'70s *TV* Class: Frankenstein- The True Story- Part One

Am I going to make fun of an Art Film?  Isn't that what I have Bob for?!?  This is Frankenstein: The True Story, a 1973 TV Mini-Series.  It has a whole Cast of notable people in roles ranging from small to large.  It has a fairly-unknown, but well-respected Director.  The Co-Writer- alongside the Director- is a still living, very prolific Artist who has sold his work for Millions and has it up in MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art).  Why am I doing this then?  Well, it is still kind of silly, in spite of everything else.  Plus I've done more random Frankenstein Films- like the Japanese one that involved Suicide Cults and Telepathy.  This one is also notable for being extra long and more accurate to the Book.  Is this the true story?  Well, it is fictional, so...no?  Yes?  It also adds a new character named after someone from in Mary Shelley's life.  It feels so true.  This thing is long enough to review in 2 Parts (as it was presented), so I'd better not waste any more time here...

Actually, one more bit of time-wasting...

This Version on DVD begins with a Scene from Part 2 with James Mason's character showing up, only to abruptly stop and show the real James Mason expositing about the Book.

He then sort of narrates over clips from the Film to come (even showing you the last shots!).  What in the what now?!?

In the actual Story, Victor is a Doctor who loses faith when his brother dies.

The Scene plays out with an empty boat in a lake and him popping up during a failed rescue of said brother.  The Horror Fan in me thought of Friday the 13th's famous ending when this happened, which says much about me.

He helps this guy, who proceeds to take him down the path of 'Mad Science.'  He wants to create life, since 'God only takes it away.'

This guy seems trustworthy.  I want to buy Pot from him behind a 7-11 now.

This path of Science worries Victor's fiancé, enough that she vanishes for the rest of Part 1.

And yes, I did take all of the Caps where they wear funny hats.

They try to revive the dead and make new life from a bunch of corpse parts after a Mining Disaster.

They were all ready to go back in Chile recently too, although they left disappointed.

His partner sees that their early work is dying/decaying and decides to write down his findings.  However, he has a heart attack before writing 'The process is reversing itself' and Victor assumes that all is well.

And yes, he does this make this silly face right as the heart attack hits him.

He makes Adam and takes him to his new place to train him how to be human in secret.

There's alot of talk about this Film having much Gay Subtext and it's hard not to see at times.

Unfortunately, he sees the decaying bodies and the deterioration of Adam.  He realizes that he has failed.

He eventually can hide his problems with it and Adam finds out the truth about himself.  He jumps off the White Cliffs of Dover, but survives.  The catch- Victor doesn't know that.  The...

A dry, but well-made Film.  'Dry' is just the word I keep going back to.  This part features Mad Science, intrigue, drama and experimentation...but is still kind of dry.  It is uptight people being uptight in every situation.  They play this one deathly-serious.  It mostly works as far as establishing how 'important' this is supposed to be.  This is the 'setting things up' part of the Story, so it is guaranteed to not be as interesting.  It's a necessary evil in these things.  In this case, they don't seem to try that hard to make up for the issue and just roll with it.  People are just kind of there and doing stuff.  There aren't really any big, explosive moments in Part One.  The closest you get is some stuff with resurrected bugs or limbs.  I kind of wish that they hadn't just backloaded the Film/Mini-Series so obviously.  Yes, they are basing it on the Book.  Yes, they also make up a character for Mason to play too, so...you know, why not spice things up?  As it is, you get lots of good Acting, good Production Values and big scares like...a butterfly moving at the future Mrs. Frankenstein...

Next time, the second half of the Story.  You sat through the more boring parts, so now you get the payoff!  Stay tuned...