80 years ago today, on December 4, 1931, Frankenstein arrived in New York City. This is the ad that ran in the New York Times.
The film had played to boffo boxoffice in a handful of cities over the previous two weeks. Word was that Frankenstein delivered on every gruesome thrill the posters promised. New Yorkers lined up in the rain, every showing was packed.
Today, the bolt-necked Monster is too familiar. The film’s graveyard, the laboratory, the torch-bearing mob are well-worn clichés, but back in ‘31, these were new and wondrous and disturbing images. There had never been anything quite like it. It was true, then, that
No Thriller Ever Made Can Begin to Touch It!
With thanks to George Chastain.
Related:
All Seats 35 cents: A different ad from The New York Daily News, and the story of the Mayfair Theater.
Frankenstein Premieres: Boxoffice receipts and a look at the trailer with scenes cut from the film.
Though this film had made much by the horror scenes and thrills, I must admit that the book had more intense information that made it so I would want to read that much more. Reading this as a freshman really did change my perspective on the stereotypical Frankenstien. He is much more than a creature made by a man, he has true emotions, a main one being hatred and revenge. This makes it that much more interesting to turn it all into one enourmous metaphor relating it to current life and the obstacles it brings.
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