Take Two - CinemAsylum

This is a home for film buffs, a post for movie stuff. Reviews, recommendations, discussions, whatever. Emphasis on clips - which are widely available on the web. Primarily to entertain, but also to educate with a little background, a bit of history, some juicy gossip. Follow-up discussion of others' posts is encouraged. To begin:

One of the greatest Hollywood franchises of all time is the Frankenstein series. I won't even try to count all the movies, references, take-offs, television shows, and so forth, that have been based on this one story, written by a proper young English woman  as a way to kill some time during a dreary weekend with friends. My personal favorite from the original series is James Whale's 1935 Bride of Frankenstein, and my favorite remake, so to speak, is Mel Brooks' 1974 send-up, Young Frankenstein. Here's a scene from Whale's original, followed by Brooks' spoof of it. Enjoy.

Bride of Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein

 

 

 

« Last Edit: 1817-05-14, 16:35:30 by Mary Shelley »

I enjoyed your comments and clips of the Frankenstein story as portrayed by Hollywood.

 

The only thing I take exception to is your characterization of Mary Wollstoncraft as a "proper young Englishwoman"  She had a very unconventional upbringing and at the age of 17 ran away to Europe with Percy Bysse Shelly, who left his pregnant wife and infant daughter to be with her.  She gave birth to two children out of wedlock, both of which died in infancy.  She did eventually marry Percy after his wife committed suicide.  She wrote Frankenstein between ages 19-21, which is astounding.  She became more of a success at that time than her then relatively unknown husband, and they lived off her royalties from Frankenstein for a while because he was so reckless and stupid with his own finances.  Her book was subtitled "The Modern Prometheus" (Prometheus was the Greek god who gave humans fire against the orders of Zeus and was punished for it in perpetuity)and was much more serious and philosophical than the weird monster stories we all have been shown by Hollywood.

 

Thanks for sharing and starting this thread!

 

She

Yes, but, she had no tattoos that we know of, so in my book, that's proper. 

Oh my bad Redevan.  Mistook this thread for a serious discussion.    Okay yeah, I did enjoy Young "Puttin' on the Ritz" Frankenstein. Gag and slapstick at its best.

 

She

Oh my bad Redevan.  Mistook this thread for a serious discussion.    Okay yeah, I did enjoy Young "Puttin' on the Ritz" Frankenstein. Gag and slapstick at its best.

 

She

Actually, this thread was intended to be an informative and entertaining discussion about movies. For example, did you know that Gene Hackman, who played the Blind Priest in that scene from Young Frankenstein, ad libbed his last line: "I was gonna make espresso!" They decided to keep it in the final cut, but they had to fade out quickly, because everyone on the set was laughing so hard. ^[1]

 

Also, the lab equipment used in Young Frankenstein is the same equipment that was used in the 1930's Universal Studios films. When Mel Brooks was preparing his film, he found that Ken Strickfaden, who had made the elaborate electrical machinery for the lab sequences in the Universal Frankenstein films, was still alive and in the Los Angeles area. Brooks visited Strickfaden and found that he had saved all the equipment and stored it in his garage. Brooks made a deal to rent the equipment for his film and gave Strickfaden the screen credit he'd deserved, but hadn't gotten, for the original films. ^[2]

 

Frankenstein (1910)

It's not only Hollywood that has, over two centuries, taken liberties with Mary Shelley's novel. As early as 1823, the story was adapted for another medium, an opera - or at least, a musical of sorts - which was actually attended by the author and her father. ^[3] The author's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, could not attend, as she had died in 1797, when the author was less than two week old. To this very day, many people - even serious people - confuse the mother with the daughter, and attribute the authorship of Frankenstein to Mary Wollstonecraft rather than her daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley.

 

The first known film version of the story was made in 1910 by Edison Studios. ^[4]

You can actually watch that film online.

 

< Click the pic

 

At least two other film adaptations ^[5][6] were made before the classic 1931 Universal Studios version, after which came many more adaptations for stage and screen. Some were pure monster flicks, while others were more serious and followed the plot and the themes of the novel more closely. One that's generally considered faithful to the novel was a two-part miniseries made for American television in 2004.

 

It's interesting that, as his contribution to that same rainy-day time-killing contest that generated the Frankenstein story, George Gordon, Lord Byron, wrote what is now generally considered the precursor of the modern vampire saga - all in all, not a sterile frolic. It is known that Percy Bysshe Shelley helped Mary with the development of her short story into a finished, publishable novel, but how much he helped is uncertain^[7]. Some have claimed that Percy Shelley deserves credit as co-author of the work, while others say his contribution was at most what an editor at a publishing house might have done. In any case, the novel was published anonymously on January 1, 1818, with a preface written by Percy Shelley. Not until four years seven-and-a-half months later, when the second edition was published on August 11, 1822, was Mary Shelley credited as the author - by which time, Percy Shelley had already been dead for over a month, and so, could hardly protest. A third edition was published on Halloween Day, 1831, which version had been extensively revised, possibly to make it "less radical", and now contained a preface by Mary Shelley, with a revised account of the tale's origin. ^[8]

 

Every highschooler knows - or at least used to know - that Prometheus was a Titan who was punished by Zeus for stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to human beings. But what people often forget is that Prometheus was also the creator of the human race - which, of course, would be essential to understanding the alternate title of the Frankenstein novel: The Modern Prometheus, if that alternate title were not so completely wrong-headed. For in fact, Prometheus was punished for loving his creation too much, where Victor Frankenstein is punished for regretting and rejecting his creation, to the point of not even giving it a proper name, and refusing even to create a companion for him. In truth, Frankenstein is less like Prometheus and more like Jehovah, who also came to regret His creation, and set out to destroy it with a Deluge.

 

Frankenstein (2004)

But enough of that. Time to get back to the movies. Here's a trailer for that 2004 miniseries I mentioned earlier. I've never seen it, but I'll be looking for it. Apparently you can order the DVD from Amazon, if anyone still does that.

 

As I mentioned earlier, my favorite of the Universal Studios Frankenstein series is 1935's Bride of Frankenstein.

But 1939's Son of Frankenstein has something the others lack: Basil Rathbone. It also marked the first appearance

of Ygor, played by Bela Lugosi (who was already famous as Dracula) and of the local constable, Inspector Krogh,

played here by Lionel Atwill - both of which characters were hilariously parodied in Young Frankenstein.

 

Son of Frankenstein - Trailer

Young Frankenstein Meets Igor

Inspector Kemp

Excellent post, redevan!

Thanks, Shook.

I have to say, your face.....

reminds me of...

someone..

My great-granddaddy was Boris Karloff... 👻

Raising Arizona. Anything by the Coen Brothers is good for a laugh. Got Nick Cage and Holly Hunter their start.

 

Typical of the Coen brothers, the movie is replete with symbolism, visual gags, unconventional characters, flamboyant camera work, biblical references, pathos, and idiosyncratic dialogue.

 

Oh I used to love Nic Cage....seems like he started making movies just to cash a check. Nothing wrong with that I suppose I just had such high hopes after Raising Arizona...he is quite talented...

I loved him in Moonstruck......

That's one of my all time favorite movies!!!

That's one of my all time favorite movies!!!

 

Me too! I love the old Italian guy with those dogs!

I loved when Cher slapped Nic cage and told him to "snap out of it" hahahahha😃

And eat that bloody steak. It's good for you. My life is cursed.

Academy Awards - Best Song Nominees 1969

William "Oliver" Swofford Jean   Jean was the theme from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Maggie Smith. A beautifully simple song in waltz time, by Rod McKuen.   The Sandpipers Come Saturday Morning   Come Saturday Morning was the theme to The Sterile Cuckoo, starring Liza Minnelli and Wendell Burton.   Barbra Streisand What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?   What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life was written for The Happy Ending, starring Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges, and Teresa Wright.   Glen Campbell True Grit   True Grit was the themesong of the movie of the same name, starring John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Corey and Strother Martin.   B.J. Thomas Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head   Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, and it won. Sung by B.J. Thomas in the film, it was rerecorded by Thomas and released as a single, reaching Number 1 on the charts in the United States, Canada, and Norway. It was the first American Number 1 hit of the 1970s.   Nilsson Everybody's Talkin'   Although the 1969 Academy Award for Best Picture went to Midnight Cowboy, the opening song from that movie, sung by Harry Nilsson, was not nominated for Best Song, because it was not written originally for that movie. In spite of that, Everybody's Talkin' reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award. I'm quite sure it would have won the Oscar for Best Song if it had been written originally for the movie, so I'm going to include it here.

The sound of the velociraptors communicating with each other in Jurassic Park is actually the sound of tortoises mating.

Academy Awards - Best Song Nominees 1969

William "Oliver" Swofford Jean   Jean was the theme from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Maggie Smith. A beautifully simple song in waltz time, by Rod McKuen.   The Sandpipers Come Saturday Morning   Come Saturday Morning was the theme to The Sterile Cuckoo, starring Liza Minnelli and Wendell Burton.   Barbra Streisand What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?   What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life was written for The Happy Ending, starring Jean Simmons, John Forsythe, Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges, and Teresa Wright.   Glen Campbell True Grit   True Grit was the themesong of the movie of the same name, starring John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Corey and Strother Martin.   B.J. Thomas Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head   Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, and it won. Sung by B.J. Thomas in the film, it was rerecorded by Thomas and released as a single, reaching Number 1 on the charts in the United States, Canada, and Norway. It was the first American Number 1 hit of the 1970s.   Nilsson Everybody's Talkin'   Although the 1969 Academy Award for Best Picture went to Midnight Cowboy, the opening song from that movie, sung by Harry Nilsson, was not nominated for Best Song, because it was not written originally for that movie. In spite of that, Everybody's Talkin' reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award. I'm quite sure it would have won the Oscar for Best Song if it had been written originally for the movie, so I'm going to include it here.

Thanks Evan nice selection of songs and triva.

Theme from Midnight Cowboy		And speaking of Midnight Cowboy, the actual theme from that movie has always struck me as a bit melancholy - to put it mildly. So I'll post it here for you. Thank me later.
Beck Devil's Haircut		Now compare that to the video for Beck's song, Devil's Haircut. Can we spot the influence?

Thanks Evan nice selection of songs and triva.

 

Quite welcome, querida.

You may recognize some of those songs from another thread.

(Ahem...)

 

Sí, por supuesto. 

A couple interesting documentaries about one of my favorite films 1. Death, Life, and Love: An Examination of Moonstruck 2. At the heart of an Italian Famila Part 1     Part 2     Part 3

A couple interesting documentaries about one of my favorite films 1. Death, Life, and Love: An Examination of Moonstruck 2. At the heart of an Italian Famila Part 1     Part 2     Part 3

Evan, very interesting, something nice to distract with, watched a little bit, will watch more later. Que tengas una buena noche mi amigo.