The Boris Karloff Years – newsdubai

Introduction

With few possible exceptions, no actor is more synonymous with a character than Boris Karloff and the Frankenstein monster. Karloff only played Monster three times in eight years. However, his influence and legacy on the character has lasted decades beyond this short period of time. In this article we will look at the making of the following films: Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939).

Frankenstein (1931)

After the great success of Dracula in February 1931, Universal Pictures decided to fully immerse itself in the monster movie business. In April of the same year, they bought the film rights to the play Frankenstein. Written by John L. Balderson, it was itself an adaptation of English playwright Peggy Webling’s adaptation of Mary Shelly’s 1818 novel of the same name. Both Webling and Balderson were paid $20,000 plus 1% of gross receipts on all screenings of films based on their dramatic work.

Robert Florey developed a script for the project. Florey also had his eyes set on directing the film. As a result, he shot some footage with his script on it Dracula set from 16.-17. June 1931. He also brought in actors from Dracula as well as: Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan and Bela Lugosi as the monster.

Lugosi was unhappy with the role chosen for him. Instead, he preferred the role of Dr. Frankenstein. In addition, the monster’s design during the screen test looked like a scarecrow. Not the iconic design that Karloff would make famous.

“I was a star in my country and I don’t want to be a scarecrow over here!”

– Bela Lugosi

Carl Laemmle Jr. apparently burst out laughing when he saw the footage that Florey had filmed. Needless to say, neither Lugosi nor Florey were involved in the official version, with James Whale hired to direct the film.

With a revised manuscript of Dracula writer, Garrett Fort and Francis Edward Faragoh, Whale set his sights on casting the monster. This is where Karloff came into the picture. Karloff came on the recommendation of Whale’s lover David Lewis. He had seen the actor in a play called The Criminal Code the previous year. Karloff had appeared in nearly eighty films over fifteen years before Frankenstein. Yet he was still unknown to the public.

After he was hired, Karloff spent considerable time in the chair of makeup artist Jack P. Pierce. He tested different looks until they arrived at one that was approved by Universal brass. The makeup that was decided on took over three and a half hours to apply to Karloff’s head. It also took two hours to remove. In addition, Karloff was required to wear boots weighing thirteen pounds.

Carl Laemmle Sr. was so afraid that the fully realized Monster would frighten secretaries and other women on campus that he required Karloff to wear a hooded veil around the lot so as not to frighten them.

With a budget of $262,000, Frankenstein was shot on the Universal lot for nearly six weeks. Principal photography began on August 24, 1931 and ended on October 3 of the same year. It was released the following month on November 17, 1931. The film was a huge success, grossing over $1,400,000 after six months in theaters. It also cemented Karloff as a horror icon along the way.

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Originally the title should The Return of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was in development pretty much from the first picture wrapped shot. However, it would take four years to be realized on the screen.

Initially, James Whale wasn’t at all interested in the sequel’s directorial duties dropping, as he was approached early in the process. But after the success of The invisible man (1933), the studio would not take no for an answer. He used whatever leverage he had to get the studio to let him make the film One more river (1934).

Screenwriter Tom Reed had written a script for the film in 1933, and Universal decided that was the script they wanted to go forward with. However, Whale flatly rejected it. Many screenplays were written by many of the screenwriters of the time, including LG Blochman, Phillip MacDonald, John L. Balderson and Edmund Pearson. All were scrapped by Whale. Eventually it was turned over to playwright William J. Hurlbut, who combined aspects of all the previous scripts and made it into something Whale was happy with.

Colin Clive, Boris Karloff and Dwight Frye all returned for the sequel. New cast members included Ernest Thesiger, Valerie Hobson and Elsa Lanchester in the title role. Karloff was unhappy with aspects of the script, particularly when the Monster gained the ability to speak.

“Speech! Stupid! My argument was that if the monster had any influence or charm, it was because he was inarticulate—this great, wretched, inarticulate creature. The moment he spoke, you might as well… play it straight .

– Boris Karloff

Jack Pierce returned to makeup duties on the sequel. For Karloff’s Monster, Pierce paid close attention to wounds the character sustained during the previous film’s climax including burns. During the course of the film, Pierce changed the makeup of these “wounds” to give the illusion that they healed over time.

Whale and Pierce collaborated on the bride’s look. The most iconic aspect of her look was her hair, which was achieved via a perm given to Lanchester’s hair cast over a wire frame. In general, Lanchester disliked the bandage-based costume as well as the entire process of becoming the character of the Bride.

“I drank as little liquid as possible. It was too much of an ordeal to go to the toilet – all those bandages – and having to be accompanied by my commode.”

– Elsa Lanchester

With a slightly higher budget than the original ($293,000 vs. $262,000), the film began shooting on January 5, 1932, and was completed on March 7 of that year. Several problems during filming, including Karloff breaking his hip on the first day of shooting and Colin Clive breaking his leg not long after, resulted in delays and caused the film to go over $100,000 over budget with a final cost of $397,000.

Final editing of the film was completed three days before the film’s premiere on April 19, 1935 at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. The film was a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning over $2,000,000 at the box office.

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

On August 29, 1938, it was announced in The Hollywood Reporter that Karloff would return as Frankenstein’s monster in another sequel in the franchise. A few days later, it was announced that the film would be titled After Frankenstein. Soon it was announced that both Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi had joined the cast.

Originally intended to be shot in Technicolor, however, the plan was scuttled when makeup tests of Karloff as the monster ended up looking extremely poor, causing the film to be shot in black and white. A costume intended to be used for the color version was used anyway. It consisted of a sweater that the Monster wore over his standard black costume shirt. Karloff despised it.

Rowland V. Lee was brought in to direct the film with a script by Wyllis Cooper that focused on Dr. Frankenstein’s son from the first two films, his family and the monster his father had created. The original script was completed on October 20, 1938, three days after filming had begun on October 77, 1938.

Lee was unhappy with the final script, and production was shut down for several days, resuming on November 9, 1938. Since production had already begun, Universal insisted that filming resume with freshly written script pages delivered to the set each day. Originally planned to have a budget of $300,000, the budget ballooned to over $420,000 as delays mounted. Originally intended to film for only 27 days, ending Thanksgiving week, the delays resulted in filming continuing beyond the New Year. Filming was completed on January 5, 1939.

With the premiere date of January 7, 1939, post-production had very little time, so things that were typically done after filming, such as editing and score composition, were completed, and recording took place concurrently with filming.

Like Karloff’s previous two outings as The Monster, the film was a commercial and critical success. However, it was not enough for Karloff to consider reprising the role he left behind Son of Frankenstein was released.

“After Son, I decided that the character no longer had any options – the makeup did all the work. Anyone who can put on that makeup every morning deserves respect”

– Boris Karloff

If you liked this article, we recommend:

Making THE MUSTERS (Click here)

Universal Monsters: A Legacy in Horror (Click here)

The Making of DRACULA (Click Here)

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