Frankenstein
USA, 1931
Director: James Whale
Genre: Horror, literary adaptation
Screenplay: Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh
Main actors: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles
Plot
Henry Frankenstein is an ambitious scientist who has set out to conduct an important experiment. Along with his assistant the hunchback Fritz is dedicated to digging up corpses in cemeteries and hanging hanged from the gallows, because he wants to make with pieces of these bodies a new human being. Frankenstein is convinced that he can create life, using mortal remains and putting into practice on them his advanced knowledge in the field of electro-biology…
Henry’s fiancée Elizabeth is very worried about the scientist. They haven’t seen each other for a long time, as his work keeps him constantly busy. The macabre experiments, of which only his faithful Fritz knows the details, completely absorb Henry. Likewise, old Baron Frankenstein wonders what his son is up to. The town of Goldstadt is already preparing for the wedding of Henry and Elizabeth, but as the scientist continues to display such erratic behavior, the wedding will have to be postponed.
Accompanied by Victor, a family friend, Elizabeth goes to see Dr. Waldman, Henry’s former professor at the university. Between the three of them, they try to talk some sense into him.
Meanwhile, Fritz sneaks into the university and steals a brain preserved in formaldehyde for anatomy classes. It is the only and most important piece missing for Frankenstein’s project to succeed. By mistake, instead of a healthy and normal brain, he takes the brain of a psychopathic criminal…
In the castle where Henry devotes himself to his experiment, everything is already prepared. The stormy night is ideal, because thanks to a lightning device, the body composed of corpses will receive the electric shocks necessary to revive… But when the young Frankenstein is about to start the process, unexpected visitors arrive: Elizabeth, Victor and Dr. Waldman insist that they be allowed to enter. They want to convince Henry to return with them to Goldstadt to prepare for the wedding.
Frankenstein does not back down in the face of the setback: He decides to prove to the newcomers that he is not “mad” as they think, but a genius. He activates his apparatus and the creature comes to life.
Henry tries to tame his creature, but Fritz’s attitude spoils everything. With a torch, the lackey torments the monster until it breaks free of its chains and tries to escape. The scientist begins to realize that creating life on his own was not such a good idea after all.
On the very day of Henry and Elizabeth’s wedding, the monster manages to escape from captivity. This will have unpredictable consequences for the idyllic village of Goldstadt and its surroundings…
Comment
This year of 2018 marks two centuries since the writer Mary Shelley published her famous Gothic novel (probably inspired by the golem legends). The young English author, wife of the poet Percy B. Shelley, was only 21 years old when she wrote “Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus”, a masterpiece of nineteenth-century literature which, like Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” (1897), would later give rise to countless film adaptations.
This Universal classic, directed by British director James Whale, is one of the best known, one of the most successful and also one of the first (there is an older film about Frankenstein, a silent short from 1910).
In 1935 James Whale would make a sequel to this film, “Bride of Frankenstein”, also from the Universal production company; as well as the adaptation of “Dracula” (Tod Browning, 1931) starring Bela Lugosi. And in the following decades, the big screen would exploit this tragic creature made up of multiple corpses to the point of satiety. The prolific Joe D’Amato, almost towards the end of his career, would shoot the interesting “Frankenstein 2000” (1991), and before that, also in Italy, the unknown Mario Mancini filmed “Frankenstein ’80”, a low-budget feature film that is nonetheless highly recommendable. On the other hand, Mexican filmmakers took advantage of the story to thematically enrich the saga of the masked wrestler Santo: Thus would see the light “Santo y Blue Demon contra el doctor Frankenstein” (1974) or “Santo vs. la hija de Frankenstein” (1972) – both made by Miguel M. Delgado, a regular director of Cantinflas’ comedies. Likewise, and although the name “Frankenstein” is not explicitly mentioned, many other films were shot in Mexico with “mad scientists and their creatures” as the main attraction: among them “Las luchadoras contra el médico asesino” (1963) or its color remake “La horripilante bestia humana” of 1969 (both by René Cardona) stand out; or also “El monstruo resucitado” (1953), a classic by the master Chano Urueta.
Strangely, in Whale’s film version the scientist is called “Henry” and not “Victor”, as in the novel, while here “Victor” is the family friend – who has a somewhat “nice guy” role with respect to Elizabeth. This may lead to confusion.
The film that concerns us today would launch Boris Karloff to fame, and would mark the aesthetics that since then until today has Frankenstein’s monster in the collective unconscious and in popular culture; in the same way that Bela Lugosi’s character would do the same with the mythical vampire Dracula.
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