Frankenstein DVD 1931 / Directed by James Whale / Starring: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Edward van Sloan / Renewed in 1959

UPC 5050582244687

REGION 2, 4 PAL DVD (Black & White)

MADE IN Germany

AUDIO: English 2.0 mono, German 2.0 mono

SUBTITLES: English, German, Arabic, Bulgarian, French, Hebrew

Total Runtime: 67 minutes

English Summary:

Frankenstein is a 1931 American pre-Code science-fiction horror film from Universal Pictures. It is about a scientist and his assistant who dig up corpses to build a man animated by electricity. The project goes awry when Frankenstein's assistant accidentally gives the creature an abnormal, murderer's brain. The film was directed by James Whale, and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling, which in turn was based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The created "monster" is portrayed by Boris Karloff in the film. A hit with both audiences and critics, the film was followed by multiple sequels and has become one of the most famous horror films in history.

In a village of the Bavarian Alps, a young scientist, named Henry Frankenstein, and his assistant Fritz, a hunchback, piece together a human body, the parts of which have been collected from various sources, including stolen freshly buried bodies in a cemetery, and the bodies of recently hanged criminals. Frankenstein desires to create human life through electrical devices which he has perfected. He sends Fritz to a school where Dr. Waldman, Henry's old medical professor, teaches, to steal a brain; Fritz drops the normal brain and has to take the brain of a criminal.

Elizabeth, his fiancée, is worried over his peculiar actions. She cannot understand why he secludes himself in an abandoned watch tower, which he has equipped as a laboratory, and refuses to see anyone. She and a friend, Victor Moritz, go to Dr. Waldman, and ask Waldman's help in reclaiming the young scientist from his experiments. Waldman tells them that Frankenstein has been working on creating life. Elizabeth, intent on rescuing Frankenstein, arrives just as Henry is making his final tests. He tells them to watch, claiming to have discovered the ray that brought life into the world. They watch Frankenstein and the hunchback as they raise the lifeless body on an operating table, high into the room, toward an opening at the top of the laboratory. Then a terrific crash of thunder booms, and Frankenstein's electric machines flash, crackle and buzz. Shortly, the hand of Frankenstein's creature begins to move. This prompts Frankenstein to shout 'It's alive!'.

German Summary:

Bayern im 19. Jahrhundert: Der junge Wissenschaftler Dr. Henry Frankenstein versucht abseits der anerkannten Wissenschaft, Leben aus toter Materie zu erschaffen. Auf Grund von Meinungsverschiedenheiten mit seinem Professor hat er die Universität verlassen. Professor Waldmann steht den Forschungen des jungen Frankenstein über den Ursprung des Lebens mit großem Misstrauen gegenüber.

In einem entlegenen alten Wachturm treibt Frankenstein seine Forschungen voran. Die einzige Person, die er in seiner Nähe zulässt, ist sein Gehilfe Fritz. Nachdem es ihm gelungen ist, ein vormals totes Herz drei Wochen lang schlagen zu lassen, beginnt Frankenstein damit, mit Hilfe seines Assistenten aus Leichenteilen einen Körper zu erschaffen. Diese Leichenteile besorgt er sich auf Friedhöfen oder von „frisch“ gehenkten Verbrechern an deren Hinrichtungsstätten. Die moralischen Aspekte sind ihm dabei völlig egal. Diesem Körper will er mit den von ihm entdeckten, aber nicht näher bezeichneten Strahlen Leben einhauchen. Hierbei handelt es sich jedoch um die Elektrizität, welche zur damaligen Zeit noch relativ unerforscht war, vor allem die Auswirkung auf den menschlichen Körper. Zur Vollendung seines Werkes fehlt ihm nur noch ein Gehirn und er beauftragt Fritz, ein solches aus der Präparatensammlung des Professors zu stehlen. Fritz unterläuft dabei allerdings ein folgenschwererer Fehler. Statt des Gehirns eines gesunden Menschen entwendet er das Präparat eines Mörders.

Cast / Besetzung:

• Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein
• Mae Clarke as Elizabeth Lavenza
• John Boles as Victor Moritz
• Boris Karloff as The Monster
• Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Waldman
• Frederick Kerr as Baron Frankenstein
• Dwight Frye as Fritz
• Lionel Belmore as Herr Vogel, the Burgomaster
• Marilyn Harris as Little Maria
• Michael Mark as Ludwig, Maria's father