Frankenstein has taken on many forms since the novel was written by Mary Shelley in the 1700s. He has been reproduced in many different movie adaptations, some serious and some not so serious. This semester we have studied a bunch of these adaptations and the most recent, and most interesting, was the comedic spin taken by Gene Wilder in his film version of the story, Young Frankenstein. This essay will outline the main concepts that Wilder kept and how he made the story go from a tragic drama to a comedy.
The opening credits rolled over a shot of the infamous castle of Frankenstein. The music and flashes of lightning resemble that of James Whale's original Frankenstein film from 1931. The opening has an eerie "horror" film look and feel to it which makes the audience think it is going to be a frightening film. The original set from Whale's film is used for Wilder's movie and is easily recognized by anyone who has seen it.
The first time Young Frankenstein is seen he is teaching a science class, science of course is an important theme in all of the Frankenstein tales. We learn that the lead Frankenstein character is Victor's grandson Frederick. Frederick is a science teacher and when a student questions his relation and connection to Victor and his mad workings the first comedic spin is shown as Frederick pronounces his name differently. Instead of Frankenstein, he pronounces it Fraunken-steen. This becomes a reoccurring, and thematically important, joke throughout the film. The movie has just about every element necessary to make a horror film, but it is the witty dialogue that turns it from a drama to a comedy. This new pronunciation of the name is the first example of this dialogue, but there is plenty more to come.
When Frederick is taken to his grandfather's castle he is greeted by Igor, which gets pronounced differently after he learns how Frederick pronounces his name. There are many plays on words that occur throughout the film as well. When Frederick first meets his female assistant she is lying in a hay wagon and asks him if he wants to go for "a roll in the hay." A sexual innuendo is assumed until she begins literally rolling around in the hay. Another example is when Igor walks down the steps with a cane he tells Frederick to "walk this way." Frederick took the cane and walked hunched over and slowly the same way Igor had done. Other examples of sexual innuendos include "what knockers" when referring to the door knocker on the front of the castle, and "elevate me" which was said during the creation of the monster.
After Frederick finds the book, "How I Did It", written by his grandfather he decides that maybe his granddad was not as crazy as he thought and decides to try the experiment himself. A sequence of similar shots from Whale's film follows, as Frederick and Igor go to a graveyard to get a body. Some of the same dialogue was even used in the film. While the characters are hiding behind a fence in the graveyard Frankenstein tells his assistant to "Get down you fool!" in both versions. The scene was made silly though as they splashed dirt all around the area as they dug up their body. Igor went to get a brain and ended up dropping the good brain and bringing home an "abnormal" brain, just as it happened in Whale's film.
As the monster was being created there was a quote that Frederick said that was similar, and possibly even exactly the same as, a speech that Victor gave in the novel. They ran the same exact experiment as in Whale's film version and when the monsters hand moves and it groans Frederick yells the infamous "It's Alive" quote. They made this part funny because when Frederick was excitedly yelling "It's Alive" he looked at him with a confused face.
The monster is immediately afraid of fire, which was a major theme in both the film adaptations and the novel. When the monster flipped out from the fire they gave him a sedative as they did in Whale's version, only this time, it was made comedic as they played charades and ended up spelling out "sed a give." A violin made an appearance in the film as it has in Branagh's version and other adaptations that we viewed. In the novel a lonely old man plays the violin and helps the monster learn. In this version, the violin's music puts the monster into a trance and he is drawn to it. The old man is featured, only he is absolutely crazy and they put a hilarious spin on his part of the story.
As the monster moves around outside of the castle it is obvious that his outfit and mannerisms were taken from Whale's version. As he is out in the open he runs into a little girl, like in the novel and some of the adaptations, only this time she is throwing flowers into a well. The scene is made comedic as she asks the monster, "what else could we throw in" and he looks into the camera at the audience with a funny look on his face implying that he should throw her in.
The movie twists away from the classic Frankenstein story as Frederick tries to show the monster that he is loved. They form a bond and a freak show act that ends badly as a light blows which scares the monster. Fredericks fiancé comes to town and is named Elizabeth which is a clear parallel to Victor and Elizabeth. A strange twist occurs as Elizabeth ends up with the monster and Frederick with his assistant. The monster took Elizabeth to a cave and ended up sleeping with her. After they were finished she looked like the "Bride of Frankenstein" which referenced that film.
The movie ends with a transference so the monster will have some of Fredericks brain. Through this we see that he is the opposite of Victor as he has learned from his mistakes and taken responsibility for his actions. The themes and events were extremely similar but in the end the comedic spins and changed ending give a different feel to the film.
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