Frankenstein: The True Story

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Frankenstein: The True Story

DVD cover.
Directed by Jack Smight
Produced by Ian Lewis
Hunt Stromberg, Jr.
Written by Don Bachardy
Christopher Isherwood
Mary Shelley (novel)
Starring Leonard Whiting
Jane Seymour
David McCallum
James Mason
Dr Polidori
Michael Sarrazin
Music by Gil Melle
Cinematography Arthur Ibbetson
Editing by Richard Marden
Distributed by NBC
Release date(s) Flag of United States November 28 & 30, 1973 (two parts)
Running time 182 min.
Country UK
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Frankenstein: The True Story is a 1973 British made-for-televion horror film based on the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was directed by Jack Smight.

The film starred Leonard Whiting as Victor Frankenstein, Jane Seymour as Prima, David McCallum as Henry Clerval, James Mason as Dr Polidori and Michael Sarrazin as the Creature.

The character of Dr Polidori, who did not appear in the original novel, was based on the real-life John Polidori, a friend of author Mary Shelley.

A notable feature of the production is that the Creature is portrayed as physically handsome, but diseased, and therefore increasingly ugly as the film goes on. The make-up was by Hammer horror veteran artist Roy Ashton.

It was originally broadcast in two 90-minute parts, but is often seen edited into a single film. Its DVD debut date was September 26, 2006.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Victor Frankenstein is an affluent young man training as a doctor, engaged to Elizabeth Fanshawe, daughter of a highly respected Lord and Lady. After Victor's younger brother, William, is drowned in a tragic boat accident, Victor renounces his belief in God and declares that he would join forces with the Devil if it could restore his brother to life. Shortly afterwards, Victor leaves for London to train in anatomy, where he meets an ambitious young scientist named Henry Clerval, who has discovered how to preserve dead matter and restore it to life. As Victor becomes fascinated by Clerval's experiments, Clerval reveals that his ultimate plan is to create a new race of physically perfect, invincible humans by using a combination of electricity and solar energy to reanimate sewn-together body parts, from preserved corpses. He has been working on his first creation, which he calls 'Adam', but is unable to complete the experiment on his own due to his weak heart condition. Employing Frankenstein as his assistant, they stitch together a physically perfect human using body parts taken from peasants killed in an accident. But as the experiment nears completion, Clerval discovers that the preservation process is not perfect and will eventually reverse itself, when a preserved human arm he has reanimated becomes diseased and unsightly. Before he can report this to Victor, he suffers a serious heart attack and dies.

When Victor finds Clerval's body, he transplants the brain into their creation, unaware of the imperfection in the process. He completes the experiment and the result is a strikingly handsome, youthful and articulate creation, capable of quick learning. In awe of the creation, Victor educates him and introduces him into high-class London society, passing him off as a Prince from a far-off country who speaks little English. The creation immediately wins the respect of London's elite class, but when Victor discovers the diseased human arm in Clerval's cupboard, he realizes that the process is reversing itself and the creation's flesh is rapidly turning withered and ugly. As the creature is in awe of its own good looks, Victor destroys all mirrors in his laboratory while he searches for a way of correcting the problem, but he is unsuccessful and realizes the creature is doomed to continue deteriorating. When Victor's landlady, Mrs. Blair, enters the laboratory and sees the hideously diseased creature, she dies of shock, and in suspicion the creature searches for a shard of glass, finally viewing its horribly changed reflection. In despair, the vain creature flees from the laboratory to the White Cliffs of Dover, where he attempts suicide by throwing himself from a cliff.

At the beginning of the second part, it is revealed that the creature's strong body has allowed him to survive the fall, and he takes refuge in the woods where he befriends a blind peasant man. The blind man is eager to introduce his new friend to his grandchildren, Felix and Agatha, the latter of whom the creature is in love with. The creature hides from them every time they return home, afraid of letting anyone see his face, which the blind man attributes to pure shyness. Felix and Agatha choose to surprise their grandfather's friend by turning up unexpectedly, but upon seeing the creature, Agatha flees into the woods in terror while Felix begins to beat the creature with a stick. In self-defence, the creature flings Felix away from him, and accidentally kills him with his incredible strength. He then pursues Agatha into the woods, but as she runs from him in fright, she stumbles into the passage of a horse-drawn cab, which runs over her, killing her instantly. In anger at his misfortune, the creature takes the body and carries it back to the home of Frankenstein, intent on asking his creator to restore her to life. But when the creature arrives he finds that Victor has since left the house to establish a practice nearby, and the laboratory is now occupied by Dr. Polidori, an old mentor of Clerval who has been conducting his own experiments with the creation of life. Polidori, having become aware of Victor's failed experiment, agrees to help the creature, but secretly he has other plans.

Victor, having abandoned his experiments after the creature's suicide attempt, has now returned to his country house to marry Elizabeth. But on the day of his wedding he is visited by Polidori, who blackmails him into helping create a mate for the creature, on the promise that he will allow him to be free once the experiment is complete. Victor reluctantly agrees, and much to Elizabeth's disapproval, leaves her alone on the night after their wedding to join Polidori in his laboratory. Polidori reveals that he has discovered a way of perfecting the preservation of dead flesh by using chemical compounds rather than electricity, and he intends to create a perfect female creation using this method. While keeping Victor's own creature chained up like a wild animal, Polidori employs Victor's help in completing his creation, and together, using Agatha's corpse, they bring to life a beautiful female creature whom Polidori names Prima. After she has been completed, Polidori attempts to kill Frankenstein's creature in an acid bath, but the creature fights back, and after an ensuing struggle, Polidori sets fire to the whole building and flees with Prima, leaving Frankenstein's creature to perish in the flames. Subsequently, despite his earlier vow to allow Victor his freedom, Polidori insists that Prima must live at Victor's mansion with himself and Elizabeth where she is to be educated and introduced into society.

Frankenstein reluctantly complies with Polidori's wishes and allows Prima residence at his home, but it becomes quickly obvious that Prima is soulless and evil, and Elizabeth becomes suspicious of her after she mindlessly strangles a kitten. Suspicious about the black necklace band which Prima insists on wearing permanently around her neck, Elizabeth removes it as Prima sleeps, revealing the stitches by which her head has been sown on. In horror, she begs Victor to dismiss her from the house. Later on, at a ball held in the mansion, Prima performs an amazing dance routine which stuns all the guests, and as Polidori watches with pride, he explains his plans to create an entire new race of perfect humans. At that moment, Frankenstein's creature, who has survived the fire despite having been badly burned, bursts into the ballroom, scattering the guests, and makes his way towards Prima. Invincible to the bullets which are fired at him, the creature removes Prima's necklace and proceeds to slowly rip off her head in anger at her beauty. As Polidori breaks down in tears over Prima's death, the creature kneels at Victor's feet and laments the loss of his beauty. After the creature has left, a police investigation follows, and Victor and Elizabeth choose to leave England and voyage to America to begin life anew.

Victor and Elizabeth board the ship to America, but soon find that Polidori has sneaked on board, insisting that Victor and him continue their experiments in America. He will not accept their refusal, so Victor and Elizabeth lock themselves in their cabin to hide from him. He persistently knocks on their door, so Elizabeth goes to Polidori's cabin to confront him, and catches sight of Victor's creature in a mirror, who has also sneaked on board. She locks Polidori in the cabin with the creature and takes away his key. When she tells Victor what she has done, his sense of morality urges him to set Polidori free, so he does so, and the creature breaks loose and pursues Polidori onto the deck, where he ties him to the mast and raises him to the storm above. In an attempt to stop the creature, Victor is struck by a falling plank of wood and knocked unconscious, as Polidori is struck by lightning and killed. The ship's crew, unable to restrain the creature, abandon board and flee in an escape boat, leaving only Victor, Elizabeth and the creature on board. Elizabeth cruelly scrutinizes the creature, who strangles her to death in rage. He then proceeds to take control of the ship himself, and steers it towards an uncharted wilderness at the North Pole.

When Victor awakens from his injury, he finds the ship run aground in ice at the North Pole, and the body of Elizabeth frozen in ice on the ship's deck. Making his way through the snow, he catches sight of the creature sheltering in an ice cavern. He confronts the creature one final time, then is overcome by remorse at the way he has wronged his own creation, whose strong body will keep him alive in the Arctic against his will. He begs the creature's forgiveness, and as he does so, the sound of his shouts sets off an ice avalanche. As the ice falls down on them both, the creature forgives his maker, and they embrace as they are buried by the avalanche.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

[edit] External links


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