Frankenstein

:For the actual monster, see Frankenstein's monster.

Film adaptations

The first film adaptation of the tale, Frankenstein, was done by Edison Studios in 1910. It was produced by Thomas Edison and starred Charles Ogle as the Monster. For many years this film was believed lost until a print was discovered in the 1980s. This was followed soon after by another adaptation entitled Life Without Soul and at least one European film version.

Related Topics:
Frankenstein - Edison Studios - 1910 - Thomas Edison - Charles Ogle - Europe

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The most famous adaptation of the story, 1931's Frankenstein, was produced by Universal Pictures, directed by James Whale, and starred Boris Karloff as the monster. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Its first sequel, Bride of Frankenstein (1935), was also directed by Whale and is considered by many to contain the most spectacular laboratory scene of any of the series. Son Of Frankenstein followed in 1939. Later efforts by Universal rapidly degenerated into farce, culminating in the outright comedy Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Related Topics:
1931 - Frankenstein - Universal Pictures - James Whale - Boris Karloff - United States - National Film Registry - Bride of Frankenstein - 1935 - Son Of Frankenstein - 1939 - Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein

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The Universal films in which The Monster appears (and the actor who played him) are:

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• Frankenstein (1931 - Boris Karloff)
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935 - Karloff)
• Son of Frankenstein (1939 - Karloff)
• Ghost of Frankenstein (1942 - Lon Chaney Jr.)
• Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943 - Bela Lugosi with stuntman Eddie Parker in some scenes including a close-up)
• House of Frankenstein (1944 - Glenn Strange)
• House of Dracula (1945 - Strange)
• Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948 - Strange). This film is usually referred to as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein but the title given above is its official title according to the Internet Movie Database.

In 2004, Universal released Van Helsing. This film was a reinvention and reinvigoration of the famous Universal stable of monsters of the 1930s and 1940s. Shuler Hensley plays the Monster who, contrary to usual practice, is directly referred to by the name Frankenstein. The portrayal of the creature in this movie is somewhat close to the portrayal in the book.

Related Topics:
2004 - Van Helsing - Shuler Hensley

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In Great Britain, a long-running series by Hammer Films focused on the character of Dr. Frankenstein (usually played by Peter Cushing) rather than his monsters. The Hammer Films series (and the actor playing The Monster) consisted of:

Related Topics:
Great Britain - Hammer Films - Peter Cushing

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• The Curse of Frankenstein (1957 - Christopher Lee)
• The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958 - two Monsters: Michael Gwynn and Peter Cushing)
• The Evil of Frankenstein (1964 - Kiwi Kingston)
• Frankenstein Created Woman (1967 - Susan Denberg)
• Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969 - Freddie Jones)
• The Horror of Frankenstein (1970 - David Prowse)
• Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974 - Prowse)

Peter Cushing played Dr. Frankenstein in all of the above films except for Horror of Frankenstein in which the character was played by Ralph Bates. Cushing also played a Frankenstein creation in Revenge of Frankenstein. David Prowse played two different Monsters.

Related Topics:
Peter Cushing - Ralph Bates - David Prowse

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1985 saw the release of The Bride, an adaptation directed by Franc Roddam. It stars Clancy Brown as the monster, with rocker Sting as Dr. Charles Frankenstein. The plot features the Monster wandering about Europe with a tragic circus midget (David Rappaport)while the Doctor himself engages in a Pygmalion-inspired relationship with a female creation, the eponymous monster's bride played by Jennifer Beals. A love triangle between Doctor, Monster and Bride is the films pivotal conflict.

Related Topics:
1985 - Clancy Brown - Sting - David Rappaport

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An extremely tangential adaptation is Ishiro Honda's 1965 tousatsu kaiju film Frankenstein Conquers the World (Furankenshutain tai Chitei Kaijû Baragon), produced by Toho Company Ltd. The film's prologue is set in World War II, the monster's heart is stolen by Nazis from the laboratory of Dr. Reisendorf in war-torn Frankfurt, and taken to Imperial Japan. Immortal, the heart survives the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and is eaten by a savage child survivor . . . and after discovered by scientists in Present Day Japan, he feeds on protein, eventually growing into a giant humanoid monster that breaks loose and battles the subterranean monster Baragon, which was destroying villages and devouring people and animals.

Related Topics:
Ishiro Honda - 1965 - Tousatsu - Kaiju - Frankenstein Conquers the World - Toho Company Ltd - World War II - Nazi - Frankfurt - Japan - Hiroshima

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The 1966 film War of the Gargantuas (Furankenshutain no Kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira), also directed by Honda, is a sequel to said film (although this is obscured in the US version), with the Frankenstein Monster's severed cells growing into two giant humanoid brother monsters: Sanda (the Brown Gargantua), the strong and gentle monster raised by scientists in his youth, and Gaira (the Green Gargantua), the violent and savage monster who devours humans. The two monsters eventually battle each other in Tokyo.

Related Topics:
1966 - War of the Gargantuas - Sanda - Gaira - Tokyo

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Another wildly differing adaptation is the 1958 film Frankenstein 1970, which focuses on the themes of nuclear power, impotence, and the film industry. Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Frankenstein, who harvests the bodies of actors to create a clone of himself using his nuclear-powered laboratory. His intention is to have this clone carry on his genes into future generations.

Related Topics:
Frankenstein 1970 - Boris Karloff

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A notable recent adaptation is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh as Victor Frankenstein and Robert De Niro as the Creature. The Universal version was itself reinterpreted in the 2004 Stephen Sommers film Van Helsing.

Related Topics:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - 1994 - Kenneth Branagh - Robert De Niro - 2004 - Stephen Sommers

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Depictions of The Monster have varied widely, from mindless killing machines (as in many of the Hammer films) to the depiction of The Monster as a kind of tragic hero (closest to the Shelley version in behavior) in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Van Helsing.

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Three films have depicted the genesis of the Frankenstein story in 1816: Gothic directed by Ken Russell (1986), Haunted Summer directed by Ivan Passer (1988) and Remando al viento (English title: Rowing with the Wind) directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988).

Related Topics:
Gothic - Ken Russell - 1986 - 1988

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Parodies and satires

The films have been parodied, as in Mel Brooks' comedy Young Frankenstein (1974), which borrows heavily from the first three Universal Frankenstein films, including the use of Whale's original laboratory set pieces and the technical contributions of their original creator, Kenneth Strickfaden.

Related Topics:
Mel Brooks - Young Frankenstein - 1974 - Kenneth Strickfaden

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was a musical parody of the story. In this twisted comedic tale, Dr. Frank N. Furter, creates a creature for his own pleasure and finds he cannot control the creatures lust.

Related Topics:
The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 1975

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