Fellow Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing & jumping for joy for his big broadcast of one of the many classic mammoth definitive Universal Studios monster masterpiece adaptations.
“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast of “Frankenstein” (1931) with Boris Karloff
A snippet from James Whale’s classic mammoth Universal Studios monster masterpiece adaptation production of “Frankenstein” (1931) with Boris Karloff.
Original 1931 Universal Studios poster art element for “Frankenstein” with Boris Karloff.
The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth monster feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “Frankenstein” (1931); this Sat., Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
The classic mammoth 1931 landmark classic Universal monster masterpiece adaptation was directed by veteran Universal director James Whale. Whale also directed the classic mammoth Universal screen thriller masterpiece adaptation of J.B. Priestley’s “The Old Dark House” (1932) with Boris Karloff, Gloria Stuart, Melvyn Douglas and Charles Laughton; Universal’s landmark classic monster masterpiece screen adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The Invisible Man” (1933) with Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart and Una O’Connor and his classic mammoth Universal monster sequel masterpiece production of “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) with Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff.
Adapted rom Mary Shelley’s 1818 gothic novel, “Frankenstein: or the Modern Prometheus,” the screenplay adaptation of Shelley’s novel was adapted for the screen by veteran screenwriters Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort for Whale’s classic mammoth Universal monster masterpiece adaptation production of “Frankenstein” (1931). Faragoh and Fort’s screenplay adaptation was inspired by veteran playwrights Peggy Webling and John L. Balderston’s proposed script idea for a “Frankenstein” stage play adaptation. Whale’s classic mammoth 1931 Universal monster masterpiece production adaptation of “Frankenstein” was co-produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., the son of Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle with veteran associate producer E.M. Asher.
It was reported that veteran director Robert Florey was originally slated to direct the classic mammoth 1931 Universal monster masterpiece production, according to details from Universal’s 1999 DVD supplemental documentary featurette on “Frankenstein” (1931) and the studio’s classic mammoth “Frankenstein” monster masterpiece series, titled “The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster,” The wanted his “Frankenstein” production proposal to be inspired by the earlier silent German expressionist horror feature films, primarily Robert Wiene’s production of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920). Florey also wanted Bela Lugosi to play the role of Frankenstein’s monster, which was originally conceived in the style of a “Golem”-style creature.
“No man has ever seen his Like!” Rare Universal Studios concept poster artwork for “Frankenstein,” with a mention of Bela Lugosi.
Veteran Universal Studios make-up designer Jack Pierce did a couple of make-up tests with Lugosi in the “Golem”-style Frankenstein creature. It was also reported that Lugosi was not interested in the Universal “Frankenstein” feature film adaptation from the beginning of the concept phase. Lugosi originally wanted to play the role of Dr. Frankenstein Florey was dropped from the production and James Whale was chosen instead. Whale personally chose Boris Karloff for the role of Frankenstein’s monster in the classic mammoth 1931 Universal horror-thriller masterpiece after seeing Karloff in the Universal Studios commissary. Florey would later apply his expressionist inspirations to his latter classic mammoth Universal thriller-horror masterpiece of Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1932) with Bela Lugosi. For the original 1930 pre-production concept promotional art for the Universal production of “Frankenstein” with a mention of Lugosi, the “concept” version of the “Frankenstein” monster had more of a giant “larger-than-life sci-fi creature” look instead of the traditional Jack Pierce/Universal “monster” characterization.
This will mark Sven’s eighth big broadcast of Whale’s 1931 classic mammoth Universal landmark monster masterpiece on the airlanes of Me-TV. Sven previously showcased ‘Frankenstein” (1931) back in Nov. 2013 as a big coast-to-coast broadcast premiere and as regular Me-TV big broadcasts back in Nov. 2014, Oct. 2015 , Sept. 2017, May 2019, May 2020 and as part of Sven’s “Franken-fest” series of classic mammoth Universal “Frankenstein” monster feature film masterpieces back in Oct. 2021.
In Sven’s “Son of Svengoolie” days on WFLD/Chicago, he previously showcased Whale’s classic mammoth 1931 Universal monster masterpiece adaptation back in Nov. 1980 and as part of Sven/Son of Sven’s classic mammoth Son of Sven/WFLD special masterpiece presentation, “Sven’s Summer Special” back in June 1982. A recording of “Sven’s Summer Special” with classic WFLD/Chicago advertisements was unearthed by Chicago television archivist Rick Klein’s “FuzzyMemoriesTV: The Museum of Classic Chicago Television” back in July 2019.
Who was in Whale’s classic mammoth Universal monster masterpiece adaptation production of “Frankenstein” (1931)?
The players who appeared in James Whale’s classic Universal landmark monster masterpiece production of “Frankenstein” (1931) were Boris Karloff (as Frankenstein’s monster), Mae Clarke (as Elizabeth), Colin Clive (as Dr. Henry Frankenstein), Dwight Frye (as Fritz), Edward Van Sloan (who played the dual roles of Dr. Waldman and the introductory “Frankenstein” feature prologue narrator), Francis Ford (in an uncredited screen role as Hans), Marilyn Harris (as Maria), Frederick Kerr (as Baron Frankenstein), John Boles (as Victor Moritz) and Lionel Belmore (as the Burgomaster).
Silver Screen Reflections 