The “Original” Original Frankenstein
While many horror fans and cinephiles credit Universal Studio’s 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein as the monster’s first appearance on screen, a twelve minute version was actually produced by Thomas Edison in 1910. This film declares itself to be a liberal adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel and introduces the viewer to Frankenstein leaving for college. A title card reveals that after two years, he discovers the secret to life. Through ghostly splotches of decaying film reel, the viewer watches Frankenstein studying books, taking notes, and writing his sweetheart a note to tell her that after he’s finished creating his own perfect human, he will return to her to be married. Frankenstein then begins to put together his monster.
What’s especially noteworthy about this 1910 film version is the way in which Frankenstein constructs his monster. Mary Shelley’s novel speaks of the scientist visiting carnal houses and engaging in grave robbery to collect bits and pieces of bodies for his creation. The 1931 film is iconic for actor Boris Karloff’s appearance as a shuffling, stitched-together specimen, complete with a stolen abnormal brain. In Edison’s film, Frankenstein is seen mixing together liquids and powders and pouring the recipe into a great steaming vat. His method of creation is more similar to witches stirring cauldrons than a secluded scientist piecing something together. This version also gives the impression that Frankenstein’s creature was something that he made entirely on his own; there’s no grave robbery involved here. A title card even reads, “Instead of a perfect human being the evil in Frankenstein’s mind creates a monster”. While the 1931 film could contribute the monster’s evil to an abnormal criminal brain, this 1910 film features a monster made from scratch and suggests that Frankenstein himself is to blame for any of his creation’s wrongdoings.
The “birthing” scene of the creature is especially interesting to see. The vat that the monster arises from is locked behind a door with a viewing square for Frankenstein to watch. While it looks like the vat could be kept in some sort of closet, what the viewer/Frankenstein sees through the viewing square looks like an oven. The monster slowing morphs, first into a skeleton that raises its arm and waves, and eventually into Frankenstein’s monster. It could be because of old, damaged film, but it looks as though there’s smoke in this monster-baking chamber. What looks like flames can be seen about halfway through the creature’s formation, and an orange tint suggests that there is fire in the chamber. Despite being made over one hundred years ago, the 1910 film is more affective at unnerving viewers than most modern-day filmmaking technologies.
The viewer watches through the viewing square with Frankenstein until he appears to be horrified by what he sees. He paces before the door, which his creation manages to break open. Frankenstein faints on his bed and the viewer sees the completed monster for the first time. He has a tangled mane of hair, a bulky form, and wriggles skeletal fingers above Frankenstein’s unconscious frame. This homegrown monster looks clown-like (which, in addition to the old, cracking film, is probably why he’s so damn creepy). Frankenstein rises from his bed and faints again on the floor, with his creation hiding upon the arrival of two of Frankenstein’s friends or colleagues.
A title card announces that Frankenstein has returned home and the viewer sees him reunited with his lover. However, he is not free of his creation. The monster follows him home and makes an appearance in a sitting room. Frankenstein coaxes his sweetheart to safety and wrestles with his creation a bit before it catches sight of its reflection in a mirror. He flees the room. The next title card announces that Frankenstein has married his sweetheart. The newlyweds embrace and the wife goes into another room, while Frankenstein is seen blowing out candles. The film changes from a rusty brown color to a blue color, suggesting that all the lights have been extinguished. What’s most surprising about the following sequence is how similar is looks to some modern-day found-footage horror films. The monster enters through a glass door and the film is edited so that the monster moves around the room without the viewer actually seeing the motions taking place. It’s eerily similar to a Paranormal Activity movie, as though the viewer is watching a night vision camera that’s been set up in the Frankenstein living room.
After a brief confrontation, the monster sees itself again in a mirror. A title card explains that this creature, spawned from an evil mind, is overcome by love and disappears. The monster does, indeed, disappear, but a reflection of him remains in the mirror. Frankenstein enters the room to see the monster’s reflection before it too disappears, revealing Frankenstein’s face instead. This doubling brings to mind the idea of doppelgangers and the uncanny, further reinforcing that this creature was entirely a product of Frankenstein’s own making, not relying upon any outside forces or bodies for explanations of its monstrous nature.
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting that the title card at the end says that the creature was "spawned from an evil mind." I've been wondering about the "abnormal brain," used in the 1931 Frankenstein, and I feel like it's a bit of an excuse to get audiences to sympathize with Frankenstein, rather than blame him for the existence of the Monster. The 1910 adaptation, however, doesn't seem sympathetic to Frankenstein at all. It readily admits that the Monster was "spawned" from someone with an innate wickedness, rather than made "evil" because of the "bad brain" in him. The idea that Frankenstein stirred a pot in a witchlike manner is almost a creepier scene than using stolen body parts, but in 1910, a large vat would probably be much less controversial on screen than grave robbing would. I like your analysis of the 1910 Frankenstein adaptation! It's interesting to consider how it interacts with the 1931 version we watched in class!
I also watched this film and I will agree with you that the creation scene is probably the most memorable part of it. As you mentioned, this is primarily due to the visual effects of the sequence, which while more than a century old still manage to come off as somewhat striking and uncanny. I did a bit of snooping around online and I managed to find an explanation of how the scene was shot which I think is rather interesting. Apparently, they first built a dummy that resembled the actor who played the creature and then recorded it melting in the cauldron that you see in the film. That's not all though, the scene in the film is actually that footage played backwards which is what causes the smoke from the fire to appear as though it is being sucked into the creature, creating an illusion that the creature is being built in the process. It's all really impressive in my opinion that they managed to do this back when everything had to be done physically, without computer effects. It also proves that you weren't imagining the fire in the film!
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