Frankenstein 1931

[orpheum]

Showing on TCM on September 6 at 18.15

[Paxton Milk]

I watched an interview recently with Willem Dafoe who singled out Karloff's performance as the greatest he has ever seen on the screen. It was very refreshing to see a modern actor with an appreciation for earlier generations, and, of course, he has a point

[Nick Dando]

And he did a very good tribute to Max Schreck's Nosferatu in Shadow of the Vampire.

[cassidy]

Another chance to see Dwight Frye after his performance as Renfield in Dracula playing the hunchbacked Fritz. I wonder if The Wolfman will follow the following week.

[Paxton Milk]

Another chance to see Dwight Frye after his performance as Renfield in Dracula playing the hunchbacked Fritz. I wonder if The Wolfman will follow the following week.

Never really saw The Wolfman in the same class as Dracula and Frankenstein, and definitely not The Bride of Frankenstein, the best of the lot. Lon Chaney Jr was always strictly second division for me

[wadsy]

Never really saw The Wolfman in the same class as Dracula and Frankenstein, and definitely not The Bride of Frankenstein, the best of the lot. Lon Chaney Jr was always strictly second division for me

He was brilliant in "Of Mice & Men"!

[cassidy]

Never really saw The Wolfman in the same class as Dracula and Frankenstein, and definitely not The Bride of Frankenstein, the best of the lot. Lon Chaney Jr was always strictly second division for me

Not seen it myself but some critics rate The Ghost of Frankenstein as an excellent film with Chaney playing the creature.

[Paxton Milk]

He was brilliant in "Of Mice & Men"!

He was playing a pretty one dimensional role, as indeed he played in his ‘monster’ movies as well. I am not knocking Chaney, per se, everything about Universal by the early 1940s was second rate. Denis Gifford summed it up well, they had the Golden Age and then they had the Silver (bullet) Age.

[Paxton Milk]

Not seen it myself but some critics rate The Ghost of Frankenstein as an excellent film with Chaney playing the creature.

It’s an entertaining film but Chaney has none of the pathos and subtlety of Karloff and, as mentioned earlier, production values were considerably reduced

[wadsy]

It’s an entertaining film but Chaney has none of the pathos and subtlety of Karloff and, as mentioned earlier, production values were considerably reduced

He could sing though!
I'm not particularly a fan of Chaney but I feel he was doomed by the shadow of his father.
Chronic alcoholism didn't help his career either!

[Ian Fryer]

Yes, Chaney's on-set behaviour, particularly towards female co-stars, apparently left quite a bit to be desired. As a screen presence I rather prefer the raddled, but cheerful countenance he presented in 1950s appearances such as in the Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans television series.

[Paxton Milk]

Ian Fryer has a point about Chaney’s onset antics, he was a drunk, basically, and something of a bully, but his worst crime for me (as a cinemagoer) was being a very little actor.