Frankenstein (1931)

Universal's film adaptation of Frankenstein in 1931 was the fourth such made from Mary Shelley's novel. The only one that is still extant was the first, from the Edison Company, in 1910. But the '31 version, directed memorably by James Whale, is the one that stays with us, as it has fixed the image of the creature in our minds for all time.

Of course, the book and film have very little in common. At a mere 69 minutes, Whale's tale leaves out much, and starts in media res with Henry Frankenstein (for some reason his name is changed from Victor) and his humpback assistant, Fritz (not in the book, and more known to us today by the name of Igor) graverobbing. Frankenstein (played to the hilt by Colin Clive) has already determined in his mind what he is going to do--now he just needs the raw parts. Later, Fritz (Dwight Frye) fetches a brain from a medical college, but ends up with the abnormal one.

The creation of the monster, which is told summarily in the book, is a major deal in the film. Clive has set up shop in an abandoned watchtower, and has a whole bunch of electronic equipment (designed by Kenneth Strickfaden--none of it did anything but light up). His father, a Baron, his fiancee Elizabeth (Mae Clarke) and his friend, Victor (in the book, Victor's friend was named Henry), and his professor think he's gone mad. He has, if delusions of being God are madness.

Frankenstein is full of great, iconic scenes, and this is the first one, when the corpse, zapped by electricity, twitches his finger. Clive's reaction--"Now I know what it feels like to be God" was censored in a re-release, but this is the Shelley novel boiled down to one sentence. He may know it is to be God, but the real God will punish him for it.

The next great scene is the unveiling of the creature, played so iconically by Boris Karloff (listed in the opening credits as ? and in the closing credits simply as Karloff). Whale proves himself the master in one of the great screen entrances of all time, as Karloff backs into the room, then turns--and Whale makes three successive cuts to a close-up. Audiences shrieked with horror, as they had no idea what he would look like, and Karloff, with his eyelids taped down, his bridge of molars taken out to further shrink his cheeks, was simply mesmerizing.

The poor devil is mistreated, prodded by fire from Frye, and breaks free. The third great scene is when he comes across the little girl, who does not judge him by his looks, and they play together. But after she throws flowers into the lake and they float, unfortunately Karloff does not understand surface tension, and throws her in (she would have done well to have had swimming lessons, as she only goes a few feet off shore). The scene of her dunking was also cut on re-release.

Here is where a longer film would have helped. The grieved woodcutter brings his drowned daughter to town, demanding justice. But no one has seen the monster, at least it is not presented that way, so why does a crowd gather so quickly? When Karloff invades Clive's home and attacks Clarke, I'm left to wonder how he knew where Clive lived--did he use a phone book?

But the climax is great, with the battle between creator and creation in the old windmill, the monster going up in flames, the scientist flung onto a blade. Sadly, the studio demanded a happy ending, but I guess that's okay, because we then got an even better sequel, which I'll discuss in the coming weeks.