Universal Monsters Presents: Frankenstein (1931)

For my second film of the day, and in an attempt to see these last few classics before the month is out, I watched Frankenstein. Released the same year as Dracula due to that film's phenomenal success, it was made very quickly. Starring Colin Clive as Dr. Henry Frankenstein, and Boris Karloff as The Monster, this is yet another massively famous film, and held up on high for it's place in history for horror films. Once again, my main interest is to see what the movie is like in full, and if it holds up so many years later. Hit the jump to find out.


I thought I knew the whole story of Frankenstein but there were entire plots I never knew were in the movie. If you didn't know, Frankenstein isn't the famous monster (Boris Karloff), but rather the scientist who creates him. Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is on the verge of a new discovery. He is about to create life! But his obsession with his work has his family and friends worried. He keeps putting off his own wedding in favor of his experiments. But this time, his latest creation will not only put him at risk, but all the lives around him as well, including that of his beautiful young bride Elizabeth (Mae Clarke).

Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz prepare to bring the creature to life

The fact that this movie was made in a hurry wasn't always so clear which is surprising to me. The watchtower where Dr. Frankenstein works is filled with all kinds of equipment and the table with the monster raises far up into the ceiling. The giant manor of his family looks very nice, as does the village that surrounds it. The only thing that starts giving the movie away are in the later parts of the movie when the towns people are searching the mountains. The background is pretty obviously just a curtain with clouds painted on it, and those really took me out of the movie in those scenes. Otherwise, it looked pretty good for such an old film.

The Monster meets a little girl who befriends him

There were a few scenes I never realized were in the movie. The main one being that we'd meet Henry Frankenstein's father, and that he is getting married to a beautiful young woman. I always pictured Dr. Frankenstein as an insane madman who screamed "It's Alive! It's Alive!" and while he did scream that, most of the time he's a fairly level-headed man. He comes from a wealthy family, and he lives in a very rich, massive mansion with is father, Baron Frankenstein. Another scene I had totally forgotten about, but came back to me when it happened, was when The Monster meets a little girl playing by a bank. She greets him with friendly eyes, and for the first time The Monster smiles. Tragically, his simple mind doesn't understand everything he sees. When he learns that throwing flower heads onto the water makes them float, he tries the same with the girl, tragically drowning her.

The Monster interrupts Dr. Frankenstein's wedding

The best part about the movie is how The Monster is both the attacker, and the victim. He often has very little idea of what's going on around him, as proven when he accidentally drowns the little girl. He knows she's in trouble, but is too afraid of the water now that he sees how dangerous it is. He runs off in a panic, but if it is to try to find help, or fear of the water, or simply fleeing the scene of the crime to avoid getting in trouble, we can never know. So many times in the movie, we see The Monster in shear terror. His short and monstrous life is filled with terror and confusion with only 1 small moment of happiness which is quickly ripped away from him. At the same time, however, his confusion and fear cause him to lash out in dangerous ways, killing and harming many innocent people.

A few interesting points to note, is that Edward Van Sloan, and Dwight Frye are both in this movie as well as in Dracula. At first I thought I was witnessing an awesome crossover, as Sloan plays another professor, who isn't named until later in the movie. I was quite excited by the idea that he might again be Professor Van Helsing, but that was eventually proven wrong. As for Frye, his role as Fritz is barely recognizable compared to his role of Renfield in Dracula. Also, Fritz is a jerk, and I'm glad he died. One last fact, many may not know this, but Boris Karloff, who played The Monster, is also the voice of the narrator, and the Grinch, in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Fritz torments and tortures The Monster with torches and whips

While there is a lot I can talk about, I didn't find the movie particularly entertaining. It was a little boring with not much action and little dialog. The plight of The Monster is interesting when thinking about it after the fact, but his actions from scene to scene are sometimes confusing. There's no rhyme or reason for him to go to the places he goes, and how does he find his way directly back to the Frankenstein house, and into Elizabeth's room of all places. How convenient! It's still definitely a movie worth checking out, if only for historical purposes, but it's not a particularly easy movie to watch. If anyone out there who reads this has also seen Frankenstein, did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments.