Frankenstein (1931)
Boris Karloff, the flat head and the windmill.
This is the film that decided what the creature looks like for everyone who has never read the book.
You want the creature everyone pictures — the flat head, the boots, the silence — in about an hour.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the scientist who makes a man from the dead and the village that hunts it.
Changes: a great deal. It adapts a 1927 stage play: the scientist is Henry, not Victor; his assistant Fritz brings back a criminal’s brain; and the creature does not speak.
Whose story is it?
Henry Frankenstein’s, and the creature’s silence.
How much time does it ask?
70 minutes, James Whale directing; Boris Karloff as the Monster, Colin Clive as Henry.
Universal, released 21 November 1931; on digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD.
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment · Find where it’s streaming — JustWatch
Common questions
Is the 1931 Frankenstein faithful to the book?
Not closely. It adapts a 1927 stage play: the scientist is called Henry, his assistant Fritz is not in the novel, the brain is a criminal’s, and the creature does not speak. In the novel the creature is articulate and teaches himself to read.
More Frankensteins: Frankenstein (1910) · Bride of Frankenstein (1935) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)