Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein
Directed by James Whale
Written by Garett Fort and Francis Edward Faragoh from the novel by Mary Shelley
1931/US
Universal Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

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!

This one never gets old.  The definition of a true classic.

Do I really need to explain the plot?  Surely not but I want to squeeze in two photos.

The setting is a village in some unnamed country of Central Europe.  As the story begins, Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) are grave robbing in furtherance of Frankenstein’s experiments to try to bring dead humans back to life.  He is working in strict secrecy and his fiancee Elizabeth (Mae Clark) is worried.  So is his old professor Doctor Waldman (Edward van Sloane).  The two set off for Frankenstein’s castle/laboratory accompanied by Henry Moritz (John Boles), who is sweet on Elizabeth.   They break in on the Creation/Monster (Boris Karloff) coming to life.  He has been given an abnormal criminal brain, which explains his violent tendencies though I have never felt anything but sympathy toward him.

The Monster awakens to a confusing new life filled with torment.  All hell breaks loose.

I’ve seen this one many times before. Each time I am moved all over again by Boris Karloff’s timeless performance as the monster. It is amazing that Universal considered for even one second giving the part to Bela Lugosi.  I had forgotten how few of the scenes Karloff appeared in.  They are what sticks with the viewer long after the movie is over.

Then, too, the images are just wonderful. Some of the performances are over the top but they seem to fit right into the Gothic story.  For a movie that is so easily parodied, this plays it surprisingly straight.  Essential.