For anyone who hasn't seen this version of Mary Shelley's 1818 classic novel,
Frankenstein is worth checking out. The running time is only a little over 12 minutes. The image is a little rough in spots but overall very viewable. Produced by Edison Studios in 1910 (Edison himself actually had nothing to do with the film), and directed by
J. Searle Dawley, this was the first screen adaptation of the novel. It stars
Augustus Phillips as Frankenstein,
Mary Fuller as Elizabeth, and
Charles Ogle as the monster. Ogle must have been a pretty busy guy (almost as busy as
William Schallert) as he appeared in over 300 films and shorts (mostly shorts) in his career.
I find it funny that instead of using lightning and electricity to create the monster, Frankenstein just mixes him up in a big bowl like a cake. And throwing the film into reverse, the monster is "created" out of the flames to wreak havoc on the good doctor and any innocent bystanders. There are plenty of uber-dramatic and over-exaggerated gestures for one and all.
All kidding aside, take a few minutes and check it out.
See it
here on YouTube. Or
here on Archive.org.
