When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.When the brilliant but unorthodox scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein rejects the artificial man that he has created, the Creature escapes and later swears revenge.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Lady Fanshawe
- (as Clarissa Kaye)
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Did you know
- TriviaThe character "Dr. Polidori" is not in Mary Shelley's novel, although he includes elements of Victor Frankenstein's mentors, Doctors Waldman and Krempe. He is primarily based on Dr. Septimius Pretorius from Bride of Frankenstein (1935), but the name had to be changed because the Pretorius character is not in the public domain. He is named for Shelley's friend John William Polidori, who wrote a novella called "The Vampyre," which he began in the same weekend that she got the idea to write "Frankenstein". Polidori served as doctor for Lord Byron, who mockingly called him "Pollydolly", just like Clerval does in the film.
- GoofsWhen Polidori introduces Victor to the creature in his carriage, the interior point of view shot shows a Chinese servant closing the carriage door. A split second later, in a reverse angle shot from the exterior, the servant has vanished.
- Quotes
Dr. Henry Clerval: You're afraid. I was afraid at first. It's the way we've been brought up. We've been brought up to fear! To fear the punishment of the gods. But Prometheus defied them.
Dr. Victor Frankenstein: And they punished him!
Dr. Henry Clerval: He scorned their punishment. So has every other hero that's stolen secrets from nature to give to mankind.
- Alternate versionsThe widely seen version features a prologue with James Mason visiting the supposed grave of Mary Shelley. However, test screenings showed a longer prologue, depicting Mary Shelley and her friends coming up with the Frankenstein story at a Swiss villa, similar to the opening of Bride of Frankenstein (1935). This was cut and replaced by the simpler version after the test audiences were bored by it.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Der phantastische Film: Frankenstein, wie er wirklich war 1 (1980)
Anyway, watching it again last night with much more seasoned eyes, I was able to appreciate so many more aspects of this very well done film. While not a direct interpretation of the novel, it is certainly among the top three film versions of the story. It's not what you would call action packed but surprisingly, clocking in at around 3 hours, doesn't drag either, due to a tight script.
It would have benifited from more music throughout as it carries a very sparse score. Guess it wasn't in the budget.
In this release there was a very crucial scene which didn't match my memory, and I've come to find out that it had been edited. It was a somewhat gory scene but for crying out loud, it was on TV in '73! And we couldn't put it on the DVD now?? I don't get it. Other than those couple of points, it really is a somewhat forgotten classic.
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- Frankenstein, wie er wirklich war
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- Runtime3 hours 5 minutes
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