Frankenstein - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

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

[ella]

Seven year old actress Marilyn Harris had done several takes of Maria being thrown in the lake, none of which turned out quite right. (For example, on the first take, she actually floated as The Monster thought she would. A petticoat or two were removed to facilitate her going under water.) Although wet and tired, she agreed to do one last take of the scene, the one that appears in the finished film, after director James Whale promised her anything she wanted if she would do so. She asked for a dozen hard-boiled eggs, her favorite snack. Whale gave her two dozen. The DVD commentary for the film suggests that Harris wasn't actually a good swimmer, quoting her as saying that she had only a couple of swimming lessons before filming and had never dived under water before.

[veronica]

The 1935 novelization of The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) by Michael Egremont, published at the time of the film's release, reveals the surname of "Little Maria" as Kramer.

[leo]

In the final credits, the Universal globe is tilted way over to the right. This is very different from the "upright" version seen in modern Universal releases.

[lynn]

The method of animating the creature is never discussed in Mary Shelley's novel. In the book, Frankenstein, narrating, refuses to divulge how he did it so no one can recreate his actions, although there are some hints that it involves mixing chemicals. However, the use of lightning to resurrect the monster has become the accepted methodology and appears in almost every Frankenstein movie since. Two notable exceptions are Frankenstein: The True Story (1973), in which the Monster is animated by sunlight, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), which uses electric eels instead of lightning as the source of electricity.

[sandra]

(at around 24 mins) The Monster is first seen.

[caroline]

Johnny Cash's favorite film.

[bessie]

In the opening credits, The Monster is credited as ?, and only in the closing credits is The Monster credited as Boris Karloff.

[sophie]

Part of the original Shock Theatre package of 52 Universal titles released to television in 1957, followed a year later with Son of Shock, which added 20 more features.

[lena]

In one scene, The Monster walks through a forest and comes upon a little girl, Maria, who is throwing flowers into a pond. The monster joins her in the activity but soon runs out of flowers. At a loss for something to throw into the water, he looks at Maria and moves toward her. In all American prints of the movie, the scene ends here. As originally filmed,though, the action continues to show the monster grabbing Maria, hurling her into the lake, then departing in confusion when Maria fails to float as the flowers did. This bit was deleted because the censors objected to the violent end of the little girl. This scene is restored in 1986 and appears in the DVD reissue.

[amber]

During production, there was some concern that seven-year-old Marilyn Harris, who played Maria, the little girl thrown into the lake by The Monster, would be overly frightened by the sight of Boris Karloff in costume and make-up when it came time to shoot the scene. When the cast was assembled to travel to the location, Harris ran from her car directly up to Karloff, who was in full make-up and costume, took his hand, and asked "May I drive with you?" Delighted, and in typical Karloff fashion, he responded, "Would you, darling?" She then rode to the location with "The Monster".

[addison]

In the 1980s, the following shots were restored to the film, after having been censored decades earlier: 1. Henry Frankenstein's line "Now I know how it feels to BE God." 2. A sequence with Fritz, Frankenstein, and The Monster wrestling for control before they knock him out. 3. The sequence with Maria being accidentally drowned. 4. Shots of Doctor Waldman injecting the monster with a hypodermic. 5. Several shots of Fritz tormenting the monster. 6. The sequence in which Fritz is killed.