Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein: Directed by James Whale. With Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff. Dr. Frankenstein dares to tamper with life and death by creating a human monster out of lifeless body parts.

“To clear the air on certain misconceptions that may arise from what I say here, Iu0026#39;ve read the book. Iu0026#39;ve liked the book. I realize that the movie truly has nothing in common with it aside from the fact that an artificial man is brought to life in both. But none of the above took away from my enjoyment of James Whaleu0026#39;s rightly considered classic film. The tacked on introduction scene and the obligatory happy ending are indeed laughable when one thinks of what is horrific in this day and age, but I was hooked from the surreal credit sequence on. To me, the real ending of this film will always be at the burning windmill, an ending of an all-too-believable tragedy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eColin Clive is a little bit overblown as Herr Frankenstein, but he does a capable enough job with the title role (something that is usually tacked onto the monster instead). Edward Van Sloan, a favorite of mine from the Universal stock company, does quite well himself as Frankensteinu0026#39;s old teacher, Dr. Waldmann. As for Karloff…*exhale in admiration* what can I say? I first knew him as the narrator and voice of the Grinch in Dr Seusu0026#39; u0026quot;How the Grinch Stole Christmasu0026quot; (I didnu0026#39;t find this out until years later, but find out I did). u0026quot;Frankensteinu0026quot; marked the first time that Iu0026#39;d ever seen him on the screen for real. From the stiff walk to the eternally mournful face, he made the misunderstood monster his for the ages (it is also telling that, in spite of this, Karloff went on to a long, illustrious, if underappreciated, career). u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTwo other facts that stick in my mind about this movie: the creation sequence and the naming of two of itu0026#39;s characters. The heavy-industrial machinery used to create the monster was inspired by the silent Fritz Lang classic, u0026quot;Metropolisu0026quot; (indeed, many films, from the original u0026quot;The Mummyu0026quot; and u0026quot;Bride of Frankensteinu0026quot; to u0026quot;Dark Cityu0026quot; and u0026quot;The Matrixu0026quot; owe a debt to this excellent science fantasy), specifically the grafting of Mariau0026#39;s image onto the android. This machinery, I am told, would later go on to a return engagement in Mel Brooksu0026#39; u0026quot;Young Frankensteinu0026quot;. Fact #2: anyone who has read the novel will know that the first name of Frankenstein is Victor and his best friendu0026#39;s Henry. Apparently the play (or perhaps the screenplay writers; Iu0026#39;ve no way of knowing) switched these two around to where we know have HENRY Frankenstein and VICTOR his best friend.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe only thing that has u0026quot;suckedu0026quot; about u0026quot;Frankensteinu0026quot; is its imitators vainly trying to make lightning strike twice (pun intended). But donu0026#39;t bet the house on any ever coming close. A hundred years from now, this brilliant alternate work will still stand as truly classic as the book that helped to inspire it.”