“It’s alive. It’s alive. It’s ALIIIIIIIIIIVVVVE!!!”
Universal, struggling with financial losses from 1930, found massive success with Dracula (February, 1931) and decided to stick with a formula that worked. Enter Frankenstein (November, 1931), a huge box office success that launched the career of Boris Karloff and became the second in a string of successful horror films for Universal.
Along with Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Wolf Man, Karloff’s Frankstein’s Monster is quite possibly the most iconic horror creation ever made. Everybody knows Karloff’s monster. Everybody quotes the film even though it is nearing the century mark. Without the success of Frankenstein, there might not be a Universal Horror legacy to speak of today.
For those of you that have been under a rock since the 1930’s, Frankenstein is based on a play by Peggy Webling. The play is loosely based on the famous story by Mary Shelley called Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus.
In the film, Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) hides himself away in his laboratory in a watchtower with his assistant, Fritz (Dwight Frye). Together they have stolen body parts and stitched them together to create a lifeless body. Fritz is sent to find a suitable brain. He finds the perfect brain but drops in when he is startled by a loud noise in Dr. Waldman’s (Edward Van Sloan) lab. Desperate, he grabs another brain labeled “abnormal.” He doesn’t tell Henry about which brain he has acquired.
Henry’s fiancee, Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), becomes nervous when their wedding day approaches but Henry has distanced himself from everyone. Together with her friend, Victor (John Boles), and Dr. Waldman, Elizabeth confronts Henry. She and the others arrive at the watchtower in time to witness the creature’s rise from the dead.
The creature obeys commands and appears to be docile, but a mistake with a torch carried by Fritz triggers fear in Dr. Frankenstein and he chains the creature up. Fritz terrorizes and taunts the creature with fire and whips, and eventually it murders Fritz.
Henry plans to put the creature out of its misery but during a long battle with the creature, he passes out from exhaustion. Henry is brought home to recover and to prepare for his wedding with Elizabeth. Dr. Waldman promises to end the creature.
Instead, the creature murders Dr. Waldman and breaks out of the watchtower. Longing for acceptance and friendship, the creature accidentally murders a young girl and the local villagers become scared.
On the day of the wedding, the creature terrorizes Elizabeth. The father of the young girl murdered by the creature arrives in town, carrying her lifeless body. Fear takes over the village and three mobs are formed to find the creature and end it. From there the film continues on to the iconic scene where the monster, Dr. Frankenstein, and the mob face off in a windmill. You’ll have to watch the film for yourself in order to find out what happens next.
This film might be even more important than Dracula when it comes to the legacy of Universal Horror. Without its success, Universal might have fallen back into financial trouble. We might not have any of the other iconic monsters or films that Universal gave us, either. In short, while Dracula put Universal back on the map, Frankenstein kept it there.
The movie featured a number of iconic scenes including the grave scene early in the film, the father carrying his lifeless daughter, and the windmill scene at the end of the film. It also featured amazing performances from most of the cast, especially Karloff and Dwight Frye.
I could recommend this film for a ton of reasons, but the primary one is the fact that the villain in this film isn’t necessarily a villain….or a monster. He’s looking for acceptance and because he’s different, he is feared.
Watch this movie. You won’t regret it. Thank you for reading this post.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 