Frankenstein (1931, James Whale)
Frankenstein is famously one of the most filmed stories in cinematic history. Still, I hadn’t seen a single proper version of this story before, just variations (like Young Frankenstein). I knew the basic gist of it, of course, but I was still quite excited to finally see one of the most regarded renditions of this classic tale.
I may have had unfair expectations, but this didn’t work for me at all. Even though it’s only about 70 minutes long, it dragged on, and nothing much actually happened. There were a few memorable scenes — the little girl by the lake comes to mind — as well as some unexpected deaths, but it just wasn’t quite enough.
Of course, there’s the famous “It’s alive!” scene, which may be enough for some viewers, but I was left wanting much more. None of the characters are given much to do, and ultimately, I didn’t feel like Dr. Henry Frankenstein’s (Colin Clive) motivations and actions made sense, especially in the final reel.
Also, apparently the final scene was inserted after filming had completed and the studio decided they wanted a happy ending. I didn’t think this worked at all (I won’t spoil it if you don’t know) and kind of seemed to lessen the whole tragedy of the man and his monster.
Still, it is considered a classic for a reason. Maybe I just didn’t get it. Or maybe I was just expecting too much. Either way, I got bored much too quickly.
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