It’s alive. It’s alive! IT’S ALIVE!!
If the horror film genre is best symbolized by one ghastly image, that ghoulish glory belongs to Boris Karloff as the creature cobbled together from a smorgasbord of body parts and reigning terror in the 1931 Universal Pictures pre-Code fright film, Frankenstein.
To compliment the release of Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro’s new terrifying take on Mary Shelley’s oft-told 1818 Gothic novel, classic film scholar Michael van den Bos dissects and examines director James Whale’s highly influential first sound version of Frankenstein, starring Colin Clive as the titular doctor suffering from a God complex. Michael unstitches all the film’s parts, analyzing what animates this big-screen beast, from German expressionist influences, stylized cinematic flair, its electrifying Universal Horror legacy and the monster’s unstoppable rampage through innumerable remakes, rehashes and reimaginings.
This illustrated talk will last approximately one hour, and will be followed by a screening of Whale’s classic film (71 mins) included in the price of admission.
Michael van den Bos
James Whale
Boris Karloff, Colin Clive
USA
1931
English
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Credits
Producer
Carl Laemmle Jr.
Screenwriter
Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh
Cinematography
Arthur Edeson, Paul Ivano
Editor
Clarence Kolster
Original Music
Bernhard Kaun
Art Director
Charles D. Hall
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