James Whale’s, Frankenstein (1931) loosely based on Mary Shelley’s book is my choice for day 5. Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is obsessed with creating life. He and his hunchback assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) go to the graveyard to steal bodies. Fritz is also sent to steal a brain from the medical university. The brain is for Frankenstein’s creature. Fritz is a little clumsy and accidentally drops the correct brain, and in a panic he gets another bottle with a brain, but fails to notice the label on the bottle with the words “Abnormal brain.”
Elizabeth (Mae Clark), Dr. Frankenstein’s fiancée, receives a strange letter from Dr. Frankenstein. The letter worries her. She goes out to visit him at his laboratory. Dr. Waldman (Edward van Sloan) tells her of all the strange happenings, and experiments being conducted by Dr. Frankenstein. She becomes even more anxious.
Elizabeth, and Dr. Waldman arrive at the laboratory just in time to see Dr. Frankenstein’s great experiment–his creation of an artificial human being! He brings the creature (Boris Karloff) to life with electricity created by a thunderstorm.
The creator is disappointed at what he has created—a hideous, and dumb beast that isn’t able to speak a coherent word. The being is bothersome especially when infuriated. The doctor takes the creature to a cellar and locks it up. Fritz abuses the creature with a whip. The creature breaks free and escapes.
Oblivious to what the creature has done, Dr. Frankenstein prepares for his marriage to Elizabeth. The joy of the moment is broken when a man appears carrying his murdered daughter Maria (Marilyn Harris). The creature has murdered Maria. Soon the whole village is looking for the creature to destroy it. Dr. Frankenstein realizes that he must look for it and destroy it. The creator must destroy his creation. They finally meet in the mountains. The monster drags his creator –and throws him down a windmill. Dr. Frankenstein survives. The village people set the building on fire where the monster is and burn it to death…or did they?
The movie is pretty good. The image of Boris Karloff with that flat-head monster mask with bolts in his neck, and his undersize clothes is imprinted in our minds. Ask any kid and they know this creature. In fact, ask the kid what’s the monster’s name and they’ll say “Frankenstein!” Of course, we adults know better, Frankenstein was not the monster’s name; it was the creator’s name. Actually, I still call this monster Frankenstein. This old classic is still a crowd pleaser today. Although it isn’t completely based on Mary Shelley’s novel, it’s still a good movie.
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