I thought I’d seen all the stills and publicity material
from the 1931 Frankenstein until this
splendid photo — marked PD
(Publicity Department) # 940 — popped up on Facebook, courtesy of Colin Clive
collector Sally Stark.
Wearing jodhpurs and high boots, Colin Clive strikes a
dramatic pose on the Frankenstein set.
The photographer was probably Roman Freulich. Boris Karloff posed in his
Monster outfit for several photos against a similar leaning stonework
background.
This was the costume Clive wore — with a coat — in the final
chase and windmill scenes of the film. The breeches and boots are those of a
horseman, and Clive was an avid if unlucky practitioner. As a young man, he
suffered injuries — broken knee and broken leg — from two different riding
accidents, cutting short his aspirations for a military career. Then, in 1931,
having rushed home to England as soon as Frankenstein wrapped, Clive promptly fell off a horse and broke
his hip. Perhaps he was just accident-prone. Kicking off his acting career,
Clive was knocked down by a London bus on the very day he opened in the James Whale-directed
play, Journey’s End.
Come 1935, Clive suffered another injury, perhaps in a fall, just before Bride
of Frankenstein started shooting. Playing
up Frankenstein’s “convalescence” angle — having been mauled and thrown off the windmill by The Monster — Clive was allowed to do most of his
scenes reclining or sitting down.
No comments:
Post a Comment