Halloween Trivia: The Originial Frankenstein Film

* Released in November of 1931

* Bela Lugosi was offered the role of the monster, but refused on the grounds that his character would not speak (he eventually played the role in 1943).

* After bringing the monster to life, Dr. Frankenstein uttered the famous line, "Now I know what it's like to BE God!" When the movie was re-released in the late '30s, censors demanded it be removed on the grounds that it was blasphemy. A loud clap of thunder was substituted on the soundtrack.

* Boris Karloff (who play the monster) offered to remove his partial bridgework as part of the monster make-up process to create the sunken cheek look.

* The machines used to show sparks flying over the monster were later used in the comedy Young Frankenstein (1974).

* The method of animating the creature is never discussed in Mary Shelley's novel; Dr. Frankenstein refuses to divulge how he did it so no one can re-create his actions. However, the use of lightning to resurrect the monster has become the accepted methodology and appears in virtually every Frankenstein movie since.

* At one point the movie was to have included a line of dialogue giving the Monster the name Adam. This was cut when audiences began referring to the monster by the name Frankenstein.

* The Monster in this film does not physically resemble Mary Shelley's character. It was make-up artist Jack P. Pierce who came up with his characteristic movie look. He did keep one detail from the book: the monster was to have yellow skin.

* What are commonly called bolts on the neck of the monster are in reality electrodes.

* The movie's line "It's alive! It's alive!" was voted as the #49 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

* Director James Whale happened to spot Boris Karloff in the Universal commissary and offered him a screen-test. Karloff later joked that he was offended by being viewing as such an ugly character, especially since that day he had been wearing his most elegant suit.

* The monster make-up design by Jack P. Pierce is under copyright to Universal through the year 2026, and licensed by Universal Studios Licensing, Inc.

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