Frankenstein
(1931), dir. James Whale, Universal Pictures
With Dracula
earning record profits, Universal opted to cash in on the horror craze with
another adaptation of a classic novel, this time going with Mary Shelly’s magnum
opus. We open with Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his hunchbacked
assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) watching a funeral. Digging the corpse up,
Frankenstein explains why he needs body as they try to steal another corpse
hanging from a nearby gallows. It seems Frankenstein wants to create life and
he needs raw material, most specifically a brain.
Fritz sneaks into the lab of Dr. Walderman (Edward Van
Sloan) to steal the brain of a genius. Thanks to a mysterious gong ringing,
however, Fritz is now one brain less, so he steals the one marked ‘abnormal’, a
fact he fails to mention to Frankenstein.
Of course none of this exists in a vacuum. Henry’s fiancé
Elizabeth (Mae Clarke) and his best friend Victor (John Boles) haven’t seen
Henry in weeks. Henry’s father, the Baron Frankenstein (Fredrick Kerr) is
convinced Henry is making time with a mistress in the ancient watchtower he’s
residing in, but when the three confront Dr. Walderman and are shocked to learn
that Henry dropped out of school some time before. The now foursome heads off
to the watchtower to see what Henry is really up to and why he needs to be
working in the middle of a terrific thunderstorm…
What happens next has been referenced and parodied so much a
review is almost pointless. The Monster (Boris Karloff) rises and makes use of
the criminal brain given him, coupled with abandonment by Henry and the torture
by Fritz, a showdown between man and maker in an old windmill again leaves us
with an iconic image.
Frankenstein as a
film still has some issues. The cast either overacts or underreacts, sometimes
within the same scene, plus the script is dependent on many character acting
like total boobs (holding the idiot ball, to use some modern slang). The scene
where the Monster breaks into Frankenstein’s house during the wedding is a
prime example. Whale does a better job than Browning, borrowing heavily from
German expressionists in use of set and visual design. The Monster’s iconic
image and Karloff’s portrayal help raise the film’s weaker aspects.
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