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.

---

Plot Keywords:

monster | frankenstein | experiment | body part | laboratory | 

---

Taglines:

Science's Monster Terror!

---

Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

---

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

John Carradine, who later played Dracula in the Universal horror films, once claimed he was considered for the role of the Monster.

---

Goofs

The monster's coat and shirt are pulled over his chest for Dr. Waldman to perform a dissection. In the next scene, as the monster is coming down the stairs, having just killed Waldman, we see that he has neatly tucked in his shirt and buttoned his coat, just as any newly-created-from-corpses, tortured, simple-minded monster would do.

---

Quotes

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

---

Crazy Credits

In the opening credits: The Monster - ?

---

Connections

Featured in Doctor Who (1996)

User Reviews

The best ever telling of this classic story.

Oh,the many tellings and variations of this classic story.This,without question,is the best presentation of the classic story by Mary Shelley. The film was presented in such a way that makes you feel as though you are watching a stage play rather than a film.A creature is given the complicated thing called life.His large,overpowering human form,coupled with the limited capacity to grow,and learn,turn out to be very deadly indeed.He is,basically,a very large baby,who does not understand the world around him.He wreaks havoc on those who he feels are out to hurt him.I have seen the completed version of this film,complete with the disturbing sequence involving the little girl with the flowers,which was cut out of the film for many years.It is indeed shocking,and once you see it,you will understand why this was done.While you are shocked at this,at the same time you are sympathetic with the creature,knowing that he does not understand what he is doing,and meant no harm.Most movie monsters,particularly of this era,are just evil beings that make us cheer with delight at the sight of their destruction.When it comes to Frankenstein,we are almost sad to see this creature,who did not ask for life to begin with,meet his end.Classic horror,classic film.