just one correction Phillip
Lugosi's name had been previously attached as the monster as was most
famously shown in the 1931/32 Universal Annual released early in the
year. Lugosi backed out shortly thereafter when he realized he would
have no speaking scenes. He had no lines and that would just not do.
The film was already in production when they had to locate another
actor to play the monster and that's where the commissary story of
Whale's meeting with Karloff comes in. I believe that David Skal
talks about the meeting in his Lugosi & Karloff book and it was less
of a "who is that actor over there on the line? he would fit the
monster's role perfectly!" and more of a "James.. I would like you to
meet Boris Karloff. Do you think he may fit the role you need to
fill?" while in the commissary.
I believe the signing of Karloff is mentioned in Motion Picture World
and in Variety where he was mentioned as "an unknown actor by the
name of Boris Karloff will be in the role of the monster blah blah"
At 07:32 PM 4/18/2011, you wrote:
Richard,
Your assessment is exactly right. In the most technical sense
Karloff's billing and role is not clearly articulated until the end
of the film, even though his name is on the posters for the film.
His role was being kept secret. In fact during the time frame of the
film's release, there had been publicity that Bela Lugosi was doing
the film. Even though he wound up not doing the movie, Universal did
nothing to beat down those rumors, because unlike Karloff, Lugosi
had Box-Office cache at that point.
Anyway, the Opening Credits of the 1931edit of Frankenstein, first
reference Universal, Carl Laemmle and Jr., then goes to another card
crediting Mary Shelly, Associate Producers, Screenwriters and Sound
Recordists etc., Then there is a Solo Card saying "Directed by James
Whale". After that, is the next card in the Opening Credits titled
"The Players". That card list 9 roles, but only 8 performers. It
starts with billing as you mentioned, though the format is:
Henry Frankenstein .......Colin Clive
Elizabeth ..................... Mae Clark
Victor Moritz ................ John Boles
The Monster...................?
Karloff is not given screen credit until the end of the film when a
card appears with the words "A Good Cast is Worth Repeating. This
time the End Credit card lists the same 9 roles but also includes
Karloff billed 4th as The Monster.
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:sa...@comic-art.com>Richard Halegua Comic Art
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011 6:56 PM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] Any of you experts seen this Frankenstein ad
anywhere before?
because Frankenstein is the film that made him a star.. until then
he was only a supporting actor and that is his role in this film.
Colin Clive is the male lead
Mae Clarke is the female lead
John Boles is the top supporting actor
Karloff's credit comes in after John Boles
At 06:24 PM 4/18/2011, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
Why did he only get fourth billing?
On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 8:14 PM, Richard Halegua Comic Art
<<mailto:sa...@comic-art.com>sa...@comic-art.com> wrote:
Karloff is fourth billed on this title, which is the same place he
has on that ad
At 06:07 PM 4/18/2011, Bruce Hershenson wrote:
Notice the weird image of the monster and Karloff's weirdly low
billing. I wonder if they had even signed him at that point, or if
they even had a script.
Bruce
On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 8:39 AM, Ron Moore
<<mailto:cinemaicon...@yahoo.com>cinemaicon...@yahoo.com > wrote:
No, that's extremely different from anything I've ever seen or
dealt with on the title..
--- On Mon, 4/18/11, Bruce Hershenson
<<mailto:brucehershen...@gmail.com> brucehershen...@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Bruce Hershenson <<mailto:brucehershen...@gmail.com>
brucehershen...@gmail.com>
Subject: [MOPO] Any of you experts seen this Frankenstein ad
anywhere before?
To: <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Date: Monday, April 18, 2011, 8:09 AM
<http://www.emovieposter.com/images/announcements/pb_spirit_of_notre_dame_front_and_interior.jpg>http://www.emovieposter.com/images/announcements/pb_spirit_of_notre_dame_front_and_interior.jpg
This is an interior page from the pressbook for Spirit of Notre
Dame. It includes an advance ad for "Frankenstein" (billing it as
"The biggest picture of the year"), with art I have not seen
anywhere else (and which likely has not been seen for decades)!
Any of you experts seen this Frankenstein ad anywhere before?
--
Bruce Hershenson and the other 25 members of the eMoviePoster.com team
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Phone: <tel:417-256-9616>417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5
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P.O. Box 874
West Plains, MO 65775
Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when
we take lunch)
<http://www.emovieposter.com/>our site
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