Frankenstein (1931)

Horror classic in which an obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.

Director:

James Whale

Writers:

John L. Balderston (based upon the composition by), Mary Shelley (from the novel by),

Stars:

Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Colin Clive	...	Henry Frankenstein
Mae Clarke	...	Elizabeth
John Boles	...	Victor Moritz
Boris Karloff	...	The Monster (as ?)
Edward Van Sloan	...	Dr. Waldman
Frederick Kerr	...	Baron Frankenstein
Dwight Frye	...	Fritz
Lionel Belmore	...	The Burgomaster
Marilyn Harris	...	Little Maria

Storyline

Henry Frankenstein is a doctor who is trying to discover a way to make the dead walk. He succeeds and creates a monster that has to deal with living again.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | frankenstein | experiment | body part | laboratory | 

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Taglines:

The monster that terrorized the world.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

21 November 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

El doctor Frankenstein

Filming Locations:

Busch Gardens - S. Grove Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$291,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$12,000,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ken Strickfaden, who created all the electrical effects for the movie, also doubled for Boris Karloff during the sequences that showed the million volt sparks playing over his body. The same machines were later used in the comedy Young Frankenstein.

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Goofs

According to DVD commentary for this film, director James Whale intended this film to take place in an "alternate universe" and therefore freely mixed 19th Century and 1930s technology, hair fashions, etc.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Henry Frankenstein: Down! Down, you fool!

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Crazy Credits

In closing credits: A good cast is worth repeating

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Connections

Featured in The Dead Will Walk (2004)

User Reviews

Still quality stuff

A brilliant young scientist creates life from the dead but lives to regret it when his creation goes on the rampage.

Though inevitably dated and primitive by modern standards, Frankenstein remains a tremendously impressive film and a tribute to its still somewhat under-rated director, the eccentric Englishman James Whale.

Where so many early talkies were static and wordy, Frankenstein skips unnecessary dialogue and exposition and drives through its plot at a speed that seems almost indecent nowadays. Compared to overblown remakes like Kenneth Branagh's 1994 version, Whale's work now seems like a masterpiece of brevity and minimalism. His constantly moving camera, incisive editing and dramatic use of close-ups are a mile ahead of anything far more prestigious directors were doing at the time. Expressionist photography and eccentric set designs lend atmosphere, menace and help augment some rather ripe performances; a foretaste of the paths Whale would tread in the sequel Bride of Frankenstein four years later.

And then of course there's Karloff. With comparatively few scenes and no dialogue he nonetheless manages to create a complex, intimidating, yet sympathetic creature - one of the great mimes in talking cinema and thanks in no small degree to the freedom given to him under Jack Pierce's iconic make-up.

A historic piece of cinema, and one that still stands the test of time as both art and entertainment.