Frankenstein - The True Story
by Jack Smight
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DVD details
Actor: David McCallum, James Mason, Jane Seymour, Leonard Whiting, Nicola PagettDirector: Jack Smight
Brand: Universal
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 183 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Frankenstein - The True Story
DVD Review: terrible
Summary: 1 Stars
Perhaps the longest adaptation of Frankenstein known to man. I think reading the novel would be faster than suffering through this film. The characters are boring the special effects sad, this film has no redeeming qualities. The monster is simply a man that begins to degrade as the film plods along. The end result is a guy with clay on his forehead. Stay away, do yourself a favor cause its terrible. Run time is like 3 hours of BLAH!DVD Review: Literate and unique adaption of the Classic story.
Summary: 5 Stars
By no means the "True"story the title informs us it is,rather a different and well written,lavish televison production of the Mary Shelly classic.
Over three hours long,this version takes a completely different turn than previous(and many) future versions,by starting with Victor Frankenstein losing his little brother in a boating accident,and striving to make it so man may obtain immortality.However,it's not Frankenstein that is working on bringing the dead to live,but Henry Clevral,who was Victor's best friend in the novel.
Henry dies before his monster is brought to life and Victor finishes the experiment.The monster is not horrorific,but actually handsome,but soon begins to deteriorate and attempts to destroy itself only to discover it's immortal!
This version is very dark with some fine performances by Michael Sarrazin as the sympathetic and increasingly hideous Monster,James Mason as the villianous Dr.Polidori and the lovely Jane Seymour as the female Monster,"Prima" who meets an interesting demise.
Very well done with a terrific epic scale and beautiful locations,this is a must for the Frankenstein and Horror film and is one of the best made for television Horror films ever made.
This DVD release is a fine release,but has no features and has an introduction to the film that can act as a spoiler for first time viewers,so be warned.
Seek this one out.
DVD Review: Good Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been trying to find this movie for years and finally found it on Amazon. I recieved within a few days of ordering and sat and watched it the first night. I absolutely love the movie...more like the Mary Shelley written version. DVD Review: polly dolly this a great film
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this on T.V. when I was a kid, it was done by the BBC and developed as a mini-series. For years it languished unreleased on video and then poorly in a heavily edited VHS version. I bought this VHS and for years it was a treasure as it was the only version available other than off cable full length bootlegs. When I saw they were going to finally release this gem uncut, well I was giddy. I guess we could split hairs on the details compared to the actual Shelly novel, and argue the video transfer was not what it could be, but I won't. It wasn't that long ago that video collectors scrounged everywhere the could just to see hard to find titles like this, so DVD is really the golden age for collectors because it's only though this format we even get to now collect such titles at all. This is a wonderful tale and excellent period piece, and well anything with Jane Seymour looking this hot can't be bad. Rejoice those like me who have waited for a release like this, highly recommended.DVD Review: Even after many years, still holds up
Summary: 3 Stars
I remembered watching this when it was first on television, back in 1973 or '74. I was a kid then, but certain scenes 'stuck' with me -- the violent ends of Jane Seymour's character (both as Agatha and Prima); the pitiful condition of the Creature; the menace of James Mason as Polidori... So out of curiosity I thought I'd get a copy & watch it again as an adult.
I'm not sorry I did. This was a top-notch production for its day, with plenty of attention paid to accurate historical detail. (There's just one exception in that department: the men's hairstyles --these are all fairly 1970's. But the carriages, the sets, and the clothing are marvelous.)
The acting is generally superior, with the disappointing exception of Leonard Whiting, whose character could have been played by a block of wood for all the depth he displays in portraying Dr. Frankenstein. If only Whiting could have shown more of Frankenstein's inner torment, or even more regret, regarding his part in the creation gone so tragically wrong. Instead, all we get from Whiting is a kind of prissy disgust and anger with the Creature when the Creature begins to become physically repellent. (And Frankenstein should have been angry with himself, not the Creature. The total rejection of his Creature, and the 'why-me' attitude he displays is really annoying. It's a pleasure when James Mason's character calls him on this, too!)
I read the review here that talks about a gay subtext in the story. This isn't something I picked up on at age 11, but viewing it now, I guess it is there --if you're looking for it. Certainly Frankenstein and the Creature have an affectionate bond before the Creature begins to disintergrate --and there is just that one small bed in Frankenstein's rooms... But no, I really didn't get the feeling that Frankenstein's feelings were 'that way' about his creation. No, Victor Frankenstein is the Creature's friend, his guide, his brother --all of these things much more than merely a lover, which makes Frankenstein's rejection of the Creature all the more heartbreaking. Frankenstein mentions that the Creature is in a 'state of childhood' just after his rebirth, and that was more the impression I had: that the Creature loved Frankenstein like an older brother or a father, and was dependent on him like a child is.
James Mason steals every scene he's in. I'd forgotten what a great actor he really was. Nicola Paget does what she can with the somewhat thankless role of Elizabeth, Frankenstein's wife (women are fairly superfluous to men in Frankenstein's world, except for Jane Seymour's Prima --Frankenstein and Polidori's successful creation-- who is desired by all). Michael Sarrazin (whatever happened to him?) gives a superb performance as the Creature, almost totally without speech. Jane Seymour is absolutely beautiful-looking as Prima, and like Sarrazin, her speaking performance is minimal, yet she manages to convey Prima's soulless character with gestures and glances.
The production is somewhat slow moving, and too melodramatic at times toward its end. Perhaps it's better to say 'gothic' instead of melodramatic, given the time period in which the story is set. But I still enjoyed it very much, despite some creaky sections. It's held up well for a 35 year old television production, and I'd bet there are very few productions made today that will hold up nearly so well in another 35 years.
Description of Frankenstein - The True Story
Victor frankensteins medical experimentations result in the shocking discovery that he can revive the dead. But when the creature he creates becomes a killer is anyone safe? Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 09/26/2006 Starring: Jane Seymour Leonard Whiting Run time: 183 minutes Rating: NrHints of sublime horror lurk in a big pile of camp lunacy in Frankenstein: The True Story. While a subtitle like The True Story might make you think this 1970s TV production hews close to Mary Shelley's classic novel, it's safe to say that Shelley's opus did not include crawling disembodied arms, sinister Chinese coolies, solar power, or the flabbergasting paisley dressing gown that Dr. Frankenstein wears for one brief but startling scene. In fact, The True Story deviates from Shelley's story in almost every detail. In this version, the young and handsome Dr. Frankenstein (Leonard Whiting, star of Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet) is lured into reviving the dead by the obsessive Dr. Clerval (David McCallum, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), who gruffly tosses off lines like "Fail? That is a word I shall teach you to forget!" and "This was specially prepared with chemicals--I'll explain what they are later." Clerval's untimely death doesn't stop Frankenstein from bringing his Creature to life in the form of the jaw-droppingly handsome Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses, Don't They?). Alas, tissue degeneration soon sets in--but the oily, sinister Dr. Polidori (James Mason, Lolita) arrives to make things even worse with his plan for a female Creature in the form of the even more jaw-droppingly dewy and luscious Jane Seymour (later to becomeDr. Quinn, Medicine Woman). Most of Frankenstein: The True Story rattles along as enjoyable badness, but every so often an image flares up that's genuinely creepy--when Frankenstein's fiancee Elizabeth is menaced by an undead butterfly, the scene is laughable and eerie at the same time--and though Whiting is stiff, Mason and a parade of cameo stars (including John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Agnes Moorehead) inject the movie with the sort of sinister relish that animated the classic horror of the black and white era. --Bret Fetzer
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