The Misunderstood Monster - Frankenstein (1931)

No doubt to me, the most powerful sequence of events in “Frankenstein” (1931) features the Monster, having escaped the dungeon holding it captive, encountering Maria (Marilyn Harris), left momentarily by her father, who was tending to his animal traps. Maria is playing with her cat and flowers near a creek. The sun is out, the wind is blowing; everything is idyllic. The Monster is smiling, entertained by the sweet Maria. Maria isn’t scared of the Monster because it hasn’t acted untoward or scary towards her. The Monster wonders if Maria, pretty like the daisies in her hand, will float like the flowers. And when the Monster goes to pat Maria it doesn’t understand the strength it has, drowning her. This sets in motion the father carrying his dead daughter to the Burgomaster, the eventual hunt as the villagers, with hunting dogs leading the way, gather up their lit torches, planning to put an end to the dangerous creature threatening the general area. They don’t take Victor to task for his responsibility in creating the Monster, with results being its murder spree (Dr. Waldman was going to kill it, Fritz tormented it, Victor created it despite not asking to be alive, The Monster accidentally killing the girl, and now the villagers following after it). Yes, the Monster does frighten Elizabeth, but Victor is really the one it wanted to confront. Without Victor, the Monster would not exist. He needs to answer for the Monster even existing…especially in a body stitched with different parts from robbed graves. Now that the Monster had a chance to confront Victor in that great face off in the hills before the struggle ensues, the creation wants to take out its frustrations. Victor isn’t a threat to the Monster, even with lit torch. It would take the windmill, with plenty of hay and old wood that could go up  quite ferociously, and surrounding villagers, to upend the Monster; high up, having dumped Victor over the edge of a perch onto a wing of the mill, the Monster is eventually trapped and vulnerable, and its ultimate undoing is the burning flame.

When the film opens, you see the obsession of Henry and how Fritz, despite some fears and trepidation, obeys him. Cutting down a hanged killer, taking a brain from Dr. Waldman’s classroom (the worst brain available), tending to the labor that eventually gave birth to the Monster, with help from its “Mother”, the lightning; Fritz was quite an important component in the Monster’s creation and eventual rampage. I guess you have to wonder what might have been had Henry been able to help nurture and cultivate with Waldman’s help the Monster’s growth, but Fritz and that damned torch set it off. The results were catastrophic. That question that always rests on the mind is should Henry have delved as deep as he did. Should Henry have pursued the answer to that great mystery? Should he have robbed graves in pursuit of that truth? And with Fritz as his assistant, was Henry inviting disaster? Because he pursued creating life from the dead, Henry brought on a lot of trouble. The film does allow Henry to escape, even if worse for wear, but Waldman wasn’t so lucky and Fritz’ provoking the Monster got him executed. The screams of Fritz, heard throughout the castle, ring in the ears. He died horribly…the Monster took and took from Fritz and gave in return. Henry might have “came to his senses” but the Monster was a result of his “mania”.