Edison's "Frankenstein": 1910

Here is a very unusual DVD release.  Ever since I was a young kid in the 1970's I would read over and over in my favorite monster books and magazines about the "first real monster movie made".  Thomas Edison's "Frankenstein".  The articles were always punctuated with an early photograph of the monster; twisted and grimacing and looking so disheveled and deranged that I just knew this had to be one amazing motion picture.  No matter how much I had hoped this early relic would pop-up on some television monster festival it never seemed to happen. 

     While cruising the "Creepy Classics" archives, to my amazement, there it was, available on DVD at last.  I couldn't believe it...I ordered up a copy immediately.  What I received was quite astonishing.  First off, typical for an early effort (1910), this "movie" is extremely short.  The entire print is around 16 minutes long and it is intact, to the best of my knowledge.  Believed to have suffered a similar fate to "London After Midnight", it was believed "long lost", but a print was finally discovered deteriorated but watchable, tinting and titles present.  In the 1970's, the George Eastman House prepared a 35mm preservation copy of the film. 

     As for the movie itself, it is quite an interesting document of the time.  Of course, it reads like a "moral play", where Dr. Frankenstein must suffer the tortures of the blasphemy he has created...pretty typical.  What's mind-blowing is the transformation sequence.  While only a few minutes of the film are devoted to this, it's quite chilling.  Using reverse camera work, we see the steaming flesh of the monster form from the chemical ether; adhering itself to the skeleton which resembles an awkward puppet.  While somewhat amusing, the effect is also a bit nightmarish and disturbing, much like the scene in Murnau's "Nosferatu" where Orlock is loading the coffins on the stagecoach in a sped-up effected manner.  

     The monster is portrayed by the actor Charles Stanton Ogle; a famous silent-movie star of the era.  Ogle had previously tackled roles such as "The Ten Commandments", and would later work on "A Christmas Carol".  His portrayl of the monster is an dramatic one; with his twisted expressions and apparent physical challenges.  The monster is much closer to the original vision presented by Mary Shelly's novel.  Monstrously gigantic, wrapped in dirty bandages with a shocking, filthy pile of hair, ridiculously long bony fingers like talons, and feet that look like gauze-wrapped clown shoes, this is the most bizarre version of the monster ever committed to film.  The monster is so far removed from what most of us have "hard-wired" in our minds as "Frankenstein", that it comes across as other-worldly and surreal, which is a very good thing in my opinion.  

     Considering the DVD release:  a minor complaint is the gigantic logo in several corners of the screen the entire time the film is running.  I understand this sort of thing...copyright protection to stop boot-legging, but it could have been handled in a more subtle manner.  Aside from this, it's a fairly decent digital transfer given the age of the original print, and is most certainly treasured in my silent movie collection.  This particular disc (if you can still find it!) pairs a so-so copy of "Nosferatu" with it, though the Kino edition previously reviewed should be considered the only viable copy of this particular film.

(Very good news!:  As of this posting, the DVD is still available from "Creepy Classics" for 20.00 dollars!)