Frankenstein (1931)

Director:

James Whale

Writers:

Mary Shelley (novel)
Peggy Webling (play)
(more)

Release Date:

21 November 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

A Monster Science Created - But Could Not Destroy!

Plot:

Horror classic in which an obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Frankenstein | Frankenstein's Monster | Fire | Baron

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Colin Clive	...	Dr. Henry Frankenstein
Mae Clarke	...	Elizabeth
John Boles	...	Victor Moritz
Boris Karloff	...	The Monster (as ?)
Edward Van Sloan	...	Dr. Waldman
Frederick Kerr	...	Baron Frankenstein
Dwight Frye	...	Fritz
Lionel Belmore	...	Herr Vogel
Marilyn Harris	...	Little Maria
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ted Billings	...	Villager (uncredited)
Mae Bruce	...	Screaming Maid (uncredited)
Arletta Duncan	...	Bridesmaid (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Hans (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Mourner (uncredited)
Soledad Jiménez	...	Mourner (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Ludwig (uncredited)
Pauline Moore	...	Bridesmaid (uncredited)
Inez Palange	...	Villager (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Mourner at gravesite (uncredited)
Cecilia Parker	...	Maid (uncredited)
Rose Plumer	...	Villager (uncredited)
Cecil Reynolds	...	Waldman's secretary (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer	...	Medical student (uncredited)

Directed by
James Whale

Writing credits
Mary Shelley		(novel) (as Mrs. Percy B. Shelley)
Peggy Webling		(play)
John L. Balderston		(adaptation)
Francis Edward Faragoh		(writer) &
Garrett Fort		(writer)
Robert Florey		uncredited &
John Russell		uncredited

Produced by
E.M. Asher	....	associate producer
Carl Laemmle Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Arthur Edeson
Paul Ivano		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Clarence Kolster

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall

Makeup Department
Pauline Eells	....	wig maker (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup designer (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph A. McDonough	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ed Keyes	....	property master (uncredited)
Herman Rosse	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
C. Roy Hunter	....	recording supervisor
William Hedgcock	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Franz Dallons	....	props
Oscar Dallons	....	props
Paul Dallons	....	props
John P. Fulton	....	special effects (uncredited)
Ken Strickfaden	....	electrical effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sherman Clark	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Jack Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mae Bruce	....	wardrobe assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Giuseppe Becce	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
David Broekman	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Richard Schayer	....	scenario editor
Frank Graves	....	electrical effects assistant (uncredited)
Raymond Lindsay	....	electrical effects assistant (uncredited)
Robert Livingston	....	double: Colin Clive, closing distant shot (uncredited)
Cecil Reynolds	....	medical consultant (uncredited)
Gerald L.G. Sampson	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1931) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Realart Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Net5 (2004) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Universal Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) (cut) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:PG (video rating) (2002) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (cinema version) (cut) | Finland:K-15 (2004) | Iceland:16 | Spain:13 | South Korea:12 | Canada:(Banned) (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Norway:16 (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The film was banned in Kansas upon its original release on the grounds that it exhibited "cruelty and tended to debase morals".

Goofs:

Continuity: In the film's first scene, when Dr. Frankenstein and Fritz begin to dig up the newly-interred corpse, they both shed their jackets. After a dissolve to bridge the passage of time, when they reach the buried casket, a shovel is upright in the unearthed soil behind them with one of the jackets hanging on it as well as a hat. . .but neither man was wearing or carrying a hat when they arrived at the grave.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dr. Henry Frankenstein: Down! Down, you fool!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Atomic Brain (#6.18)" (1993)

Still quality stuff

A brilliant young scientist creates life from the dead but lives to regret it when his creation goes on the rampage.

Though inevitably dated and primitive by modern standards, Frankenstein remains a tremendously impressive film and a tribute to its still somewhat under-rated director, the eccentric Englishman James Whale.

Where so many early talkies were static and wordy, Frankenstein skips unnecessary dialogue and exposition and drives through its plot at a speed that seems almost indecent nowadays. Compared to overblown remakes like Kenneth Branagh's 1994 version, Whale's work now seems like a masterpiece of brevity and minimalism. His constantly moving camera, incisive editing and dramatic use of close-ups are a mile ahead of anything far more prestigious directors were doing at the time. Expressionist photography and eccentric set designs lend atmosphere, menace and help augment some rather ripe performances; a foretaste of the paths Whale would tread in the sequel Bride of Frankenstein four years later.

And then of course there's Karloff. With comparatively few scenes and no dialogue he nonetheless manages to create a complex, intimidating, yet sympathetic creature - one of the great mimes in talking cinema and thanks in no small degree to the freedom given to him under Jack Pierce's iconic make-up.

A historic piece of cinema, and one that still stands the test of time as both art and entertainment.