Frankenstein (1910)

We start off this month of Frankenstein movies with the earliest example of the genre: A 13-minute number produced by the (Thomas) Edison Studios. This will be the only silent movie that I review this month because, let’s face it, silent movies tend to be excruciatingly boring. But this particular movie is worthy and notable because (1) it’s the first effort to translate Mary Shelly’s monster onto celluloid, and (2) it includes some primitive “special effects” which, for the time, were groundbreaking.

The Plot: The film begins with Frankenstein going off to college, and “two years later” (according to the title cards) he “has discovered the secret of life.” We then go into a lengthy sequence where Frankenstein creates a human being by throwing some chemicals into a burning cauldron, closing a steel door, and then watching a man slowly materialize within as he spies through a peephole. The creation sequence, by the way, was fabricated by playing in reverse a film of a life-size puppet being burned up. It wasn’t sophisticated, but it was effective. Especially for audiences in 1910.

Once the creature emerges, Doc Frankenstein is repulsed by the hideous being. The creature, on the other hand, has the hots for Dr. F’s fiance. After some back and forth, the creature seems to realize he’s no prize (I went through a similar revelation during my dating years) and he departs, leaving Dr. F and his fiance to live happily ever after. (Near the end of the film, watch the sequence of the creature disappearing while his image remains in the mirror, and then the image becomes that of Dr. Frankenstein.)

What, you were expecting Citizen Kane?

The Monster: Played by Charles Ogle (1865-1940).Ogle went on to play over 300 characters during his long career during the silent era. In this movie, Ogle’s creature looks a lot like David Lee Roth.

The Atmosphere: Almost all the action takes place in Dr. Frankenstein’s sitting room/study. No graveyards, no fancy laboratories, no castle, no villagers with pitchforks and torches. It’s very “stagey,” as were most early movies of the silent era. Still, it’s a captivating movie. The claustrophobic scenes keep you zeroed in on the story.

Overall Comments: This film isn’t especially good by modern standards, but it’s important given its early provenance and its pathbreaking contribution to the Frankenstein oevre. It’s worth spending 13 minutes watching it (for free!), just to say you’ve seen the first Frankenstein movie.

It’s also notable that this film was for many years considered lost (that is, it was assumed that no copies of it existed). It wasn’t until the 1970s that a nitrate print of the film was learned to be in the possession of a collector, and this was used for an eventual restoration print by the Library of Congress in 2018 (for the 200th anniversary of the publication of original novel). It is available for viewing here.

Tomorrow, we’re off to the best-known Frankenstein movie, starring Boris Karloff!