"Frankenstein" in Print and on Film

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews James Whale's 1931 movie "Frankenstein" with Boris Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein and how it turned out to be an extremely profitable and entertaining rendition of Shelley's novel. It looks at how the differences between Shelley's original novel, "Frankenstein", and Whale's film version in the context of what was gained and what was lost can be explained by the artistic need to simplify and condense Shelley's long and complex plot into an enjoyable ninety minutes of sheer terror, mayhem and murder.

From the Paper:

A"nother important film addition is that Dr. Frankenstein, just prior to bringing his creation to life with the assistance of a ferocious electrical storm, explains in no uncertain terms his lifelong quest to create life to his friend Victor Moritz (John Boles), his fiancee Elizabeth (Mae Clarke) and his former university professor Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan). This alteration adds much to the relationship between Dr. Frankenstein and those who sincerely doubt his ability to create a living and breathing man from dead body parts, not to mention doubting his sanity. In Shelley's novel, most of the suspense and horror is founded on Victor Frankenstein's solitary experiments with electricity and his overwhelming desire to create a living man, one who will prove to the world that science is far more powerful than religion. Also, Victor Frankenstein in the novel works completely in solitude and tells no one about his experiments, not even his parents nor his closest friend Clerval. "

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