Frankenstein

 1910

Are you frightened yet?  Not even a little bit? Well then, the various media producers have failed miserably because the mere mention of his name like that of Dracula is intended to strike fear into the hearts of mortal men.

As most of us already know, that Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley about a creature that was created as a result of an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one but for some reason the first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818; but needless to say, Shelley’s name appears on the second edition, that was published in France about 5 years later (1823).

In doing her research for the story, reportedly Shelley traveled throughout the region in which the story takes place, and the topics of galvanism (that which involves the use of electricity to make muscles move) and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her and her companions, particularly her future husband, Percy. It’s often told that Mary, Percy, and a few other friends decided to have a friendly competition to see who could write the best horror story; in this way, the story of Frankenstein became a legend of medical science gone bad.   In any event, as the story goes it's further said that the storyline emerged from a dream that Shelley experienced. After thinking for weeks about what her possible storyline could be, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created a monstrous life form that he was confounded by. Armed with this background information she was well equipped to write the story of Frankenstein, whereby she won the little private literary competition amongst her friends and fiancé.

Ingolstadt, Germany is a real town wherein Frankenstein was allegedly created and the home office of today’s auto manufacturer, Audi. There’s also a town called Frankenstein in Germany, where the police academy for the notorious Waffen-SS during WW II was located; you might say that this burg was once a training ground for real Monsters.

The first printing of Frankenstein by Classics Comics (latter Illustrated Classics) was in December’s 1945 issue, the cover price was 10 Cents.  A 1910 film made by Edison Studios was the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in fact some sources credit Thomas Edison as the producer.

For many years, this film was believed to be a lost film but in the early 1950s a print was purchased by a Wisconsin film collector (Alois F. Dettlaff) from his mother-in-law, who was also a film collector.  However, he did not realize its rarity until many years later; in fact, its existence was not revealed until the mid-1970s, so ol’ Alois was probably unaware of the historic nature of his find 20 years earlier. Although somewhat deteriorated, the film was in viewable condition, complete with titles and tints as seen in 1910.  Dettlaff had a 35 mm preservation copy made in the late 1970s and he issued / released 1,000 copies on DVD.

The only horror movie mainstay that’s more common than Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is that of Dracula.  The most recognizable of many “Frankenstein” movies was the Universal movie release, in 1931 staring Boris Karloff.

By the way, Youtube offers a free viewing of the 1931 version when you click this LINK.

Sources:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_Frankenstein_live                                            http://www.binscorner.com/pages/s/some-automobile-manufacturers-headquarte.html  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_%281910_film%29                         http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?q=classics+illustrated+&pubid=&PubRng   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McEUmsMXUrg                                          http://www.eeriebooks.com/blog/horror-movies/42-frankenstein-movies-to-see-before-you-die/