Frankenstein

1931 film directed by James Whale

OverviewAI-generated

Frankenstein is a 1931 American horror and science fiction film directed by James Whale. Produced by Universal Pictures, the movie features a cast including Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, and Boris Karloff. The screenplay was written by John L. Balderston, Francis Edward Faragoh, Robert Florey, and John Russell, based on the work of Mary Shelley. Arthur Edeson served as director of photography, with Charles D. Hall as production designer and Bernhard Kaun as composer.

The film is presented in black-and-white and has a runtime of 70 minutes. Its narrative is set in the Alps and Bavaria, focusing on themes of creation, ethics in science, human nature, and monsters. It was distributed by Universal Pictures, Netflix, and iTunes, and is available via video on demand. The movie belongs to the Pre-Code Hollywood movement and is part of the Frankenstein (Universal) Collection.

Synthesized by Vinony from 45 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, OMDb, IMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Film · TMDB

7.5

Henry Frankenstein pieces together body parts in the hope of bringing a human-like creature to life. The mad scientist’s dreams are shattered by his monstrous creation awakening with rage to a world that hates and fears him.

Released: 1931-11-2170 minDir: James WhaleDrama, Horror, Science FictionBudget: $291,000Box office: $12.0MPart of: Frankenstein (Universal) Collection

▶ Watch trailerStream on: YouTube TV, Philo

Cast

Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein
Mae Clarke as Elizabeth
John Boles as Victor Moritz
Boris Karloff as The Monster
Edward Van Sloan as Doctor Waldman
Frederick Kerr as Baron Frankenstein

Themes

fire
monster
experiment
based on novel or book
halloween
reanimation
laboratory
mad doctor
black and white
pre-code

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Ratings

IMDb

7.7/10

86,282 votes

Rotten Tomatoes

94%

Metacritic

91/100

Year: 1931
Runtime: 70 min
Genres: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Rated: Approved
Awards: 7 wins & 3 nominations total

via OMDb · IMDb

Key facts

Directed by: James Whale
Screenplay by: Garrett Fort Francis Edward Faragoh
Adaptation by: John L. Balderston
Based on: Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus , by Mary Shelley Frankenstein: An Adventure in the Macabre , by Peggy Webling
Produced by: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Starring: Colin Clive Mae Clarke John Boles Boris Karloff Dwight Frye Edward Van Sloan Frederick Kerr
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Edited by: Maurice Pivar
Music by: Bernhard Kaun
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release date: November 21, 1931 ( 1931-11-21 )
Running time: 70 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $262,007
Box office: $12 million

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of: film
Part of: National Film Registry
Genre: monster film
Country of origin: United States
Original language: English language
Based on: Frankenstein
Main subject: research ethics
Movement: Pre-Code Hollywood
Director: James Whale
Screenwriter: John Russell
Composer: Bernhard Kaun
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Production company: Universal Pictures
Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson
Narrative location: Bavaria
Duration: 71
FilmAffinity ID: 443503
Distribution format: video on demand
Image: Poster - Frankenstein 02.jpg

Show 11 more facts

publication date: 1932-11-28
Commons category: Frankenstein (1931 film)
title: Frankenstein
distributed by: iTunes
production designer: Charles D. Hall
color: black-and-white
different from: Frankenstein
set in environment: castle
review score: 7.7/10
capital cost: 262007
box office: 12000000

Sources (13)

via Wikidata · CC0

~29 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Frankenstein is a 1931 American pre-Code horror film directed by James Whale and produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.. It is adapted from the 1927 play Frankenstein: An Adventure in the Macabre by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston, while the screenplay was written by Garrett Fort and Francis Edward Faragoh, with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell.

Frankenstein stars Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein, an obsessed scientist who digs up corpses with his assistant to assemble a living being from body parts. The resulting creature, often known as Frankenstein's monster, is portrayed by Boris Karloff. The makeup for the monster was provided by Jack Pierce. Alongside Clive and Karloff, the film's cast also includes Mae Clarke, John Boles, Dwight Frye, and Edward Van Sloan.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Frankenstein” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.