Frankenstein (1931 Movie)

Henry Frankenstein: "Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"
Victor Moritz: "Henry – in the name of God!"
Henry Frankenstein: "Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!"

Directly following the huge success of Dracula, which I recently reviewed, Universal wanted to cash in on that triumph, and turned to another monster of classic literature, Frankenstein. What they created was a film that surpassed its predecessor and is a masterpiece of classic horror.

Film adaptations of classic literature can play very fast and loose with the subject material as we’ve seen before, and this movie is no exception. Mary Shelley’s ‘modern day Prometheus’ has had films before and after this take on her work, but few capture the quality and care this version has. Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein, which I’ve reviewed prior to this piece, is the only other version of the story that I find as enjoyable as this one, although that version paints a darker vision of events with a much less sympathetic Dr. Frankenstein and creature than we get here. Both are quite different from the highly intelligent being created by Frankenstein in the original book.

Instead of Victor Frankenstein we get Henry Frankenstein, played by Colin Clive, and also Victor Moritz (John Boles) instead of the character Henry Clerval, who is Victor’s closest friend in the story. We also have Frederick Kerr as Baron Frankenstein and Henry’s father, so it’s a bit muddled, as he is sometimes referred to as Baron Victor von Frankenstein. This doesn’t hurt the movie, but it does come off as a jumble. To round out the rest of our main cast, we have Mae Clark as Henry’s betrothed, Elizabeth Lavenza; Edward Van Sloan as both Doctor Waldman and the narrator of our opening audience warning scene, and Dwight Frye as Fritz, who is Henry’s somewhat unsavory lab apprentice, and of course Boris Karloff as the monster.

We follow the story of an obsessed Henry and his quest to create life. With his hunchbacked assistant Fritz in tow, he proceeds to acquire the parts for his creation. He’s willing to rob graves and acquire parts from hung criminals in pursuit of his single-minded goal, and this bothers his fiancée Elizabeth so much that even though she is unaware of how far he’s gone, she knows something is wrong so turns to her friend Victor as well as Doctor Waldman, who is Henry’s mentor and is more understanding but also concerned. They confront Henry over his growing obsession, but by the time they do so, he’s already about to perform his greatest experiment.

"No mom, we're not playing video games! We're animating an abomination of stitched-together corpses!"

Henry is of course successful, although the brain Fritz brought him, shown to us in a scene that Young Frankenstein spoofs brilliantly, is not exactly what the doctor ordered. Despite this cranial mix-up, the creature doesn’t start off aggressive or violent at all, but that situation doesn’t last. Harassed and misunderstood, the monster can’t seem to get a moment’s peace. While he doesn’t start off hostile, he does kill, although at least once is accidental, so the villagers see his strange and ghastly appearance combined with the crimes he does commit and react with violence. This violence leads to the dynamic final, pyrotechnic scene at the mill.

The movie has some great set pieces, from the impressionist styled initial graveyard scene, to the lab with all its electric gizmos, and all the way up to the burning mill at the finale, it creates a somber feeling interlaced with dread. The monster’s slow reveal after he’s been reanimated and then reaches for the sunlight in such a child-like manner stands out for not just how well it works as a vehicle for introducing us to Frankenstein’s creation, but how it defies our initial expectations of the creature as well. James Whale’s direction and Arthur Edeson’s cinematography makes this all work together brilliantly.

"Meatloaf again?! Really?"

Clive’s performance as Henry Frankenstein is great. Like Cushing’s much less sympathetic take on the doctor, he is very focused on his creation, but he feels more morally grounded and empathetic, more like a leading man than a mad doctor, which puts him into a kind of weird conflict with Victor over who the leading man actually is. Elizabeth’s relationships with both men only makes this situation even cloudier. Clive brings an almost frenetic energy to the film at times, and his euphoria at seeing his creation live is one of those moments that you’ll see clips of all over the place to this very day. I do prefer Cushing’s more amoral and immoral version of the doctor, but Clive’s is solid and easier for the audience to relate to.

This version of the monster is full of child-like innocence that only grows violent when he is attacked or taunted, such as Fritz provoking him with a torch. I don’t even fully agree with calling him a monster in the first place. In the scene with little Maria and the flowers that goes horribly wrong for example, he is distraught rather than exultant. He’s a tragic creature rather than malevolent. He does some terrible things, but they feel like honest reactions to how badly he is treated, rather than any malice aforethought. Karloff plays this creature masterfully. Not everyone can sell a role that lacks dialogue this well, but he certainly does. I especially like his reaction to seeing sunlight for the first time that I mentioned previously, and how well he made the creature’s fear of fire so palpable and believable. He creates a sad, sympathetic being that feels real, despite his unusual and often forlorn existence.

"What else floats in water?"

Dwight Frye’s Fritz is the character people are going to dislike the most. He’s spiteful and downright vicious to the creature. Part of why the monster gets angry in the first place is how Fritz taunted the poor thing. He’s great at this role, although his portrayal of Renfield was more enjoyable. He’s such a nasty character that you may feel some pity for due to his deformity, but then he loses that consideration by being so unpleasant.

The rest of the cast is fine or better, but Henry, Fritz, and the monster are the main attractions. Victor is an important sounding board for Elizabeth’s concerns, but not much more than that. Elizabeth plays the role of Henry’s concerned betrothed well, and I feel she’s the character the audience will connect with the most, despite not being as prominent as the doctor or the monster. We don’t see much of Henry’s father, beyond some unhappy harrumphs and irritation at the situation. Dr. Waldman is not as pivotal as Van Sloan’s previous role as Von Helsing, but still important, and he plays the older, wiser, but still curious mentor, the one that got Henry interested in science in the first place, very well.

To give credit where it is due, Dracula is a great film, but Frankenstein surpasses Dracula. It lacks the feeling of being a stage play put on film and takes better advantage of the fact that it’s a motion picture, with less standing around and discussing things, and more dynamic shots, camera angles, and scenes. It demonstrates how good classic horror can be when made well, and is one of the best of the Universal classics.

-- Karloff’s portrayal of the monster is just as iconic as Lugosi’s of Dracula, possibly even more so. Although the idea of the arms stretched out in front as it walks will be touched upon in a later Frankenstein movie, the neck bolts, flat-topped head, and green skin (despite it being in black and white), all start here.

-- While it no longer is a surprise since it’s been over 90 years, the film’s initial credits list the monster actor as ‘?’. Karloff is listed as the monster in the end credits.

-- They list Mary Shelley as ‘Mrs. Percy B Shelley’ in the opening credits which comes off as misogynistic and downright dismissive. She gets better credits in the sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, which I’ll be reviewing in the not so distant future.

-- The scene where the monster throws Maria into the water was cut from the movie for years but has been restored since the 1980s, and that brings us to the next point..

-- The last line Henry utters as part of the opening quote for this review were removed from the film and not restored until 1999 since that line was considered too blasphemous.

-- The introduction where Edward Van Sloan warns about the movie possibly not being for the squeamish is featured on the introduction to Impaled’s The Dead Shall Dead Remain album. The album is far more shocking than this film.

-- Despite how often we see an Igor helping out mad scientists over the years, it’s Fritz in this film. We don’t get an Igor, or Ygor in this case, until Son of Frankenstein, which I’ll be reviewing down the line.

-- The electrical equipment for the lab is almost as iconic as Karloff’s monster. Mel Brooks reused it for his masterpiece Young Frankenstein, which I have previously reviewed for the site.

-- Colin Clive will return as Henry in Bride of Frankenstein, but his acting career was cut short due to tuberculosis caused by his alcoholism, claiming his life at just 37.

Four stitched together corpses animated by lightning out of four.

Morella is a Gen Xer who likes strange things a bit too much.

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