Universal Frankenstein Movies
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.mp4
Bride of Frankenstein.mp4
Frankenstein 1931.mp4
Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman.mp4
Ghost of Frankenstein.mp4
House of Frankenstein.mp4
Son of Frankenstein.mp4
Thomas Edison 1910 Frankenstein .mp4
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Frankenstein, 1910
Directed by J. Searle Dawley, starring Augustus Phillips (Frankenstein), Charles Stanton Ogle (the Creature), Mary Fuller. Edison Film Company.
In this silent short, the first film version of Frankenstein, Frankenstein creates the Creature from a vat of chemicals in an early use of movie special effects. Edison's version was more faithful to the original story than many subsequent adaptations. The movie's original run went from 16 March to 31 March, 1910.
Only one print of the Edison film is known to survive, and is not readily available. Edison's Frankenstein (1990), a recent short film, uses stills to reconstruct the original.
Frankenstein, 1931
This, the most famous film version of the novel,stars Boris Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein [sic], with Mae Clarke (Elizabeth), John Boles, Dwight Frye (Frankenstein's hunchback assistant, Fritz), and Edward Van Sloan. Universal Studios and producer Carl Laemmle, following on the success of their Dracula (based on Bram Stoker's novel) the year before, chose director James Whale to bring Mary Shelley's novel to the screen.
The film was based on Peggy Webling's 1927 stage adaptation, with a screenplay by Robert Florey, Richard Schayer, and Garrett Fort. Two well-known actors -- Bela Lugosi and John Carradine -- turned down the role of the Creature, unhappy that it had no lines. Whale brought in a relative unknown, Boris Karloff, whose career was newly launched with the success of the picture.
The film's budget was $262,000, of which $10,000 was spent on special effects -- an exorbitant amount at the time. Karloff made famous the makeup of Jack Pierce. Kenneth Strickfaden's fantastic electrical equipment is also among the most memorable features of the film.
Universal in fact filmed two endings, and in the end chose to release the one with the happy conclusion. The movie was hastily filmed: production began on 24 August 1931, and the movie opened on 4 November of that year. Frankenstein was an immediate sensation; drawing over one million dollars in its first run -- more than twice the take of Dracula (1930) -- it became one of Universal's most successful productions ever. Universal therefore featured Karloff as the Creature in two more Universal films, The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and The Son of Frankenstein (1939).
The Bride of Frankenstein
Universal Studios announced a sequel to their phenomenally successful Frankenstein (1931), to be called The Return of Frankenstein, in 1933; but only in 1935 did Whale, Clive, and Karloff reunite, along with Valerie Hobson, Elsa Lanchester, Una O'Connor, and Ernest Thesiger, for The Bride of Frankenstein. Lanchester appears both at the beginning of the film, where she plays Mary Shelley, and at the end, where she plays the Monster's mate.
Co-writer John L. Balderston originally created the screenplay as a satire, but while some satirical elements remain, much of the movie is in the same tradition as its predecessor.
The film opens with a discussion between Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Shelley. When Byron complains about the ending of her original novel (making reference to the movie of 1931), Mary Shelley continues the tale. The Monster, we discover, was not killed in the fire at the mill that ended the first movie; he survived, and continued to wreak havoc among the villagers. A blind man befriends him and teaches him the rudiments of language. He is captured by local peasants, however, and taken into custody.
The evil Doctor Pretorius, whose own experiments with creating life have produced a collection of six-inch people in glass jars, persuades Henry Frankenstein to collaborate in the creation of a mate for the Monster. In a scene strongly reminiscent of the creation scene in the 1931 movie, Frankenstein and Pretorius bring the Bride to life; when she sees the Monster, however, she spurns him, and he destroys the castle and its laboratory. As with its precursor, Universal edited the film at the last minute to give it a happy conclusion in which Frankenstein and Elizabeth escape.
The Bride was the first of Universal's films in which the Monster speaks -- a decision that Karloff regretted, feeling the muteness lent the Creature dignity.
Universal produced a sequel, The Son of Frankenstein, which appeared in 1939.
The Son of Frankenstein (1939)
The third Universal Frankenstein movie, following the original Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Basil Rathbone plays Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, son of the "Henry" Frankenstein of the original movie; he returns to his father's castle and resurrects the monster, played (for the last time) by Boris Karloff.
The movie was directed by Rowland V. Lee, and starred (along with Rathbone and Karloff) Bela Lugosi (as Igor, in the first appearance of that character), Lionel Atwill (as the one-armed Inspector Krogh), Josephine Hutchinson, and Donnie Dunagan. It was originally scheduled to be Universal's first Technicolor production, but objections to the appearance of Karloff's makeup in color caused the film to be shot in black and white.
Universal announced a sequel, After Frankenstein, but it was never made.
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
The fourth Universal Frankenstein movie, following the original Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and The Son of Frankenstein (1942). It was the first Universal movie not to star Boris Karloff as the Monster, substituting a less successful Lon Chaney, Jr.
The movie was directed by Erle C. Kenton, and the cast includes Bela Lugosi (Ygor), Sir Cedric Hardwicke (Ludwig Frankenstein), Ralph Bellamy, Lionel Atwill (Dr. Bohmer), and Evelyn Ankers.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
The fifth Universal Frankenstein movie, following The Ghost of Frankenstein (1943), and one of the first to try to combine the monstrous elements of Universal's previous films. It was followed by others in the same vein, including The House of Frankenstein (1944, featuring Frankenstein's monster, the Wolf Man, Dracula, the Hunchback, and a Mad Doctor). In this movie, Lawrence Talbot, the Wolf Man, is accidentally resurrected by grave robbers; he travels to Transylvania to seek for a cure for his condition in Frankenstein's journals. While there, he encounters the Monster; after a battle, the two are swept away in the flooding caused by a burst dam.
The cast includes Bela Lugosi (as the Monster, a role he turned down for the 1931 Frankenstein), Lon Chaney, Jr. (the Wolf Man), Lionel Atwill (the mayor), Maria Ouspenskaya (Maleva), Dennis Hoey (police investigator), and Ilona Massey (Elsa, Frankenstein's daughter). Roy William Neill directed.
House of Frankenstein, Universal, 1944 (USA)
Directed by Erle C. Kenton, starring Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, John Carradine, J. Carrol Naish, Anne Gwynne, and Lionel Atwill. A sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Universal-International, 1948 (USA)
Directed by Charles Barton, starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, and Lenore Aubert.
Replies
Rick, don't know what happened, but the only one of your uploads that will play with sound is the first Frankenstein movie. All of the rest will only open with VLC, and like I said, no sound. Bummer. All of that work and this is how uploads treats you! Hope there is a way to fix this! Larry
I am sick of this. Sometime between Now and Friday look for new links. They are all going to A Drive. Meanwhile, ther will be no links just warnings ------ R
Uploaded to my own storage. Links working. ---------------------- R
Thanks Rick.
We're not worthy, we're not worthy! Wow! What a great collection! Thank you for these wonderful movies!
My Universal Dracula collection is next. It is uploading now. It's a tiny smaller than this one. Next after that, anyone up for "Ghosts On The Loose" (The East Side Kids) Stars Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner What a strange cast. ------------------------------------- R
I've been unable to open the Bride or Ghost of Frankenstein and F meets the Wolf man. Is anyone else having similar problems?
What a collection. Thanks Rick.