Frankensteinian : Gourmelin's Golem in color

I love how these images, unexpected, undreamed of, emerge to surprise and delight us. Images like Ed Payson’s 3D Frankenstein of 1941 sitting in the makeup chair, or a unique, previously unknown still of makeup man Jack Pierce with Elsa Lanchester as the BRIDE. 

I previously blogged about the French television adaptation of Gustav Meyrink’s LE GOLEM from 1967, one of the ORTF network’s last productions shot in black and white. Here, across a gap of 47 years, the Golem is revealed in color!

The teleplay was co-written by Louis Pauwels (Morning of the Magicians) and director Jean Kerchbron, whose TV credits include a version of King Lear. Actor André Reybaz played both the lead character, Pernath, and the Golem. The Golem mask was created by Jean Gourmelin, faithful to Meyrink’s description yet also true to artist’s typically surrealistic illustrations.

Here is a tantalizing, 60-second montage from the program in which we glimpse the Golem pursued by an angry mob. Perhaps black and white best suits this adaptation, but the photograph at hand shows that the stone-faced Golem in his thick blue coat was very effective in color, too.

More images from the French TV LE GOLEM.

Related:

Gourmelin’s Golem