- Actors: James Mason, Leonard Whiting, David McCallum, Jane Seymour, Nicola Pagett
- Directors: Jack Smight
- Writers: Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, Mary Shelley
- Producers: Hunt Stromberg Jr., Ian Lewis
- Format: Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
- Language English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: Universal Studios
- DVD Release Date: 26 Sep 2006
- Run Time: 185 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000H30AQY
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 50,625 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details |
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Frankenstein: The True Story [DVD] [1973] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]1973 saw Universal remake their own classic film. Directed by Jack Smight, all the auguries were good: the production company was Universal Pictures; the script was written by Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy and returned to Mary Shelly's original novel; and the cast looked like a Who's Who? of great British performers - James Mason, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir John Gielgud and Margaret Leighton, with Michael Sarazzin as the Creature, Leonard Whiting as Baron Victor Frankenstein and David McCallum as Henry Clerval. Jane Seymour as the female creature, Prima, gave a curiously negative performance. The best parts of the film are the making of the monster in a ruined mill by the Baron and Henry Clerval, and the life - giving process, through solar energy, was a Technicolour rival to the machinery produced by Universal for the 1931 Frankenstein. Cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson, production designer Wilfred Singleton and special effects devisor Roy Whybrow made all the laboratory scenes the most memorable in the film. One scene that stays in the mind long after the film's conclusion is when Michael Sarazzin's Creature burst into the great ball being held to launch Prima in society, and tears her head from her shoulders.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The film actually takes some liberties with Mary Shelley's source novel. But it perfectly captures its sense of Gothic tragedy, creeping fear and general strangeness - which for me the Kenneth Branagh 1990s version never quite managed, despite being more faithful to the original text.
This one is quite lavish for its TV movie origins and with a very literate script by Christopher Isherwood. Good, unfussy direction by the underrrated Jack Smight, too. The performances are excellent, very restrained in contrast to the 'mad scientist' excesses of the 1930s Universal efforts. James Whale's original is probably a better, more striking film but this is undoubtedly the best adaptation of the book. You'll need an all-regions DVD to play it but it's worth it.
This one is quite lavish for its TV movie origins and with a very literate script by Christopher Isherwood. Good, unfussy direction by the underrrated Jack Smight, too. The performances are excellent, very restrained in contrast to the 'mad scientist' excesses of the 1930s Universal efforts. James Whale's original is probably a better, more striking film but this is undoubtedly the best adaptation of the book. You'll need an all-regions DVD to play it but it's worth it.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first saw this film on TV in the 1970s. It was brilliant and as a version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein it stands as one of the most original interpretations ever depicted. I defy any one to see it and not enjoy it. It has romance, suspense, hope, ingenuity and horror, but without the blood flinging which films seem to consider is required.
C.Mark
C.Mark
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
frankenstein the true story
we have been conned looks like a blank disc will not play on any dvd recorder we will not be buying from this site ever again
Published 10 months ago by liz
NOT the true story
Just in case, like me, you are a teacher who is thinking of buying this in the hope that "the true story" means true to the novel so that you can use it in conjunction with reading... Read more
Published 23 months ago by paul_opera
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
