I bid you welcome. Wait, that's the wrong movie..oh well; got to start a blog out someway...and today's Jeanie's Halloween favorite is Frankenstein. To my way of thinking, there is only one that did it justice, corny as it may be...and that's Frankenstein with Boris Karloff. Back in the day...or so I'm told....the site of the sewn together with bits and pieces of dead folk Frankenstein could scare even a good girl straight into the arms of her beloved. I'll wager most young men found it worth the price of admission and popcorn to cop a feel while watching Colin Clive shout the immortal words....It's alive! It's alive!
Boris Karloff said he endured 5 to 6 hours a day in the makeup chair to create his role as the monster, who he played a total of 3 times in his career. In the sequel to Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, the monster is actually given dialogue...sort of. ...and would like Dr. Henry Frankenstein to piece together a little something in the form of a wife. Gotta admire positive thinking.
There have been some imitators over the years. Hammer Film Studios released several of their own versions. Kenneth Branaugh directed and starred along side Robert DeNiro in a version of Frankenstein in 1994, staying more true to Mary Shelley's novel. However, in my way of thinking, no one is as memorable or stands the test of time like Karloff's Frankenstein.
Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein were released in 1931 and 1935 and both directed by James Whale (see Gods and Monsters 1998).
Son of Frankenstein with Karloff's last turn as the monster was released in 1939 and directed by Rowland V. Lee upon James Whale's departure from Universal Studios.
Frankenstein is another one of those monsters from which no one can manage to escape. He may be slow moving...but he's tenacious! Tomorrow is my final Halloween entry. It will be catch-all day for monsters...including ghosts, ghouls, demons and in general folks who have jumped the trolley tracks...so's to speak.
I hope everyone is planning to have a Happy Halloween. Better get out now and get your candy; and please, don't be a cheap bastard....buy the good stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment