When I was young, it was widely believed that the scene of the Karloff's creature throwing little Maria into the lake and also Thomas Edison's 1910 Frankenstein movie were lost forever. Now audiences can see them both with digitally restored quality. You have no idea how marvelous that is to me.
In the audio album "An Evening With Boris Karloff," Karloff said that people told him that they were terrified by his creature but also felt sympathy for him, and he said that made him very happy because it was exactly the effect he wanted his performance to have on audiences.
According to him, children were never scared of Frankenstein, but adults were, so much that he had to wear a bag over his head if he was off-set but still in make-up
Oh you all HAVE to see The Bride of Frankenstein! I think it’s one of the greatest see Iris ever and James Whale was not the fantastic director of both, but Karloff was such a fine actor who brought so much to The Monster. His hand gestures and his eyes tell so much.
@@UncagedSavage Yes. Every time they mentioned good old Ygor I would think Som of Frankenstein and Lugosi. 😂 Oh and Ghost of Frankenstein with Ygor making his return appearance. 😀
After The Bride of Frankenstein, you need to revisit Young Frankenstein. You’ll get a lot more out of it having seen the two classics on which it is based.😊
Igor (Ygor) was taken from the 3rd film, "Son of Frankenstein. You really need to see the original sequel, "Bride of Frankenstein", as well as "Son", before you get all the YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN references (the Blind Man, The Bride's hairdo, the one armed police chief, and much much more).
Son of Frankenstein is possibly my favorite, though not as essential as the first two, it feels more open world and advanced. It has Bela Lugosi as Igor, has an interesting idea that it's not just lightning but cosmic rays that invigorated and mutated the monster and made him near immortal, good dialogue and dark humor.
Great reaction. Especially to the dancing! Of the many callbacks to this movie in Young Frankenstein, the Monster meets the little girl and throws flowers in the water. The girl says, "What else can we float?" The monster looks at the camera and smiles.
I am still amazed at how great this film is, released in 1931! Boris Karloff is still the best version of the monster! I watched many of the Frankenstein films as a kid, I vividly recall this one, "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman" and the incredible "Bride of Frankenstein."
I used to work in a cemetery for a few years. We dug graves by hand for lawn crypts. It’s not as long as you’d thing but it does take a while. We had two guys doing it and we had to go down about 3 feet to get to the vault lid (lawn crypts have the vault put in prior, one on top of the other for couples). If I remember correctly it took about an hour and a half. You never went 6 feet in a grave as it is because you’d hit water. Depending on the soil it’s not really that hard to dig out if you know what you’re doing. Also, this is my all time favorite of the old horror films (1920s-1960s) as it was so well made and really has stood up after 93 years. Thanks for doing this one!
23:55.......Marilyn Harris, who played little Maria, was very fond of Karloff as the Monster. She insisted on riding with him in the car that took them to the lake where this scene was filmed.
16:58......Karloff's eyelids were covered with wax to give them a half-closed, dead look. He also had a dental bridge, which he removed, then he sucked in his right cheek, to give his face a more corpse-like look. The sleeves of the jacket were shortened to make his arms look longer. Fantastic character development! 👏👏👏👏
The eyes are amazing. The first shot of him reveals something so baleful and terrifying in his eyes. I’m sure audiences at the time probably shrieked when he was revealed.
The windmill is a replica of one that stood in LA. Before the Van de Kamp company made fish sticks and canned beans, it was a chain of bakery-restaurants. Van de Kamp Dutch Bakeries. This windmill was attached to their LA restaurant, which the director could see from his apartment and it gave him the idea for the movie.
It made the Monster look worse when they omitted the Maria scene back in the day. All you see is the father carrying his dead daughter, which makes it look like the Monster flat-out murdered her.
My favorite moment in this movie is the beginning where Doctor Frankenstein is in the graveyard with Fritz and he throws a shovel full of dirt DIRECTLY into the face of Death(in the form of the Grim Reaper statue behind him).
There's an LP album where Karloff speaks the inner thoughts of the monster, worth checking out. During filming, Karloff had to be in character between shots. They built a reclining table so he could take the weight off his feet as he couldn't sit. The original novel (by a woman!) is considered to be the first sci-fi literature. This was ~60 years before Dracula was penned. About half of the Frankenstein tale is omitted in this film as well as some philosophical bits about the meaning of life and other characters (the Baron has two sons). I'd encourage anyone to read the original book or hear the audio version. Did you know that Benedict Cumberbatch also did Frankenstein & his creature?!?
Boris Karloff's performance is legendary. There are 8 total Frankenstein movies in the Universal franchise. The last 3 are also considered part of the Dracula series as well. Watching the first 4 Frankenstein films is recommended to best appreciate Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein”, because most of the joke references are sourced from them. They are Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942).
In the 1990s there was a Frankenstein movie starring Robert De Niro as the monster, and a few years ago there was a movie called Victor Frankenstein with Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.
I heard that the make up artist designed the creature with that flat head because he envisioned Frankenstein opening the top of the head like a pot lid, putting the brain in, and clamping the head shut.
The REAL monster of this movie is Fritz! If he didn't torment the creature, he MIGHT not have gone crazy and tried to escape and all the crap that happened after.
Good to see the classics are still appreciated. My dad used to tell me about going to see Frankenstein when it was first showing - had to take a bus to a city that had a theater. The theater was full and a young woman he didn't know sitting next to him grabbed his arm early in the movie and held on tightly until it ended. Said by then he'd lost all feeling in that arm.
Boris Karloff played the Monster in this, then Imhotep in "The Mummy" (1932) before returning to the Monster in "Bride of Frankenstein" in 1935. He came back for "Son of Frankenstein" in '39, which introduced Ygor who was played by Bela Lugosi. Lon Chaney, Jr. then took over the role of the Monster for "The Ghost of Frankenstein" with Lugosi returning as Ygor in '42. "House of Frankenstein" in '44 saw Glenn Strange take over as the Monster, with John Carradine as Dracula, and Lon Chaney, Jr. returning to the role he originated, Larry Talbot/the Wofman, while Karloff took on a new role, Doctor Gustav Niemann . In 1943 it was time for Bela Lugosi to finally play Frankenstein's Monster, with Chaney back again as Talbot. If you want any more, look them up on IMDB. It's all there.
Boris Karloff (really, William Henry Pratt) was 44 when he played the monster. He'd previously been a busy, but little known, character actor. In the sequel he gets to speak. I always think of him fondly as the narrator of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".
THE Grandaddy of all horror movies, James Whale's atmospheric and groundbreaking film paved the way for an entire genre of film. Boris Karloff's iconic role cemented him as a star after appearing in dozens of B movies brought such pathos and even menace to his Monster. The scene w/little Maria indeed was cut due its somewhat graphic (for the time) choice of accidentally killing her (you're correct Mrs. - he didn't mean to and thought literally what your guess was - he figured she was pretty like the flowers and she should float too). Jack Pierce's amazing make-up indeed involve all you mention (the heavy lids were wax and a substance called collodian for the look of an undead pallor). Karloff had a dental plate he removed causing the face to be sunken in the cheek area making his look even more eerie. While it's debated for what the Creature's 'name' is it is universally (sure pun intended) allowed as Frankenstein - which makes sense since he's 'birthed' by Henry (here - the novel is Victor). The confusion re: Fritz being Igor also has been accepted stupidly for years - particularly since he's consistently called his correct name by Henry over and over. Igor shows up in the 2nd remake SON OF FRANKENSTEIN played by Bela Lugosi (and it's Ygor - there's never been an Igor). Fritz was played by Dwight Frye - who you saw just the other day as Renfield in DRACULA. Colin Clive along w/Karloff reprised his role in the next film - the first sequel - THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN - my fave horror film of all-time. Looking forward to your watch & so relieved you dug this!
There's a short silent-film version of Frankenstein from 1910 done by Edison Studios. That monster never caught on, to my knowledge. It took this 1931 version to seer onto the minds of the audience the look of Frankenstein the monster.
in 1912, we had a deadly tornado here in Regina, SK my grandma's uncle was badly injured by debris that fell on him & young travelling actor William Pratt pulled him out & saved his life
Young Frankenstein used bits of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein, with a little bit of Ghost of Frankenstein. Ygor will show up in Son of Frankenstein.
16:17.......He's leaning like that, Mrs Movies, because of the boots he's wearing with the costume. They also used steel struts in the pants legs to stiffen Karloff's legs, giving him that awkward walk.
The best Universal horror films after this one and Dracula are The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, with Claude Rains and The Wolf Man, with Lon Chaney, Jr. and Claude Rains. There is also The Mummy, with Boris Karloff, and Son of Frankenstein, starring Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi.
This film essentially covers the first part of the novel. _The Bride of Frankenstein_ is the second part of the book. _Bride_ is generally regarded as the better film. It also has more scenes that were parodied in _Young Frankenstein._ Igor shows up for the first time in _Son of Frankenstein,_ IIRC. It also has some other characters that Wilder and Brooks parodied.
This might have been mentioned back when you watched Young Frankenstein: Various machines and contraptions which occupied Frankenstein’s laboratory in that, were actual props from this movie! They'd been collecting dust for a good many years, but they still worked!
Mr. and Mrs. Movies: You should consider watching the Penny Dreadful series next Halloween season. It's a very modern view of lots of horror tales rolled into one.
Henry’s father is sort of a Colonel Blimp type character. He could be considered comic relief, but his character seems wildly out of place in this story.
There's a picture of Boris Karloff, dressed as the Monster, with a towel over his head, being led around the studio lot by make-up man Jack Pierce, because the make-up frightened the female employees.
Good to see somebody watching the original, KARLOFF. Also, in The Bride of Frankenstein where the monster bride is Elsa Sullivan Lanchester, who was married to Charles Laughton (Captain Bligh)
Bela Lugosi only played Dracula twice on film, in the 1931 original and in 1948 in "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein" also for Universal. "Dracula's Daughter" 1936 does not feature Dracula other than a quickly glimpsed wax figure of Lugosi as Dracula's corpse. In "Son Of Dracula" 1943...by far the best sequel...Dracula is played by Lon Chaney jr., the only actor to play all of the big four Universal classic monsters. In "House Of Frankenstein" 1944 and "House Of Dracula" 1945 Dracula is played by John Carradine. Re: the cast - Edward Van Sloan plays Van Helsing in "Dracula" and "Dracula's Daughter", Dr. Waldman in "Frankenstein", and Dr. Muller in "The Mummy" 1932. Dwight Frye plays Renfield in "Dracula", Fritz in Frankenstein", and Karl in "Bride Of Frankenstein" 1935. He is also in "The Invisible Man" 1933, "Ghost Of Frankenstein" 1942, and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" 1943, the year he died. There is an unconfirmed rumor that he is an extra in "Son Of Frankenstein" 1939 in which Lugosi gives one of his greatest performances as Ygor. Lugosi, Van Sloan, and Frye were all treated like shit by Universal. Boris Karloff, thankfully, was too big a star to get such treatment.
Another classic film. These movies are truly amazing and I’m glad to see you two watch these old films. Hope you’re both doing well, please take care and have a great weekend!
Bela Lugosi was originally supposed play the monster. They even did a costume test and made up a poster with him as the creature. However, once he found out that they would cut out all of his dialogue he turned it down, comparing the role to "a scarecrow".
I love this movie, but I feel like you HAVE to watch "The Bride of Frankenstein" too. It has some of my favorite moments from the Frankenstein movie mythos.
Great reaction - Kudos for watching these classic movies, which became the template for so many movies to come. Try to watch the 1957 Hammer production, The Curse Of Frankenstein. It was the first colour Frankenstein film and initiated a series with Peter Cushing as Frankenstein.
Please see the sequel "Bride of Frankenstein" which appears to have been part of the original filming of "Frankenstein" and was cut into a second feature. The two movies comprise one story.
During the making of this movie, Boris Karloff suffered a back injury while carrying Colin Clive up the windmill steps. He was forced to wear a back brace and undergo multiple surgeries the rest of his life in order to walk. If you pay attention to his latter movies, especially the movies done with Roger Corman, Karloff is always filmed sitting down, or if he is shown sitting down or standing up, it cuts away from Karloff walking, because by this time the pain was too great and he was confined to a wheelchair.
"Well, he wasn't very deep. I mean there's like two feet of dirt on top of it." At least I won't suspect you have buried any bodies lately. Mrs. Movies on the other hand seems to understand how it works. She knows how to get rid of the evidence...
This movie is still as much fun as it was when I was a kid. It's impossible to watch without thinking about *Young Frankenstein," and I think that really improves the experience.
4:16 - "It takes longer for girls to shovel than boys." My grandma was a gardener, and she had a knack for shoveling that I (a boy) never found. She'd put her foot on that shovel and DIVE into the soil. Even as a fully-grown adult, I've never found that same knack for shoveling that she had. So it depends on practice and technique, more than brute strength or weight, I suppose. (Though I'm sure strength and weight both help.)
I've always believed that the father saw the giant footprints next to Maria's footprints and surmised that she was murdered. I never saw that scene of Frankenstein throwing the girl in the water until I saw it on DVD.
Between filming Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein James Whale directed The Old, Dark House, also w/Boris Karloff. It is considered the first haunted house movie, although it is not haunted by ghosts. It is well worth your time to watch it.
The pop culture Igor is a mix of the hunchback assistant Fritz from this and "Ygor" from "Son of Frankenstein" (the third film in the series) who was played by Lugosi and had a broken neck and twisted back from a failed hanging. In fact, it seems the first time the Igor name was used for a hunchback assistant on film is Young Frankenstein. There was a cartoon before that, a traditional animated follow up to the stop-motion "Mad Monster Party," that had a hunchback Igor character. The scene with the blind man in "Young Frankenstein" is a parody of "Bride of Frankenstein." The one-armed police captain is a parody of "Son of Frankenstein." Young Frankenstein is almost a sequel to "Son of," where Gene Wilder's character could be seen as the grown-up grandson of Frankenstein from "Son of." The little boy in that even had curly hair similar to Gene. That's how I like to think of it. "Son of" was my favorite of the three when I was a kid.
Karloff played the monster in Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein (my personal favorite of the Universal Monster Films) and Son of Frankenstein, which Lugosi was in playing Ygor.
9:20 - "Did he just call him Fritz? So it's not Igor?" Yes. In this film- the one that came first- his assistant's name is Fritz. In the book, he has no assistant- he works alone. There were several stage adaptations of the book, one of which was most influential on this screenplay. Here, he has an assistant, named Fritz. Fritz is not exactly a "hunchback," in the strictest definition, but he does have a hunched-over way of walking, with his short cane. In the sequel, "Bride of Frankenstein," he has different assistants, neither of whom are named Igor. (but one of whom is again played by the same actor, Dwight Frye.) In the next film, "Son of Frankenstein," there is a character named Ygor, but he's not exactly a lab assistant. "House of Frankenstein" includes a guy who is literally a hunchback, but his name is not Igor, it's Daniel. The history of how our popular notion of "Igor, the hunchbacked lab assistant to Dr. Frankenstein, with one squinty eye and one bulging eye, who speaks with a lisping, raspy voice reminiscent of Peter Lorre" is complex and even a mystery. It is only YEARS later than any or all of those elements come together into a single character, and even since they have rarely all been present. But if you ask almost anyone about "Dr. Frnkenstein's lab assistant," they are going to describe what I just listed. Popular culture is often an amalgamation of various pieces of actual canon. And P.S. in "Young Frankenstein," the character of Igor says that his grandfather used to work for Frederick's grandfather. But he never claims to have been named after him; he never says that his grandfather was also named Igor. We just assume that we know that Frankenstein's assistant has always been named Igor.
The best Universal monsters movies to me are. Son of Frankenstein 1939, The Invisible Man 1933 The Wolfman 1941. The creature from the Black Lagoon 1954. Sadly, the actor who played Dr. Frankenstein died from alcoholism. And the actor who played Fritz worked himself to death. Not only was he a supporting character actor nonstop. He poured steel at a foundry for many years during his acting years too.
My Dad told me that Grandpa & Grandma went to see Frankenstein when it 1st came out in the theater. It scared Grandma & she refused to go down to the basement until Grandpa put in a light bulb above the stairs.
"She doesn't know how to swim ?" Apparently she doesn't even know how to wade. You should definitely watch "Bride of Frankenstein" - Elsa Lanchester, who spent her later career playing dotty old ladies, really shines in that one.
When Frankenstein first came out, the most horrific part was when the monster threw the little girl in the water because he didn’t understand and the villagers thought he did it on purpose. Plus a kid hasn’t died in a horror movie yet
Dwight Frye who plays Renfield in Dracula plays Fritz in Frankenstein and Karl in Bride Ygor is played Bela Lugosi In Son of Frankenstein 1939 which is a Must Watch
Young Frankenstein took inspiration from the first three Frankenstein movies. The blind man was is Bride of Frankenstein, Igor and a lot of other inspirations was taken from Son of Frankenstein. The original Ygor was brilliantly portrayed by Bela Lugosi. His performance alone is worth watching Son of Frankenstein.
Interesting story about the censorship of the drowning scene: the censors removed the scene of the monster throwing little Maria into the lake, as they felt it too gruesome. So, the last thing you see is the monster throwing his last flower into the water, and then staring at the girl. Next we see her, her father is carrying her dead body and says "she was murdered" - all of which left audiences with the impression that what happened to the girl was much more horrific than what happened in the scene they removed! It also removed all context of the killing (that it was unintentional), and made the monster look like more of a murderous beast.
Bela Lugosi was such a hit as Dracula that he was offered the part the monster. He turned it down, finding it insulting that it was a non-speaking part. So it went to a little known British actor, Boris Karloff and launched his career. Ironically, he went on to have a much more storied career than Lugosi, partially because Karloff really was a superb actor, but also because of Lugosi's heavy Hungarian accent. Lugosi was just never offered the good leading roles. Later in life, Lugosi said turning down this role was his biggest professional regret. The story of how the novel was written is pretty fascinating, especially since in those days, women weren't exactly looked on as being able to write any kind of literary masterpiece and she didn't write it to be.
"Young Frankenstein" also referenced "Bride of Frankenstein," especially with the old blind man and Madeleine Kahn's hair style at the end, for example, and "Son of Frankenstein," with the one-armed eye-patched inspector with the impossible German accent, for example. It also nodded to "King Kong" and the Clark Gable comedy "Idiot's Delight" with Puttin' on the Ritz. You must have noticed, also, that Dwight Frye played both Fritz in this movie and Renfield in "Dracula." He was a popular character actor at Universal. FYI, the Monster make-up for this movie is indeed iconic and legendary in the movie business. There are behind-the-scenes still photos floating around the internet of Karloff taking breaks in make-up but not costume, and the make-up is even more impressive. There's one photo of skinny, bare-chested Karloff drinking tea from a dainty little cup, and you can't tell clearly where the hand and neck make-up ends and his real skin begins. It looks even more real without a shirt and jacket. As far as I know, the first Universal Frankenstein series appearance of an Igor was in "Son of Frankenstein." That character was a disreputable type who befriended the Monster for his own purposes and was played by Bela Lugosi. In "Bride of Frankenstein," Frankenstein had no lab assistant but was half helped, half forced to create a second monster by another mad scientist, more of an occultist, named Dr. Pretorius. Pretorius employed two criminals as his assistants, one of whom was played by Dwight Frye yet again.
Bela Lugosi played Dracula in 2 films one was an Abbott and Costello movie he also played Frankenstein's monster in 1 film. Boris Karloff played the monster in 3 Frankenstein movies.
I've got a board game called "Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein" where you go around the city scavenging for body parts in various ways to build your own monster. Major points go to anybody that completes their monster and fires it up with the power of lightning. It's great!
When I was young, it was widely believed that the scene of the Karloff's creature throwing little Maria into the lake and also Thomas Edison's 1910 Frankenstein movie were lost forever. Now audiences can see them both with digitally restored quality. You have no idea how marvelous that is to me.
In the audio album "An Evening With Boris Karloff," Karloff said that people told him that they were terrified by his creature but also felt sympathy for him, and he said that made him very happy because it was exactly the effect he wanted his performance to have on audiences.
Boris Karloff, William Henry Pratt, turned in one of the great screen performances. He became an instant legend.
According to him, children were never scared of Frankenstein, but adults were, so much that he had to wear a bag over his head if he was off-set but still in make-up
There's an assistant named Igor in the third Frankenstein film. Pop culture has kind of transmogrified Fritz and Igor into one being.
Oh you all HAVE to see The Bride of Frankenstein! I think it’s one of the greatest see Iris ever and James Whale was not the fantastic director of both, but Karloff was such a fine actor who brought so much to The Monster. His hand gestures and his eyes tell so much.
Don't forget the third one " Son Of Frankenstein " with Bela Lugosi as Ygor the hunchback
@@UncagedSavage Yes. Every time they mentioned good old Ygor I would think Som of Frankenstein and Lugosi. 😂 Oh and Ghost of Frankenstein with Ygor making his return appearance. 😀
After The Bride of Frankenstein, you need to revisit Young Frankenstein. You’ll get a lot more out of it having seen the two classics on which it is based.😊
Bride of frankenstein is definitely overrated
Bride of Frankenstein is coming Monday! It’s on Patreon already
Igor (Ygor) was taken from the 3rd film, "Son of Frankenstein. You really need to see the original sequel, "Bride of Frankenstein", as well as "Son", before you get all the YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN references (the Blind Man, The Bride's hairdo, the one armed police chief, and much much more).
Son of Frankenstein is possibly my favorite, though not as essential as the first two, it feels more open world and advanced. It has Bela Lugosi as Igor, has an interesting idea that it's not just lightning but cosmic rays that invigorated and mutated the monster and made him near immortal, good dialogue and dark humor.
Great reaction. Especially to the dancing! Of the many callbacks to this movie in Young Frankenstein, the Monster meets the little girl and throws flowers in the water. The girl says, "What else can we float?" The monster looks at the camera and smiles.
I am still amazed at how great this film is, released in 1931! Boris Karloff is still the best version of the monster! I watched many of the Frankenstein films as a kid, I vividly recall this one, "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman" and the incredible "Bride of Frankenstein."
Some of the B&W photography was terrific especially the long shot of the burning mill.
At the time the part when he says "Now i know how it feels to be God" was censored.
I used to work in a cemetery for a few years. We dug graves by hand for lawn crypts. It’s not as long as you’d thing but it does take a while. We had two guys doing it and we had to go down about 3 feet to get to the vault lid (lawn crypts have the vault put in prior, one on top of the other for couples). If I remember correctly it took about an hour and a half. You never went 6 feet in a grave as it is because you’d hit water. Depending on the soil it’s not really that hard to dig out if you know what you’re doing.
Also, this is my all time favorite of the old horror films (1920s-1960s) as it was so well made and really has stood up after 93 years. Thanks for doing this one!
No one should just skip from Frankenstein to Young Frankenstein. You need to see Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein, too.
Young Frankenstein parodied three monster films, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein.
23:55.......Marilyn Harris, who played little Maria, was very fond of Karloff as the Monster. She insisted on riding with him in the car that took them to the lake where this scene was filmed.
16:58......Karloff's eyelids were covered with wax to give them a half-closed, dead look. He also had a dental bridge, which he removed, then he sucked in his right cheek, to give his face a more corpse-like look. The sleeves of the jacket were shortened to make his arms look longer. Fantastic character development! 👏👏👏👏
The eyes are amazing. The first shot of him reveals something so baleful and terrifying in his eyes. I’m sure audiences at the time probably shrieked when he was revealed.
No CGI, just brains, skill and great make up and prop's professionals.
@@FilmBuff54 I remember reading somewhere that a few theater patrons fainted when they saw him.
Karloff after they yelled Cut did get in the water and help the little actress out of the pond.
Dwight Fry played ''Fritz''; ''Igor'' was a character introduced in ''Son of Frankenstein'', he was played by Bela Lugosi.
The bolts on Boris Karloff's neck were put in so deep they permanently left scars on his neck.
The windmill is a replica of one that stood in LA. Before the Van de Kamp company made fish sticks and canned beans, it was a chain of bakery-restaurants. Van de Kamp Dutch Bakeries. This windmill was attached to their LA restaurant, which the director could see from his apartment and it gave him the idea for the movie.
Good to know.
It made the Monster look worse when they omitted the Maria scene back in the day. All you see is the father carrying his dead daughter, which makes it look like the Monster flat-out murdered her.
Well, the Monster did murder her, but not as violently as was imagined.
A must and the misses will laugh her ass off abbott and costello meet Frankenstein
After you watch The Wolfman, you MUST watch Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
The best of A&C's monster movies. 2nd best is A&C Meet the Mummy. A&C Meet the Invisible Man is good but not as much as the other two.
Yes!
@@peridot1706 A & C Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Boris was good too!
Love that you are doing these. Can’t wait for Bride of Frankenstein. It’s head and shoulders above the other Monster films, for my money.
Have you seen the Franklin movie from 1994 with Robert De Niro
Bela Lugosi did play the Frankenstein Monster once in one of the Classic Universal monsters movies.
My favorite moment in this movie is the beginning where Doctor Frankenstein is in the graveyard with Fritz and he throws a shovel full of dirt DIRECTLY into the face of Death(in the form of the Grim Reaper statue behind him).
yes! #karma
@@Trilaan A lot of viewers miss that. Sharp eyes! ✌️👍
There's an LP album where Karloff speaks the inner thoughts of the monster, worth checking out. During filming, Karloff had to be in character between shots. They built a reclining table so he could take the weight off his feet as he couldn't sit.
The original novel (by a woman!) is considered to be the first sci-fi literature. This was ~60 years before Dracula was penned. About half of the Frankenstein tale is omitted in this film as well as some philosophical bits about the meaning of life and other characters (the Baron has two sons). I'd encourage anyone to read the original book or hear the audio version. Did you know that Benedict Cumberbatch also did Frankenstein & his creature?!?
One of the best Sci-fi Horror movies ever made and also one of the best adaptations of the Frankenstein movie!
Boris Karloff's performance is legendary. There are 8 total Frankenstein movies in the Universal franchise. The last 3 are also considered part of the Dracula series as well.
Watching the first 4 Frankenstein films is recommended to best appreciate Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein”, because most of the joke references are sourced from them. They are Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942).
In the 1990s there was a Frankenstein movie starring Robert De Niro as the monster, and a few years ago there was a movie called Victor Frankenstein with Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.
I heard that the make up artist designed the creature with that flat head because he envisioned Frankenstein opening the top of the head like a pot lid, putting the brain in, and clamping the head shut.
What a weird,grotesque idea.
Freaks (1932) 🙏🙏🙏
The REAL monster of this movie is Fritz! If he didn't torment the creature, he MIGHT not have gone crazy and tried to escape and all the crap that happened after.
Quite true.
The real monsters were the Fritzes we met along the way
Good to see the classics are still appreciated.
My dad used to tell me about going to see Frankenstein when it was first showing - had to take a bus to a city that had a theater. The theater was full and a young woman he didn't know sitting next to him grabbed his arm early in the movie and held on tightly until it ended. Said by then he'd lost all feeling in that arm.
Watch Gods and Monsters starring Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser and Lynn Redgrave. It’s the biography of James Whale, the director of Frankenstein.
Boris Karloff played the Monster in this, then Imhotep in "The Mummy" (1932) before returning to the Monster in "Bride of Frankenstein" in 1935. He came back for "Son of Frankenstein" in '39, which introduced Ygor who was played by Bela Lugosi. Lon Chaney, Jr. then took over the role of the Monster for "The Ghost of Frankenstein" with Lugosi returning as Ygor in '42. "House of Frankenstein" in '44 saw Glenn Strange take over as the Monster, with John Carradine as Dracula, and Lon Chaney, Jr. returning to the role he originated, Larry Talbot/the Wofman, while Karloff took on a new role, Doctor Gustav Niemann . In 1943 it was time for Bela Lugosi to finally play Frankenstein's Monster, with Chaney back again as Talbot. If you want any more, look them up on IMDB. It's all there.
The assistant name is fritz Igor is a mandela effect
Boris Karloff (really, William Henry Pratt) was 44 when he played the monster. He'd previously been a busy, but little known, character actor. In the sequel he gets to speak. I always think of him fondly as the narrator of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".
Karloff was a total sweetheart and very mentally healthy, unlike horror stars like Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. who both had addiction problems.
Ygor shows up in Son of Frankenstein, the third film, played by Bela Lugosi in one of his best roles.
THE Grandaddy of all horror movies, James Whale's atmospheric and groundbreaking film paved the way for an entire genre of film. Boris Karloff's iconic role cemented him as a star after appearing in dozens of B movies brought such pathos and even menace to his Monster. The scene w/little Maria indeed was cut due its somewhat graphic (for the time) choice of accidentally killing her (you're correct Mrs. - he didn't mean to and thought literally what your guess was - he figured she was pretty like the flowers and she should float too). Jack Pierce's amazing make-up indeed involve all you mention (the heavy lids were wax and a substance called collodian for the look of an undead pallor). Karloff had a dental plate he removed causing the face to be sunken in the cheek area making his look even more eerie. While it's debated for what the Creature's 'name' is it is universally (sure pun intended) allowed as Frankenstein - which makes sense since he's 'birthed' by Henry (here - the novel is Victor). The confusion re: Fritz being Igor also has been accepted stupidly for years - particularly since he's consistently called his correct name by Henry over and over. Igor shows up in the 2nd remake SON OF FRANKENSTEIN played by Bela Lugosi (and it's Ygor - there's never been an Igor). Fritz was played by Dwight Frye - who you saw just the other day as Renfield in DRACULA. Colin Clive along w/Karloff reprised his role in the next film - the first sequel - THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN - my fave horror film of all-time. Looking forward to your watch & so relieved you dug this!
This film truly is a classic! One of the best!!
Correction, of a well-used error. "Frankenstein" is the name of the scientist only, NOT the creation / "monster."
Knowledge is knowing Frankenstein is the name of the creator, not the creation.
Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is the name of the monster of the film.
There's a short silent-film version of Frankenstein from 1910 done by Edison Studios. That monster never caught on, to my knowledge. It took this 1931 version to seer onto the minds of the audience the look of Frankenstein the monster.
in 1912, we had a deadly tornado here in Regina, SK
my grandma's uncle was badly injured by debris that fell on him
& young travelling actor William Pratt pulled him out & saved his life
Young Frankenstein used bits of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein, with a little bit of Ghost of Frankenstein.
Ygor will show up in Son of Frankenstein.
Gotta check out the sequel now... even better than the orginal
16:17.......He's leaning like that, Mrs Movies, because of the boots he's wearing with the costume. They also used steel struts in the pants legs to stiffen Karloff's legs, giving him that awkward walk.
Definitely check out Bride and Son, as well.
The best Universal horror films after this one and Dracula are The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, with Claude Rains and The Wolf Man, with Lon Chaney, Jr. and Claude Rains. There is also The Mummy, with Boris Karloff, and Son of Frankenstein, starring Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi.
This film essentially covers the first part of the novel. _The Bride of Frankenstein_ is the second part of the book. _Bride_ is generally regarded as the better film. It also has more scenes that were parodied in _Young Frankenstein._
Igor shows up for the first time in _Son of Frankenstein,_ IIRC. It also has some other characters that Wilder and Brooks parodied.
This might have been mentioned back when you watched Young Frankenstein: Various machines and contraptions which occupied Frankenstein’s laboratory in that, were actual props from this movie! They'd been collecting dust for a good many years, but they still worked!
Mr. and Mrs. Movies: You should consider watching the Penny Dreadful series next Halloween season. It's a very modern view of lots of horror tales rolled into one.
Agreed - but they should watch the originals first or they won't get all the references. Also, some of the scenes might not be allowed on You tube.
The bride of Frankenstein is the greatest sequel of universal monsters, but the invisible man, and the wolf man are my favorites.
Invisible man is so mean spirited but fun as hell 😅
Frankenstein may strangle you, Dracula make you undead, but Invisible Man will get naked, beat you up then steal your bicycle 😊
@Jim-Mc everybody needs a hobby.
Son of the Invisible Man 😆... if you know, you know
Recognize Dwight Frye as Fritz? Played Renfield In Dracula
Henry’s father is sort of a Colonel Blimp type character. He could be considered comic relief, but his character seems wildly out of place in this story.
Yes, you were right! The poor creature thought that the pretty little girl would float like the flowers. 😢
There's a picture of Boris Karloff, dressed as the Monster, with a towel over his head, being led around the studio lot by make-up man Jack Pierce, because the make-up frightened the female employees.
the actors appeared in lots of things The black cat, the raven, the invisible ray , black Friday etc
4:27 Haha! Also, why were you digging a trench, was there a war. :)
Drainage…She grew up on a farm
Good to see somebody watching the original, KARLOFF.
Also, in The Bride of Frankenstein where the monster bride is Elsa Sullivan Lanchester, who was married to Charles Laughton (Captain Bligh)
She also played Mary Shelley in the prologue.
Bela Lugosi only played Dracula twice on film, in the 1931 original and in 1948 in "Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein" also for Universal. "Dracula's Daughter" 1936 does not feature Dracula other than a quickly glimpsed wax figure of Lugosi as Dracula's corpse. In "Son Of Dracula" 1943...by far the best sequel...Dracula is played by Lon Chaney jr., the only actor to play all of the big four Universal classic monsters. In "House Of Frankenstein" 1944 and "House Of Dracula" 1945 Dracula is played by John Carradine.
Re: the cast - Edward Van Sloan plays Van Helsing in "Dracula" and "Dracula's Daughter", Dr. Waldman in "Frankenstein", and Dr. Muller in "The Mummy" 1932. Dwight Frye plays Renfield in "Dracula", Fritz in Frankenstein", and Karl in "Bride Of Frankenstein" 1935. He is also in "The Invisible Man" 1933, "Ghost Of Frankenstein" 1942, and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" 1943, the year he died. There is an unconfirmed rumor that he is an extra in "Son Of Frankenstein" 1939 in which Lugosi gives one of his greatest performances as Ygor. Lugosi, Van Sloan, and Frye were all treated like shit by Universal. Boris Karloff, thankfully, was too big a star to get such treatment.
To get all the jokes in Young Frankenstein you need to watch all three of these: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein
Another classic film. These movies are truly amazing and I’m glad to see you two watch these old films. Hope you’re both doing well, please take care and have a great weekend!
Fun fact - for decades, Henry's line of "Now I know what it means to be God" was edited out of the movie due to being seen as blasphemous.
Frankenstein was on the Fritz...🤪
@@michiganjfrog366 😂😂😂😂
Didn't we already tell you Lugosi did NOT play Dracula in any sequels, aside from Abbott and Costello. And that is Renfield as Fritz.
Bela Lugosi was originally supposed play the monster. They even did a costume test and made up a poster with him as the creature. However, once he found out that they would cut out all of his dialogue he turned it down, comparing the role to "a scarecrow".
I love this movie, but I feel like you HAVE to watch "The Bride of Frankenstein" too. It has some of my favorite moments from the Frankenstein movie mythos.
Great reaction - Kudos for watching these classic movies, which became the template for so many movies to come.
Try to watch the 1957 Hammer production, The Curse Of Frankenstein. It was the first colour Frankenstein film and initiated a series with Peter Cushing as Frankenstein.
Please see the sequel "Bride of Frankenstein" which appears to have been part of the original filming of "Frankenstein" and was cut into a second feature. The two movies comprise one story.
During the making of this movie, Boris Karloff suffered a back injury while carrying Colin Clive up the windmill steps. He was forced to wear a back brace and undergo multiple surgeries the rest of his life in order to walk. If you pay attention to his latter movies, especially the movies done with Roger Corman, Karloff is always filmed sitting down, or if he is shown sitting down or standing up, it cuts away from Karloff walking, because by this time the pain was too great and he was confined to a wheelchair.
"Well, he wasn't very deep. I mean there's like two feet of dirt on top of it."
At least I won't suspect you have buried any bodies lately.
Mrs. Movies on the other hand seems to understand how it works. She knows how to get rid of the evidence...
The classic. Also see Little Caesar.
Bride picks up immediately after the first film...so go right into it.
This movie is still as much fun as it was when I was a kid. It's impossible to watch without thinking about *Young Frankenstein," and I think that really improves the experience.
@6:12 - "That's Van Helsing!". Correct, and he was also the man who did the introductory warning at the very beginning of the film.
Fritz was played by Dwight Frye. You've seen him before. He was Renfield in Dracula.
4:16 - "It takes longer for girls to shovel than boys." My grandma was a gardener, and she had a knack for shoveling that I (a boy) never found. She'd put her foot on that shovel and DIVE into the soil. Even as a fully-grown adult, I've never found that same knack for shoveling that she had. So it depends on practice and technique, more than brute strength or weight, I suppose. (Though I'm sure strength and weight both help.)
I hope you watch more of these like The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman, Bride of Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Hope you watch "The invisible man" too.
14:00.......The old Baron Frankenstein was always a favorite character of mine in this film. He's such a grouch!!! 😂😂😂
I've always believed that the father saw the giant footprints next to Maria's footprints and surmised that she was murdered. I never saw that scene of Frankenstein throwing the girl in the water until I saw it on DVD.
Between filming Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein James Whale directed The Old, Dark House, also w/Boris Karloff. It is considered the first haunted house movie, although it is not haunted by ghosts. It is well worth your time to watch it.
This movie ranked at #27 in the 100 scariest movie moments on Bravo, cool reaction as always Mr. & Mrs. Movies, you both take care
When I was a kid growing up in the mid to late 60s, it seemed that every kid I knew had seen this movie (on TV, of course).
The pop culture Igor is a mix of the hunchback assistant Fritz from this and "Ygor" from "Son of Frankenstein" (the third film in the series) who was played by Lugosi and had a broken neck and twisted back from a failed hanging. In fact, it seems the first time the Igor name was used for a hunchback assistant on film is Young Frankenstein. There was a cartoon before that, a traditional animated follow up to the stop-motion "Mad Monster Party," that had a hunchback Igor character.
The scene with the blind man in "Young Frankenstein" is a parody of "Bride of Frankenstein." The one-armed police captain is a parody of "Son of Frankenstein." Young Frankenstein is almost a sequel to "Son of," where Gene Wilder's character could be seen as the grown-up grandson of Frankenstein from "Son of." The little boy in that even had curly hair similar to Gene. That's how I like to think of it. "Son of" was my favorite of the three when I was a kid.
Karloff played the monster in Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein (my personal favorite of the Universal Monster Films) and Son of Frankenstein, which Lugosi was in playing Ygor.
9:20 - "Did he just call him Fritz? So it's not Igor?" Yes. In this film- the one that came first- his assistant's name is Fritz.
In the book, he has no assistant- he works alone.
There were several stage adaptations of the book, one of which was most influential on this screenplay. Here, he has an assistant, named Fritz. Fritz is not exactly a "hunchback," in the strictest definition, but he does have a hunched-over way of walking, with his short cane.
In the sequel, "Bride of Frankenstein," he has different assistants, neither of whom are named Igor. (but one of whom is again played by the same actor, Dwight Frye.)
In the next film, "Son of Frankenstein," there is a character named Ygor, but he's not exactly a lab assistant.
"House of Frankenstein" includes a guy who is literally a hunchback, but his name is not Igor, it's Daniel.
The history of how our popular notion of "Igor, the hunchbacked lab assistant to Dr. Frankenstein, with one squinty eye and one bulging eye, who speaks with a lisping, raspy voice reminiscent of Peter Lorre" is complex and even a mystery. It is only YEARS later than any or all of those elements come together into a single character, and even since they have rarely all been present. But if you ask almost anyone about "Dr. Frnkenstein's lab assistant," they are going to describe what I just listed. Popular culture is often an amalgamation of various pieces of actual canon.
And P.S. in "Young Frankenstein," the character of Igor says that his grandfather used to work for Frederick's grandfather. But he never claims to have been named after him; he never says that his grandfather was also named Igor. We just assume that we know that Frankenstein's assistant has always been named Igor.
The best Universal monsters movies to me are. Son of Frankenstein 1939, The Invisible Man 1933 The Wolfman 1941. The creature from the Black Lagoon 1954. Sadly, the actor who played Dr. Frankenstein died from alcoholism. And the actor who played Fritz worked himself to death. Not only was he a supporting character actor nonstop. He poured steel at a foundry for many years during his acting years too.
My Dad told me that Grandpa & Grandma went to see Frankenstein when it 1st came out in the theater. It scared Grandma & she refused to go down to the basement until Grandpa put in a light bulb above the stairs.
"She doesn't know how to swim ?" Apparently she doesn't even know how to wade.
You should definitely watch "Bride of Frankenstein" - Elsa Lanchester, who spent her later career playing dotty old ladies, really shines in that one.
When Frankenstein first came out, the most horrific part was when the monster threw the little girl in the water because he didn’t understand and the villagers thought he did it on purpose. Plus a kid hasn’t died in a horror movie yet
Dwight Frye who plays Renfield in Dracula plays Fritz in Frankenstein and Karl in Bride Ygor is played Bela Lugosi In Son of Frankenstein 1939 which is a Must Watch
Young Frankenstein took inspiration from the first three Frankenstein movies. The blind man was is Bride of Frankenstein, Igor and a lot of other inspirations was taken from Son of Frankenstein. The original Ygor was brilliantly portrayed by Bela Lugosi. His performance alone is worth watching Son of Frankenstein.
Interesting story about the censorship of the drowning scene: the censors removed the scene of the monster throwing little Maria into the lake, as they felt it too gruesome. So, the last thing you see is the monster throwing his last flower into the water, and then staring at the girl. Next we see her, her father is carrying her dead body and says "she was murdered" - all of which left audiences with the impression that what happened to the girl was much more horrific than what happened in the scene they removed! It also removed all context of the killing (that it was unintentional), and made the monster look like more of a murderous beast.
Since you just watched Dracula, I was expecting you to eat those gnats. "The blood is the life."
Bela Lugosi was such a hit as Dracula that he was offered the part the monster. He turned it down, finding it insulting that it was a non-speaking part. So it went to a little known British actor, Boris Karloff and launched his career. Ironically, he went on to have a much more storied career than Lugosi, partially because Karloff really was a superb actor, but also because of Lugosi's heavy Hungarian accent. Lugosi was just never offered the good leading roles. Later in life, Lugosi said turning down this role was his biggest professional regret. The story of how the novel was written is pretty fascinating, especially since in those days, women weren't exactly looked on as being able to write any kind of literary masterpiece and she didn't write it to be.
"Young Frankenstein" also referenced "Bride of Frankenstein," especially with the old blind man and Madeleine Kahn's hair style at the end, for example, and "Son of Frankenstein," with the one-armed eye-patched inspector with the impossible German accent, for example. It also nodded to "King Kong" and the Clark Gable comedy "Idiot's Delight" with Puttin' on the Ritz. You must have noticed, also, that Dwight Frye played both Fritz in this movie and Renfield in "Dracula." He was a popular character actor at Universal.
FYI, the Monster make-up for this movie is indeed iconic and legendary in the movie business. There are behind-the-scenes still photos floating around the internet of Karloff taking breaks in make-up but not costume, and the make-up is even more impressive. There's one photo of skinny, bare-chested Karloff drinking tea from a dainty little cup, and you can't tell clearly where the hand and neck make-up ends and his real skin begins. It looks even more real without a shirt and jacket.
As far as I know, the first Universal Frankenstein series appearance of an Igor was in "Son of Frankenstein." That character was a disreputable type who befriended the Monster for his own purposes and was played by Bela Lugosi. In "Bride of Frankenstein," Frankenstein had no lab assistant but was half helped, half forced to create a second monster by another mad scientist, more of an occultist, named Dr. Pretorius. Pretorius employed two criminals as his assistants, one of whom was played by Dwight Frye yet again.
Bela Lugosi played Dracula in 2 films one was an Abbott and Costello movie he also played Frankenstein's monster in 1 film. Boris Karloff played the monster in 3 Frankenstein movies.
I've got a board game called "Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein" where you go around the city scavenging for body parts in various ways to build your own monster. Major points go to anybody that completes their monster and fires it up with the power of lightning. It's great!
This was one of the very first movies I ever saw. It's in there with King Kong, Wizard of Oz, and Willy Wonka
This one was my favourite........... as well as the movies that followed.
British horror. Hammer horror the best 🔨