Max’s Drive-In Movie – Frankenstein 1931

Frankenstein 1931 drive in

This one was released way before Drive-In Movies but yes it was shown as the second feature at many drive-ins in the day…and probably still is!

I loved this movie as a kid. This one along with The Wolfman, Dracula, and the original King Kong. I went to school the next day saying “It’s Alive It’s Alive It’s Alive!” This movie was directed by James Whale and produced by Universal Pictures, is one of the most iconic films in the horror genre and a cornerstone of early Hollywood cinema. Based loosely on Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. 

I always considered it one of the most iconic films ever made. The story moves fast and there are no slow moments. They said all they needed to say in this movie with an hour and eleven minute run time. Jack Pierce, a legendary makeup artist, created the Monster’s look, which included the now-iconic flat head, heavy brow, bolts in the neck, and large boots. This visual representation of the Monster is what we remember now when Frankenstein gets mentioned in pop culture.

The big guy in this movie is film legend Boris Karloff. This is the film he is best remembered for and the sequels. The role was originally offered to Bela Lugosi but he declined it. Karloff also was in The Mummy in 1932. Frankenstein was frightening and a big reason was his eyes. They were menacing along with his slow movements.

The monster could be gentle but Dr Frankenstein’s assistant Fritz (better known as Igor later on) accidentally drops the normal brain and the brain that the doctor used was an abnormal one. After the monster is alive, Fritz can’t help himself and tortures the poor guy with a torch…big mistake by the late Fritz.

I never had much sympathy for Dracula but for Frankenstein I do. He never asked to be born or reborn. The scene with the little girl showed that the monster had a good side but was also heartbreaking. She showed him flowers and how flowers floated in water. He really enjoyed that but he didn’t know any better and threw the girl in to see her float…she didn’t. After the girl, the village chases the monster down.

Making a human being from spare parts… I’m reminded of a quote from Jurassic Park… Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.

Frankenstein poster

Plot IMDB

Henry Frankenstein is a brilliant scientist who has been conducting experiments on the re-animation of lifeless bodies. He has conducted experiments on small animals and is now ready to create life in a man he has assembled from body parts he has been collecting from various sites such as graveyards or the gallows. His fiancée Elizabeth and friend Victor Moritz are worried about his health as he spends far too many hours in his laboratory on his experiments. He’s successful and the creature he’s made come to life is gentle but clearly afraid of fire. Henry’s father, Baron Frankenstein, brings his son to his senses, and Henry agrees that the monster should be humanely destroyed. Before they can do so, however, the monster escapes, and in its innocence, it kills a little girl. The villagers rise up intent on destroying the murderous creature.

Quotes

  • Henry Frankenstein: Look! It’s moving. It’s alive. It’s alive… It’s alive, it’s moving, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, it’s alive, IT’S ALIVE!
  • Victor Moritz: Henry – In the name of God!
  • Henry Frankenstein: Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!

..,

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

57 thoughts on “Max’s Drive-In Movie – Frankenstein 1931”

  1. In the 1950s, channel 11 in Fort Worth had a horror movie night every Saturday, Nightmare Theater with a host name Gorgon. I would hide behind a chair and watch these movies, scared myself to death and ruined my sleep patterns. Funny how all kids like to torture themselves.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  4. For some reason, I keep thinking of “Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein” from SNL and the movie “Young Frankenstein”…. Seriously, though, it shows to what extent Frankenstein has become part of our culture.

    I honestly felt sorry for the monster, because it *wasn’t* a monster.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. I remember that!
      I agree with you…it really wasn’t a monster…just a big kid in a way that didn’t know rules. He honestly thought she would float…plus she really should have known how to swim!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. You know…I thought the same thing. I would like to read the book. I just read Tom Sawyer and also The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn….I would like to read more classic books like this.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I love this genre of film. CGI wasn’t even a twinkle in cinema’s eye. Yes, cheesy, but also yes, very appealing in its way. It’s also a metaphor for society that still holds. Good choice for Saturday morning.

    Welcome back, even if it’s for a day. Nice to see your presence here in blogland 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. It’s SO great to be back on here. When I take breaks like this…it makes me appreciate blogland more. I think I take it for granted at times but I really love the conversations.
      I have sympathy for the big guy.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      6. Yes he does… it’s cool as well that he was a huge abolitionist. At the time it wasn’t a popular thing to do… but he just flat out didn’t care.

        Liked by 2 people

  12. I used to catch this on TV a lot when I was a kid and always watched it with my mom (big fan of the classics) on those Saturday Matinee shows when the weather was too bad for me to play outdoors. This is definitely one of the best “monster” movies ever made.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Mmmm, there is something oddly familiar in this blog, I think I feel an affinity with this guy. Hey, he’s one good looking dude anyway! Talk, dark and handmade.

    Max, strange how there is something serendipitous going on in Blogoworld at the moment, what with you putting up this post today. I’ll put up something in the next few days, if I can stop dragging my knuckles and finish it off, once and for all.

    I too remember unintentionally testing my bladder, but not watching ‘Frankenstein.’ My too protective folks wouldn’t let me see that as a kid. (And I wuz a big boy too, all of six.) But I did get my own personal dose of weak-kneed eye-popping horror and dread while watching ‘Invaders From Mars’ on the ol’ black and white wobbly-legged TV, with the lights out.

    Took my long abandoned teddy bear to bed with me that long dark nightmarish night.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. After seeing your icon over and over…I was thinking of a movie and I brought it out…it’s as good as I remembered…love the big guy. Damn…why couldn’t that girl swim? Come on!

      My mom was a divorced mom when I was 7 so I watched what my 15 year old sister watched at the time…everything was open…that is why I remember the early SNL’s…but that didn’t stop me from being scarred and scared as well.
      Looking forward to your post man…and yes this is another post sponsored by obbverse.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Sorry if my electrodes prodded you into this post Max! I love this sort of older horror movie, it can look so schlocky nowadays, but the directors and actors scriptwriters etc had to do it all in real time, with make-up, good lines, shadows, atmosphere. A lot of new SF/Horror is, well so ‘good’ it is now unbelievable, if you know what I mean. Maybe I’m getting blasé, but there is no dread, no real belief. Acceptance that it is a great image or whatever on screen, but no real ‘Oh crap!’ moments. Maybe I’m no kid anymore, but I think something has been lost somewhere in the after Atari age.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I get what you are saying. After rewatching many older horror movies to prepare for this…they move a little slower…and that is good…it builds suspense and the biggest thing I’ve found…is the older movies trusted the audience’s patience…now they want the action…or really any action to start 1 minute in because people will switch channels or whatever. The atmosphere now seems forced… Personally I think pacing, cgi, and dumbing things down hurts newer horror movies…
        The did do a great makeup job on Karloff

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Pingback: Max’s Drive-In Movie – Frankenstein 1931 – MobsterTiger

  20. I remember watching this with my grandpa. He was a huge B movie buff. I can’t imagine anyone else giving this movie the same feel that Karloff gives it. Thank you for reigniting the memory.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I like that! I went to a casino a year or so ago and was dissapointed that they didn’t have the old coin slot machines…I thought they would at least have a few!
      Thank you…I’ll be back blogging again on Friday. I took a month break.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I love all the Monster films but Creature is my favourite. I think it’s due to the concept and the location work giving it a realism not present in any of the others. That makes it scarier and makes you wonder if ancient creatures could still exist somewhere.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I love all of those old monster films…one of the reasons is they are simple…and I don’t mean that in a bad way….they didn’t have 20 subplots going on…good storytelling.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment