Frankenstein (1931) trivia:
Bela Lugosi was originally offered the role of the monster but refused on the grounds that his character would not speak.
A 20 minute test reel featuring Bela Lugosi as the monster and directed by Robert Florey was filmed on the Dracula sets. The footage has not been seen since 1931 and is now considered lost.
John Carradine was also offered the role but refused as well, considering himself too highly trained to be reduced to playing monsters.
The scene with Maria, the little girl, has her throwing flowers into a pond. The monster joins her in the activity but they soon run out of flowers. At a loss for something to throw into the water, he looks at Maria and moves towards her. In all the American prints of the film, the scene ends here. But originally the action continues with the monster grabbing Maria and throwing her into the lake, then departing in confusion when Maria fails to float to the surface as the flowers did. This scene was deleted because Karloff objected and felt the director had misinterpreted the the scene - He felt the monster should have gently placed Maria in the lake. The missing footage was later restored on the videocassette reissue.
The film was banned in Kansas, deemed that it exhibited "cruelty and tended to debase morals."
No comments:
Post a Comment