THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411040100
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
IT'S BEEN A box-office bonanza for everyone from Boris Karloff to Mel Brooks, but Mary Shelley's novel also has produced some real clunkers. Its latest incarnation, ``Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,'' goes to proves you can't keep a good Creature down. Here are some of the ways he's played over the years.
Frankenstein'' (1910). The producers were worried that this silent version would be too ``repulsive'' for the audience. Charles Ogfle was the Creature and Augustus Phillips was Victor.
``Frankenstein'' (1931). The most famous of them all. The James Whale production made Boris Karloff a star and established the image of the Creature as a lurching mute with bolts in his neck. Colin Clive was Henry Frankenstein (a name change) and Mae Clarke was Elizabeth.
``The Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935). Elsa Lanchester on a bad hair night. She played Mary Shelley in the opening scene and the lightning-struck bride.
``Son of Frankenstein'' (1939). The doctor's skeptical son (Basil Rathbone) returns to the family home and gets involved with Dad's work. Karloff's last appearance as the Creature.
``Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' (1942). The legendary Universal Pictures monsters meet. The Werewolf (Lon Chaney Jr.) wants Dr. Frankenstein to cure him. Bela Lugosi played the monster.
``The Ghost of Frankenstein'' (1942). Lon Chaney Jr. steps into Karloff's shoes. Bela Lugosi was the simpering, deformed Ygor.
``Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' (1948). Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr. and and an all-star crew of monsters appear. Wolf Man says, ``You don't understand, when the moon is full, I turn into a wolf.'' To which Costello replies, ``You and 50 million other guys.''
``The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957). The first of the Hammer Frankenstein series was a colorful, comparatively expensive production with Peter Cushing as the scientist and Christopher Lee as the Creature.
``I Was a Teenage Frankenstein'' (1957). A follow-up to ``I Was a Teenage Werewolf.'' Whit Bissell gathers body parts to continue his ancestor's work but is thwarted when he's eaten by a crocodile. Gary Conway is the Creature.
``The Revenge of Frankenstein'' (1958). Peter Cushing plays Victor Stein, a kindly doctor who wants to give his crippled assistant a healthy body, so he creates an artificial creature.
``Frankenstein's Daughter'' (1958). Demented descendant of the doctor (John Ashley) sets loose the corpse of a teenage girl.
``Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster'' (1965). A space robot goes berserk among Puerto Rican disco dancers.
``Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter'' (1966). Narda Onyx plays Frankenstein's granddaughter - on the range.
``The Horror of Frankenstein'' (1970). A Hammer film that showed the theme was getting weak.
``Frankenstein: The True Story'' (1973). Fairly true to the novel, this TV version had Leonard Whiting as Frankenstein, Michael Sarrazin as the Creature and Jane Seymour as the Female Creature.
``Frankenstein'' (1973). Another TV version, this one with Robert Foxworth, Bo Svenson and Susan Strasberg.
``Andy Warhol's Frankenstein'' (1974). The bloodiest, goriest and most tasteless of then all.
``Young Frankenstein'' (1974). Mel Brooks goes wild in a spoof that loves the genre it mocks. The cast included Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Gene Hackman, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn and Cloris Leachman.
``Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell'' (1974). A young doctor is discovered conducts experiments with human bodies and is thrown into an asylum run by none other than Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Peter Cushing starred in the last of the Hammer Frankenstein series.
``Frankenstein Island'' (1981). Four ballonists are forced down on an island run by Sheila Frankenstein. Monsters and amazons appear, including John Carradine.
``Frankenstein'' (1982). This one also followed the original book; with Robert Powell, Carrie Fisher, David Warner and John Gielgud.
``Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie'' (1983). The doctor (Donald Pleasance) is about to be evicted because of back taxes. Zsa Zsa Gabor had a bit part.
``Frankenweenie'' (1984). Tim Burton began his career with this affectionate spoof in which Sparky, a spunky dog, is hit by a car then revived by his owner, Victor Frankenstein. Shelley Duvall and Daniel Stern were in the cast.
``The Bride'' (1985). Sting and Jennifer Beals fail to make sparks. The Creature is played by Clancy Brown.
``Gothic'' (1987). The summer of 1816, when Mary Shelley created the story, is re-created by director Ken Russell with Gabriel Byrne as Lord Byron, Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley and Julian Sands as Percy Shelley.
``Frankenstein General Hospital'' (1988). A spoof in which the 12th grandson of Dr. Frankenstein works in the basement of a modern hospital. Considered by some to be the worst Frankenstein movie ever.
``Frankenhooker'' (1990). When a nice guy literally mows his girlfriend down, he has the foresight to save her head then the ingenuity to sew it on the body of a sexy streetwalker. The ads called it ``A Terrifying Tale of Sluts and Bolts.''
``Frankenstein Unbound'' (1990). John Hurt plays a nuclear scientist time traveler who runs into Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and their neighbors, Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. The film was Roger Corman's return to B-budget production.
``Frankenstein'' (1993) - A made-for-cable version with Patrick Bergin learning he can't control monstrous Randy Quaid. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by WARNER BROS. INC.
Peter Cushing portrayed the bedeviled baron Dr. Frankenstein in the
Hammer Frankenstein series.
CBS
Boris Karloff's depiction of the Creature remains the most famous of
them all.
by CNB