Frankenstein

1931

B&W

Produced Carl Laemmle Jr

Directed by James Whale

Universal Pictures

While Frankenstein was not the first monster movie, it was certainly the one that caught the public’s imagination and became a cult classic The earliest productions like Nosferatu and even a 1910 Frankenstein, while terrifying enough, did not have sound and often looked a little “foreign”. In this film the English actors and settings, while rather incongruous, were more acceptable to audiences.

We start with the slightly demented Dr Henry Frankenstein and his henchman Fritz stealing a fresh body from the graveyard, then going on to steal the corpse of a hanged man. The brain is damaged, so they go on to steal another brain from a medical school. This brain is from a major criminal although he is unaware of this. He is working in an old tower in the little town of Goldstadt where he has become reclusive and secretive about his experiments.

Elizabeth, his fiancée back at home, is worried about him and resolves to join him. His old Professor reveals that he was trying to recreate life and Elizabeth and her friend Victor will not be welcome. This turns out to be the case, and their reception at the castle is unfriendly to say the least. Under pressure, Frankenstein reveals that he has discovered a ray that he believes is the source of life, and that tonight he will animate a corpse he has built from the stolen parts. To generate the ray he needs massive power which he will tap from the savage electrical storm hovering over the mountain.

He succeeds – “It’s alive ! It’s alive !” The others, despite their reservations, acknowledge that Henry has made a major scientific breakthrough.

His Professor discovers which brain Henry has used, advises him that “only evil can come of it”, and first uses the word “monster”. What Henry fails to realize is that he has created a living creature. He still refers to the monster as “it”. The monster at this point is adjusting to its body, and its mind is easily upset at new experiences. In spite of the Professor’s warning, it is not dangerous as such, more childlike, but accidents happen because of its inexperience. When Fritz enters the laboratory with a flaming torch, the monster is afraid. Henry and the Professor regard this as an attempt to attack them and it comes to be regarded as dangerous. Henry locks it up in one of the castle rooms. The Professor urges Henry to kill it “like any dangerous animal”. They prepare to give it a sedative injection but it overpowers them, kills Fritz, and is about to escape when the drug takes effect and knocks it out. At this moment Elizabeth and Henry’s father arrive unexpectedly and find Henry unconscious on the floor.

The Professor encourages Henry to return to the real world and marry Elizabeth. He will arrange to have the monster humanely put down. The monster has other ideas and escapes from the castle. The quaint village wedding celebrations contrast with what is happening to the monster – alone, hungry, and wandering in the forest. He meets a little village girl who befriends him, and for the first time there is a little happiness in his life. Unfortunately his inexperience leads him to throw her in the river, thinking they are playing. This part was left out of the original print, but has since been restored. It does tend to change the viewer’s outlook towards the monster. Attracted by the noise of the wedding, he enters the house where Elizabeth is waiting for the wedding to begin. Shocked by its appearance she faints. At this moment the body of the little girl is carried into the village and the celebration becomes a tragedy. Hunting parties are sent out.

Henry finds the monster but is knocked unconscious. The monster takes him to an old mill tower and barricades them inside. Night is coming, and the villagers surround the tower waving torches and weapons. Henry tries to escape but falls heavily from the tower and is taken back to the village. The villagers set fire to it to burn the monster to death.

To a viewer who has not seen this film before, it will seem cliché-ridden – the torch-waving village lynch mob, the mad scientist, the homicidal monster. It must be remembered, though, that this is the film that spawned many of the clichés. Something that was often overlooked in later films is that the monster, in spite of its criminal brain, was actually innocent and childlike. Death had wiped its brain of any evils. It was only thought to be evil now because of ignorant superstitious peoples interpretations of is actions. Boris Karloff played the part brilliantly, and it is hard to watch the film closely and not feel some sympathy for the monster as he begins to experience the world. This film launched Karloff’s career, deservedly so. (Later films made the monster more evil and destructive in an attempt to frighten audiences.) Dr Henry Frankenstein is played as rich, privileged and obsessive, and irresponsible. He tries to play God, and nearly dies at the hands of his creation. This theme carried on to many future monster films.

The film has a number of notable departures from Mary Shelley’s book, and probably owes more to a 1920s rewrite of the book for a stage play. Increasingly the monster came to be incorrectly called “Frankenstein” – that is the name of its creator. The monster was unnamed. The film now appears rather dated, but is well-made for its time. It is still worth watching, as it compares more than favorably with later attempts at monster moves.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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