SOURCE-Universal 100th Anniversary Spotlight Collection DVD
I am just going to assume if you are reading my 31 Days of Horror reviews you have seen or at least know the plot of Universal's first Frankenstein film. In 1931 this film that is considered a classic of the early days of talkies was released.
Directed by the great James Whales and it is adapted from a play,Frankenstein is the second film in what is called the Universal Classic Monsters series of films,the first was Dracula. While this wasn't the first time Frankenstein was made into a film,there is a silent film version made by Edison Studios,the Universal Frankenstein is the film that most people think of when you say Frankenstein.
I can't remember the first time I became aware of Frankenstein and this film version but I do know the first time I saw it. I was 4 years old and my favorite Uncle and his wife were moving to Brownsville Texas. My mother and I had traveled out there with them to help them get moved into their new place. And every day after my Uncle got home from work,he was working for border patrol, he and I would watch Ultraman on TV. One day while watching Ultraman a ad aired letting us know that Friday night the channel was airing Frankenstein. My Uncle was pretty happy to hear this news and I was uber happy cause I was going to get to see a film that my Uncle was telling me "Is a classic horror film that everyone should see."
My memory of seeing Frankenstein for the first time are a bit foggy, hey it was over 40 year ago. But there is a few parts that I clearly remember. Like the first time we see Frankenstein's Monster. Yep Frankenstein is the name of the scientist that created the creature that is now known to most people as Frankenstein. The other part that sticks out in my memory is when the monster is being tortured by Fritz. That scene scared me as a kid and even now when I watch it the scene gets under my skin.
Frankenstein is far from my favorite of the Universal Classic Horror films. But it is much better than The Mummy or Dracula. A big part of that is unlike Dracula Frankenstein does not feel like someone filmed a stage play.
While this isn't Boris Karloff's first role it is his breakout role. Before this Karloff was acting part time and doing other odd jobs to make ends meet. Boris manages to communicate so well without talking and under the heavy make up.
Dwight Frye is soooo great as Fritz. Best known for playing Renfield in Universal's Dracula,Frye is an amazing actor. Sadly a bit over 10 years after playing Fritz Dwight died from a heart attack. Back when I was a young child whenever I read books on the Universal Classic all the talk was about Karloff,Bela Lugosi and Lon Channey Jr. Which is a shame cause while those three are good to great actors Dwight Frye was a one of the kind talent. One who could take any role and make it into something special.
The DVD this film is on is a pack of 4 of the Universal Classic Horror films. You get Dracula,Frankenstein,Bride of Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I got this DVD about 5 years ago. I realized that I didn't own many of the Universal Classic Horror films on any home video format. Saw that Amazon had the four pack for a really cheap price,I think it was 10 bucks. So added it to my Amazon wishlist and that year for Xmas the Uncle who I saw Frankenstein with as a kid bought me the DVD set.
The Frankenstein DVD appears to be the same DVD as the first release of the film on DVD. I am guessing Universal had a bunch of leftover copies of the four films in the pack.So they whipped up some new packaging to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Universal. Each of the films is loaded with special features. Frankenstein has some great special features. There is "The Frankenstein Files How Hollywood Made a Monster" a well done documentary about the film and the making of it. Boo! which is a short film from Universal. Boo! is best known in the modern era for containing some footage from a few films that are lost now. The best of all the special features is the commentary. This commentary is by Rudy Behimer. It is loaded with all kinds of info. A good percentage of this info is stuff I had never heard before. Considering I have been reading about Frankenstein since I was a young child I was really surprised that the commentary contained stuff I hadn't heard before.
I do wonder how these Universal Classic Horror films would work for kids today. When I first saw the film it was over 40 years since it came out and to my young mind it felt so odd and just different from the films I had already seen. So I am guessing that to kids today this film that is getting close to being 100 years old might not hold their attention at all.
If you are a fan of horror cinema and haven't seen the Universal Frankenstein you really should go watch it. Thankfully now it isn't hard to see this film uncut. For decades various parts of the film were cut. Like during the creature's creation scene the Doctor say's how he now knows what it is like to feel like God. Not wanting to offend people this line was cut out of the film. The other part of the film that was cut from the film is the part when while wandering the country side the monster runs into a small child. This young girl shows the monster how to toss flowers into the pond and they will float. For decades this scene ended around this point. Missing was the part where the monster throws the little girl into the pond thinking she will float like the flowers and the young girl drowns.
Universal's Frankenstein isn't the most faithful adaptation of the novel,for me that would be the 70s made for TV Frankenstein the True Story. But what is changed is still good. And most people now know the story of Universal's Frankenstein instead of the novel's story. Just like how in the novel the monster looks pretty much like a normal human and can even speak fairly well. But cause of how popular Universal's take on Frankenstein is the flattopped green skinned inhuman looking creature that can barely speak is what pops into most people's minds when they hear Frankenstein's Monster.
Frankenstein gets a B.