In this version Frankenstein creates his monster with the aid of some kind of chemicals. The Monster and the special effects are top notch. The story itself is provided in a compressed form, but, nevertheless, it is adapted in a very interesting way.
There's a scene in which Frankenstein looks in the mirror and sees the reflection of the Monster created by him. It is, in many ways, a canonical scene in which Frankenstein and the Monster are the one.
The film was banned in the year of its release because of the violent scenes. For decades the film considered lost until it was found again in the early 1980s
Immediately after Bela Lugosi played Dracula in the Universal film from 1931, he was immediately offered the role of the speechless monster in "Frankenstein". But after reading the script, Lugosi turned down the role, since the Monster had no lines (unlike the book), and he would have to be in massive makeup throughout the film.
Director of the upcoming film James Whale begins to search for an actor for the role of the Monster. In actors canteen Whale met then little-known actor Boris Karloff. Whale was impressed by the facial structure of Boris which prompted him to offer the role. At that time, the Englishman Boris Karloff took odd jobs and for many years had been playing only supporting roles. By 1931, he had played in 60 films, but never gained fame. All this was until the time he was approached by James Whale who offered him to play in "Frankenstein." Karloff accepted it.
For the role of the Monster, Karloff was laid the makeup on for 4 hours. The makeup with the costume and huge boots weighed more than 20 pounds. The makeup was created by Jack Pierce, who was "the make-up artist magician” of the Universal Studio. In order to give the Monster more "deadly" appearance, Pierce put mortician’s wax on Karloff’s eyelids. Karloff took out a dental bridge, due to which his cheeks become sunken. All together it created the appearance of one of the most famous movie monsters of all time.
Karloff played his role perfectly. He remains the best performer of the Monster.
Boris endowed his character with a great compassion. The Monster was not understood by people, they were afraid of him, while he wanted to do good for them. The audience sympathized with him. The main fans of the film were children who like anybody else understood and empathized with the Monster.
The role of Frankenstein was brilliantly played by Colin Clive. He managed to convey the obsession and madness of his character perfectly.
As in the case of the insane assistant in "Dracula", Dwight Frye played the similar role in "Frankenstein" - a hunchback assistant of the mad doctor.
Edward Van Sloan, who played Van Helsing in "Dracula", is also present in the film as Dr. Waldman – the professor of the university in which Frankenstein studied. Dr. Waldman embodies the moral side of the story. He initially realizes how gruesome the experience of Frankenstein is, and tries to talk him out of it, citing different scientific theories. But Frankenstein was not interested in theories, he was completely obsessed with his crazy idea.
The film is very different from the original novel. But thanks to this fact it became an independent product. In the book Frankenstein worked independently, but in the movie he had a hunchback assistant named Fritz. This phenomenon later became widespread in the genre. One of the major differences from the novel is that in the film the whole emphasis is on the fact that the Monster was originally transplanted abnormal brain (it happened because of Fritz’s error). In the book there was no description whose brain Frankenstein used for his Creation. In addition, in the film the Monster was completely opposite to his book prototype. In the novel the Creature was endowed with great intelligence, which even exceeded the human's. In the movie the Monster is endowed with childish intellect, which has not much awareness of anything.
Frankenstein in cinema
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