Edison's Frankenstein: (Review of an Unseen Classic)
by Frederick C. Wiebel, Jr.
Presumpton; or, The Fate of Frankenstein
Around 1998, ever so briefly, you * could * get a copy of the 1910 Frankenstein with Charles Ogle on video tape. The tape was superimposed with "Property of Al Dettlaff" every couple of seconds. It was quickly withdrawn from sale however.
Along with the video, came a trade-size paperbound book. (To be more precise on the timeframe, I have an autographed copy by Mr. Wiebel dated 6/19/1998).
The film, by most who have seen it, is rated so-so. Imho it is about as good as any other film of its ilk for the time.
However, Wiebel's book turned out to be the real treat.
There were numerous great articles and photos about the film (although the photos were a little poorly reproduced due to the poor quality of the paper).
Some of the bonuses included:
- a history of the Edison studio
- a discussion of the Mary Shelley novel
- the seemingly derivation of the Charles Ogle Frankenstein from the R. B. Peake stage presentation of the story (which Shelley viewed and remarked "I was very amused.")
- articles on Ogle and J. Searle Dawly (the director) and others
- comparisons with other filmed versions of the novel
- an interview with the one and only Dettlaff
- a copy of the film synopsis from the Edison Films "Kinetogram" publication.
- the suggested musical score.
- An assembly sheet (describing each scene) used by the workers who spliced the scenes together.
- reviews given at the timeI had read Mary Shelley's novel in the past. But once I found out about the influence of the Peake play, I quickly turned to reading that. It was a good read. One of the main variations from the novel was the introduction of Frankenstein's servant Fritz, who carried over into Edison's film.
Wiebel has since reworked his book; in his words it is "re-written and updated with a lot of 'new' info and many more photographs.." It has been released along with a much better DVD copy of the film.
written: 3/24/2002
revised: 7/19/2003