Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein blends Gothic horror and romance in a story that is both world-famous and increasingly relevant.
Frankenstein
is a young, idealistic student of natural philosophy who, finding the
secret of giving life to matter, creates a living being. The monstrous
creation, though tender-hearted and gentle in nature, inspires fear in
those who meet him and must hide away from society.
Increasingly
lonely and isolated, the monster becomes embittered and cruel, taking a
hideous revenge on his creator. In a dramatic denouement in which
Frankenstein pursues his creation to the Arctic in order to destroy him,
Mary Shelley reveals the terrifying consequences of playing God.
The epic battle between man and monster reaches its greatest pitch in trying to recreate life. The young
student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting
into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor
himself to the very brink. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it
destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love,
friendship ...and horror.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist,
biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband,
Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.
Mary
Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though
reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her
death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy
Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality,
that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's
letters, journals, and works within their historical context was
published.
The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and
daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of
letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary
Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works
suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her
quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life
added to this impression.
The eclipse of Mary Shelley's
reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last
thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a
larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if
that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her
writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious
reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters
and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's
recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after
Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I
can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea".
Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure,
significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a
woman and a liberal.
Boris Karloff stars as the screen's most memorable monster in what many
consider to be the greatest horror film ever made (1931). Dr. Frankenstein
(Colin Clive) dares to tamper with life and death by creating a human
monster (Karloff) out of lifeless body parts. It's director James
Whale's adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel blended with Karloff's
compassionate portrayal of a creature groping for identity that makes
Frankenstein a masterpiece not only of the genre, but for all time.
Boris Karloff
Along with fellow actors Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price,
Boris Karloff is recognized as one of the true icons of horror cinema,
and the actor most closely identified with the general public's
perception of the "monster" from the classic Mary Shelley
book, "Frankenstein". William Henry Pratt was born on November 23,
1887, in Camberwell, London, England, the son of Edward John Pratt Jr.,
the Deputy Commissioner of Customs Salt and Opium, Northern Division,
Indian Salt Revenue Service, and his third wife, Eliza Sarah Millard.
He
was educated at London University in anticipation that he would pursue a
diplomatic career; however, he emigrated to Canada in 1909 and joined a
touring company based out of Ontario and adopted the stage name of
"Boris Karloff." He toured back and forth across the USA for over ten
years in a variety of low-budget theater shows and eventually ended up
in Hollywood, reportedly with very little money to his name. Needing
cash to support himself, Karloff secured occasional acting work in the
fledgling silent film industry in such pictures as The Deadlier Sex (1920), Omar the Tentmaker (1922), Dynamite Dan (1924) and Tarzan and the Golden Lion
(1927), in addition to a handful of serials (the majority of which
sadly haven't survived). Karloff supplemented his meager film income by
working as a truck driver in Los Angeles, which allowed him enough time
off to continue to pursue acting roles.
His big break came in 1931 when he was cast as "the monster" in the Universal production of Frankenstein (1931), directed by James Whale,
one of the studio's few remaining auteur directors. The aura of mystery
surrounding Karloff was highlighted in the opening credits, as he was
listed as simply "?". The film was a commercial and critical success for
Universal, and Karloff was instantly established as a hot property in
Hollywood. He quickly appeared in several other sinister roles,
including Scarface (1932) (filmed before Frankenstein (1931)), the black-humored The Old Dark House (1932), as the namesake Oriental villain of the Sax Rohmer novels in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), as undead Im-Ho-Tep in The Mummy (1932) and the misguided Prof. Morlant in The Ghoul (1933). He thoroughly enjoyed his role as a religious fanatic in John Ford's The Lost Patrol (1934), although contemporary critics described it as a textbook example of overacting.
He
donned the signature make-up, neck bolts and asphalt spreader's boots
again to play Frankenstein's monster in the sensational The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the less thrilling Son of Frankenstein (1939). Karloff, on loan to Fox, appeared in one of the best of the Warner Oland Chan entries, Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), before beginning his own short-lived Mr. Wong detective series. He was a wrongly condemned doctor in Devil's Island (1939), shaven-headed executioner "Mord the Merciless" in Tower of London (1939), another misguided scientist in The Ape (1940), a crazed scientist surrounded by monsters, vampires and werewolves in House of Frankenstein (1944), a murderous cabman in The Body Snatcher (1945) and a Greek general fighting vampirism in the Val Lewton thriller Isle of the Dead (1945).
While
Karloff continued appearing in a plethora of films, many of them were
not up to the standards of his previous efforts, including appearances
in two of the hokey Bud Abbott and Lou Costello monster movies (he had appeared with them in an earlier superior effort, Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff
(1949), which theater owners often added his name to the marquee), the
low point of the Universal-International horror movie cycle. During the
1950s he was a regular guest on many high-profile TV shows including The Milton Berle Show (1948), Tales of Tomorrow (1951), The Veil (1958), The Donald O'Connor Show (1954), The Red Skelton Hour (1951) and The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1956), to name but a few, and he appeared in a mixed bag of films including Sabaka (1954) and Voodoo Island
(1957). On Broadway he appeared as the murderous Brewster brother in
the hit, "Arsenic and Old Lace" (his role, or the absence of him in it,
was amusingly parodied in the film version) and a decade later he
enjoyed a long run in "Peter Pan," perfectly cast as "Captain Hook."
His career experienced something of a revival in the 1960s thanks to hosting the TV anthology series Thriller (1960) and indie director Roger Corman, with Karloff contributing wonderful performances in The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), the ultra-eerie Black Sabbath (1963) and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Monster of Terror (1965). Karloff's last great role was as an aging horror movie star confronting a modern-day sniper in the Peter Bogdanovich film Targets (1968). In 1970, he played the blind sculptor Franz Badulescu in Cauldron of Blood (1970), written, produced, and directed by Edward Mann,
who had also come to the art of film from stage theater. His TV career
was capped off by achieving Christmas immortality as the narrator of Chuck Jones's perennial animated favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
(1966). Three low-budget Mexican-produced horror films starring an
ailing Karloff were released in the two years after his death; however,
they do no justice to this actor. In retrospect, he never took himself
too seriously as an actor and had a tendency to downplay his acting
accomplishments. Renowned as a refined, kind and warm-hearted gentleman,
with a sincere affection for children and their welfare, Karloff passed
away on February 2, 1969 from emphysema. Respectful of his Indian roots
and in true Hindu fashion, he was cremated at Guildford Crematorium,
Godalming, Surrey, England, where he is commemorated by a plaque in Plot
2 of the Garden of Remembrance.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000472/bio
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