that the Frankenstein project was originally developed with the idea of putting Bela Lugosi (fresh off the success of Dracula earlier the same year) in the monster's boots. Lugosi turned the role down because their was no dialogue, and Whale brought in Karloff instead. Of course, years later, Lugosi did play the role, in 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (the fourth sequel). And Karloff returned briefly to the series in 1944's House of Frankenstein, albeit not as the monster.
Karloffs performance isnt the sole reason for this movie to still be thought of so fondly though - James Whale contributed just as much, if not more, to ensuring the project has stood the test of time. Often though of as someone who saw his films as something to be looked on with pride, rather than just disposable entertainment, there are many examples in Frankenstein which attest to the attention to detail Whale liked to exhibit. Again, what we see on scren today is undoubtably dated, but theres no denying that the sets are impressive still - for example, creepy, mad scientists labs should always look as they look here - see below for proof, and no matter how much modern day pictures might like to try and attempt to receate the feel of these early movies, they'll never quite manage to get the look right.
While the source material for the film is the novel by Mary Shelley, the version we see on screen is much closer to Peggy Webling's stage version of the book which played to theatres in the latter part of the 1800s. A number of key elements of Shelleys work are gone: the arctic chase, the concept of a speaking monster, the friendship with the blind man, and the creature's desire for companionship. With the exception of the scenes set in the Arctic, all of these went on to be included in Bride of Frankenstein. Removing the book from the equation and watching on its own terms, Frankenstein works exceptionally well.
Its documented that James Whale pulled out all the stops in attempting to frighten audiences, who were of course much more susceptable than the modern day MTV generation. There are frequent loud bangs, thuds, claps of thunder and so on punctuating the dialogue. At a time when sound in motion pictures was still in its relative infancy, I would imagine this worked very well. Likewise, Whale also used visual imagery to unnerve audiences - lightening flashes, ominous, lurking shadows and dark corners and so on. The opening scene, set in a cemetary durning a funeral, is superb from beginning to end and the scene in which Henry finally succeeds in animating the creature against a backdrop of thunder, lightening and chaos is one of the most famous in the history of early cinema. Seen today, its still effective, but remember that at the time audiences werent used to such things on the screen in front of them. The monster's first appearance is equally memorable. Whale carefully builds up to this moment, keeping the creature mostly hidden from the camera until he is ready for the big unveiling. The art of keeping the big scares hidden until the right time and building things up effectively seems to be an almost dead art in comparison today.
Its well know that despite the fame the role brought, Karloff was not listed in the film's opening credits (which simply bill the moster as being played by a question mark), although his name does appear on the credits at the end. Despite the lack of dialogue and facial expressions (probably made impossible by the heavy cotton and clay makeup) Karloff managed to make the monster both fearsome and yet sympathetic - a sad creature who has been rejected by his creator and sent out into the world as an innocent to discover how harsh the world can be on his own. The famous scene with Maria, the little girl by the pond, is an obvious case in point. These two share a gentle bond - she doesn't fear him initially. He in turn is simply curious about her. When he inadvertently drowns Maria, her death is not the result of any brutality or intended violence on the part of the monster, but because he fails to comprehend that all fragile and beautiful things (such as flowers) cannot float. This is certainly one of the film's most best known scenes. Again, its well known that when the film was re-released in the late 30s, it was missing the end of the scene. It wasnt until the film was released again in the 1960s that it weas seen again, and the scene wasnt seen at all in the UK until a TV showing in the early 80s (which may well have been as part of that C4 season I mentioned earlier)
Karloffs performance was brilliant in its subtlety, but on the flip side of the coin, Colin Clive was over the top and flamboyant in his portrayal of Dr Henry Frankenstein. As much as Karloff excelled in his role, Clive did in his. To all intents and purposes, he is a typical mad scientist, complete with wild facial expressions, crazy, googly eyes and misunderstood genius. As with the monster, theres a lot of sympathy for the creator. Dr Frankenstein is a brilliant man who has spent so long being consumed by a passion to create a life that its driven him to the brink of madness, and its only when he realises the gravity of what he has created that he attempts to make amends for what he has done.
Making up the supporting cast were a selection of respected theatre actors and actresses of the time, and an honourable mention has to go to Dwight Frye's hunchback assistant, Fritz - and not Igor, as sometimes incorrectly referenced. Its Fritz's taunting and cruelty which eventually causes the monster to escape from the castle and make his way out into the world.
To me at least, the 1931 Frankenstein is the strongest of the plethora of horror films released between 1930-1944. Its atmospheric, the sets are incredible (I mentioned the lab, but the windmill at the finale is every bit as impressive too) and theres depth and character on display which is still evident almost 80 years down the line. To my mind, Karloff, Whale and Jack Pierce created one of the greatest movie monsters of all tme. Its a legacy which was eventaully diluted to a small degree as the sequels got more and more diverse and camp, but if anyone thinks of Frankenstein today, the first image in their minds will most likely be the Karloff image - the square head, the shambling walk and the bolts through the neck. Likewise, thats the mage which has been used for Frankensteins monster incarnations through the years in cartoons and TV shows.
Frankenstein has been released lots of times in various stand alone releases, boxsets, and so on, in the years since DVD came along. On region one, there was a recent 75th anniversary release, a release as part of the Universal monster collection issued five years ago as a precursor to the woeful Van Helsing movie, and numerous single disc releases before then. On region two in the UK as far as I know, we have a bare bones single disc, we have a double disc release of Frankestein and Bride Of Frankenstein, and a more recent release with the original, Bride, and House Of Frankenstein.
Given the age, its no suprise that its a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, but the region 2 and 75th anniversary discs have a pretty good transfer given the age. The soundtrack, however, isnt superb by any means - theres a fair bit of hissing and crackling, but I would think its as good as we're ever going to get on a film as old as this one is. Extras vary depending on your choice of release and region. Depending on what you choose, there are commentaries by film historians, featurettes, retrospectives, trailers and so on which will interest most people.
Of the three main players in the film, Boris Karloff, who was already a prolific screen actor and one of the founder members of the Screen Actors Guild, went on to have a successful screen and stage career until he retired back to England and lived to 1969, when he died aged 81. French born Colin Clive, another stage actor originally, had a very well documented battle against alcoholism and died of pneumonia in 1937, when he was only 37 years old. James Whale was reasonably prolific for years on stage and screen until he retired from the industry in 1941 amidst controversies about his sexuality and various difficulites with his 1937 movie, The Road Back. A memorial staue was put up on the site of a multi screen cinema in his home town of Dudley in 2002. The 1998 film, Gods And Monsters, is supposedly an account of his later life, but those who were close to him say its largely fictionalised and unflattering.
I would hazzard a guess that perhaps 90% of people reading this will have already seen Frankenstein. Anyone who hasnt should try and get hold of a copy - like many other films of the era they were once often seen on TV, but now seem to be largely ignored. Its comfortably one of my favourite films, and will probably always remain in that top five I mentioned in the first paragraph.
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