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FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
The Blu-ray is impressive..
Opening warning...........Edward Van Sloan a few month after Dracula, actually looks a bit older . Classic thirties slicked back hair.
I think BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is the best of the Universal Frankensteins, but one is real close.
Frankenstein's assistant is NOT named Ygor. That's a completely different character to appear much later in the series.
I loved every frame.
After Peter Cushing he's easily my favorite Frankenstein. Kenneth Branagh need not apply.
Fritz effs up and drops the normal brain. He grabs the criminal brain.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN paid homage to this scene beautifully.
MAE CLARKE plays Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth. A few months earlier she had her face mashed with a grapefruit by Jimmy Cagney.
Extremely cool sets here. I absolutely LOVE the watchtower. Universal Horror sets at it' finest.
Kenneth Strickfaden supplied the iconic lab equipment. Some later used in DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN (1971)and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974).
I am glad this film was never really colorized (though there is a colorized clip in WEIRD SCIENCE).
A colorized version probably would have made The Monster far too green. So many reference books, magazines, and articles get it wrong. The make-up was mostly gray.
In this film, though he does have quite a bit of shading. I'm thinking the blue/green hues were probably more in the shading over a dull gray base.
In this version you get to hear the "NOW I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE GOD!" in it's entirety.
Some books say black, though the Rolf Armstrong painting of Karloff on the set of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN shows him in a brown suit. I suppose it could have been a faded black or dark brown. I'm thinking dark brown.
The flesh tone on the painting was a stronger blue/gray hue.
I do think the later 1940's films might have given the Monster a black suit.
By the time Bud Westmore took over as head make up artist for ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN he gave GLENN STRANGE a latex head as opposed to the cotton and collodion Pierce used in these early entries.
Westmore also changed the greasepaint color to silver/gray, described as aluminum after it gets old. Pity there are no color photos of STRANGE as the Monster from that film in existence.
They pretty much get their asses kicked here, but accomplish their motive.
There was one day he was in that make up for 24 hrs as they had to shoot into the evening.
He eventually hurt his back on this film. A true dedicated actor.
Collodion REALLY smells strong. Hours and hours in the make up chair he sat for this film.
Shot at Lake Malibou late September, 1931.
The spot where The Monster tosses Maria (MARILYN HARRIS) into the lake still remains, though some of that area has apparently changed. I'd love to visit that location some day if I'm ever in Hollywood.
His snarl sound is classic!
FRANKENSTEIN (1931) remains a top 10 favorite.
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is my favorite as well. So many layers in that film, and Karloff's performance, IMO has never been equaled.
SUPERMAN THE MOVIE