Frankenstein (1910 film)

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Frankenstein
Cover of The Edison Kinetogram film catalog.
Directed by	J. Searle Dawley
Written by	J. Searle Dawley
Starring	Augustus Phillips Charles Ogle Mary Fuller
Distributed by	Edison Manufacturing Company
Release date(s)	March 18,1910
Running time	15 min.
Country	USA
Language	Silent
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Frankenstein is a 1910 film made by Edison Studios that was written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. It was the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The unbilled cast included Augustus Phillips as Dr. Frankenstein, Charles Ogle as the Monster, and Mary Fuller as the doctor's fiancée.

Shot in three days, it was filmed at the Edison Studios in the Bronx, New York City. Although some sources credit Thomas Edison as the producer, he in fact played no direct part in the activities of the motion picture company that bore his name.

1 Plot
2 Preservation
3 Modern Inspirations
4 External links

[edit] Plot

In this adaptation, Dr. Frankenstein is portrayed as something of an alchemist, creating the Monster in a fiery vat, and then fleeing in horror of his work. The Monster later reappears to torment his creator on the eve of his marriage, but fades away into a mirror in Frankenstein's study, thwarted by the power of the love between the scientist and his fiancée. As is typical of Edison films of the period, each scene is photographed in a long shot, with little or no editing within the scene.

[edit] Preservation

For many years, this film was believed to be lost, with only a single image of Ogle in costume serving to illustrate the film, and a plot description from an Edison film catalog. In the 1950s a print of this film was purchased by a Wisconsin film collector, Alois Dettlaff, who did not realize its rarity until many years later. Its existence was first revealed in the mid-1970s. Although somewhat deteriorated, the film was in viewable condition, complete with titles and tints as seen in 1910.

[edit] Modern Inspirations

In 2003, this particular film version of Frankenstein was adapted as a 40-page graphic novel, written by Chris Yambar and drawn by Robb Bihun. Called Edison's Frankenstein 1910, in the spirit of the film it is drawn in black-and-white and told through narration only, without dialogue.