Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

[camila]

Sir Kenneth Branagh originally wanted Dame Emma Thompson for the role of Elizabeth. However, she had been offered the lead in Carrington (1995) and Branagh agreed that this would be a better part for her.

[lonnie]

At one point, Tim Burton was being courted to direct, with Columbia Pictures eyeing Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Creature.

[kenneth]

Roman Polanski was approached to direct.

[marc]

Cherie Lunghi was only 8 years older than her screen son, Kenneth Branagh

[kylie]

This movie contains several references to previous Frankenstein movies: The Creature is brought to life in a metallic vat, as in Frankenstein (1910). Victor cuts an executed criminal from a hangman's noose, and uses the body for his experiments, as in Frankenstein (1931) and Young Frankenstein (1974). The Creature is reanimated with electrical charges. This is an invention of Hollywood. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley does not specify in the novel how Victor creates or animates the Creature. Once the Creature comes to life, Victor triumphantly shouts, "It's alive!" The Creature's first spoken word is "friend". This is also the Creature's most frequently-used word, when he learns to speak in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Victor uses the brain of a brilliant scientist and mentor for his Creature, as in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Justine Moritz's role is also expanded, and is made to fall in love with Victor in both movies. Victor's mentor, who paved the road for his experiments, brings a severed arm back to life, and shows it to Victor, as in Frankenstein: The True Story (1973). The Creature hides in some cottagers' pigsty, and secretly learns to speak and read from observing them through a peephole. In the book, the cottagers are foreign refugees. In this movie, the cottagers are simply local townsfolk. This variation on the novel was first used in Terror of Frankenstein (1977). Victor revives a mangled and hideous Elizabeth after the Creature murders her, and Victor and the Creature then engage in a battle for her affection. Horrified, the reanimated Elizabeth takes her own life. The same events take place, almost exactly, in Roger Corman's Frankenstein Unbound (1990). A cholera epidemic sweeps through Ingolstadt, leaving Victor to believe that the Creature died from disease. Frankenstein (1992) also featured a cholera epidemic under very similar circumstances, even though it is not present in the novel.

[maureen]

Veteran horror actor Christopher Lee, who played the Creature in Hammer Studio's "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), was asked at the premiere of this film about the differences between his version and this new adaptation. Lee replied, "About 40 years and 40 million dollars."

[wallace]

Richard Briers (Grandfather) worked two weeks.

[kyle]

Sir Sean Connery was asked to play Professor Waldman.

[cassandra]

After viewing a rough cut, Producer Francis Ford Coppola insisted on cutting the first half hour of the movie. When Director Sir Kenneth Branagh refused, Coppola publicly denounced the movie.

[kyle]

Willem Dafoe was offered the role of Dr. Victor von Frankenstein.

[kylie]

During his conversation with the Creature in the ice caves, Frankenstein remarks that "There was something at work in my soul which I do not understand". This line is taken almost word for word from the original novel, though there it appears in a letter from Captain Robert Walton to his sister, regarding his desire for exploring, and reads "there IS something at work."

[frederick]

The end version makes it look like Henry Clerval was killed, but deleted scenes show he and the Frankenstein Servants survive the fire.

[gabriel]

Sir Kenneth Branagh, John Cleese, Imelda Staunton,Robert Hardy, and Helena Bonham Carter appeared in the Harry Potter film franchise.

[riley]

This was the first film directed by Kenneth Branagh not to feature Emma Thompson.

[lena]

Christopher Lambert was cast as Henry Clerval, but replaced by Tom Hulce before filming.

[marc]

John Cleese previously played Frankenstein's Monster in Monty Python's Flying Circus: The BBC Entry for the Zinc Stoat of Budapest (or, It's the Arts) (1969).

[bernice]

Ian Holm previously played both Dr. Victor von Frankenstein and the Creature in Mystery and Imagination: Frankenstein (1968).

[javier]

Gérard Depardieu and Andy Garcia were early suggestions for the role of the Creature.

[marc]

Fay Ripley filmed a small role, she was bitten by Robert De Niro, but her scenes never made the final cut.