Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein was released on November 21st, 1931.

Directed by James Whale.

Frankenstein (1931)

Boris Karloff

Colin Clive 

Mae Clarke 

Edward Van Sloane

Dwight Frye

Make-up by Jack Pierce

Also on this date:

Hell’s Bells was released in theaters in 1929

Curt Siodmak

 Curt Siodmak was born on August 10th, 1902 in Dresden, Germany. 

Kurt Siodmak (1902-2000)

The screenwriter and novelist was the younger brother of director Robert Siodmak. 

The Invisible Man Returns
(1940) with Vincent Price 
and Sir Cedric Hardwicke 

The Invisible Woman (1940)

The Wolf Man (1941) with
Lon Chaney, jr. and Bela Lugosi

“Even a man who is pure at heart, and says his prayers by night; may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the Autumn moon is bright”

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

Son of Dracula (1943)

The Brain (1962) based on the Novel
Donovan’s Brain (1942)

Also on this date in 1984, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their debut album. 

Jack Pierce

 Jack Pierce was born on May 5th, 1889 in Greece. 

Jack Pierce (1889-1968)

Known for creating some of the most prolific monster effects of the classic Universal era. 

Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (1931)

Boris Karloff as The Mummy (1932)

Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man (1941)

Bela Lugosi in Son of Frankenstein (1939)

David Manners

 David Manners was born on April 30th, 1901 in Halifax, Canada. 

David Manners (1901-1998)

With Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye,
Edward Van Sloan and Bela Lugosi  
in Dracula (1931)

With Boris Karloff in The Mummy (1932)

With Julie Bishop in The Black Cat (1934)

Dwight Frye

 Dwight Frye was born on February 22nd, 1899 in Salina, Kansas. 

Dwight Frye (1899-1943)

As R.M. Renfield in Dracula (1931) with
Bela Lugosi, David Manner , 
Edward Van Sloan and Helen Chandler

With Boris Karloff
in Frankenstein (1931)

The Vampire Bat (1933)

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Creature From the Black Lagoon

 On February 12th, 1954, Creature From the Black Lagoon premiered in Denver, Colorado. The movie would spawn two sequels, Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).

Filmed on location in Palatka and Wakulla Springs, Florida. 

Ricou Browning (underwater Gill-Man)

Originally released in 3D.

Ben Chapman (Gill-Man on land)

 Starring Richard Carlson and Julie Adams and directed by Jack Arnold. 

Richard Carlson and Julie Adams

Ricou Browning and Ginger Stanley

The Invisible Man Returns

 On January 12th, 1940, The Invisible Man Returns was released nationwide in the US. It is a sequel to The Invisible Man (1933).

The Invisible Man Returns

Starring Vincent Price, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nan Grey and John Sutton. 

Screenplay by Curt Siodmak. 

Nan Grey and Vincent Price

John P. Fulton, Bernard B. Brown and William Hedgecock we’re all nominated for and Oscar for Best Special Effects, but lost to the Thief of Bagdad. 

Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Phantom of the Opera saw an initial premiere on January 7th, 1925 in Los Angeles, California. The audience didn’t react well. A rewrite and reshoot with a different director was received even less favorably the following April. A third and final version was released the following November. 

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

The Rocky production was originally directed by Rupert Julian and stars Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin. Adapted from the Gaston Leroux 1910 novel.

Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin

Lon Chaney’s make-up work

The Mummy (1932)

The Mummy was released nationwide on December 22nd, 1932. 

The Mummy (1932)

Directed by Karl Fruend and starring Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, Bramwell Fletcher and Arthur Byron. 

“Karloff the Uncanny”

• 

  Boris Karloff and Bramwell Fletcher 

  
  

  

  David Manners

  
  

Make-up artist Jack Pierce

• Stranger than "Dracula" ... More fantastic than "Frankenstein" ... More mysterious than "The Invisible Man"

Young Frankenstein

 Young Frankenstein was released on December 15th, 1974. 

Young Frankenstein (12/15/1974)

Written and directed by Mel Brooks and co-written and Starring Gene Wilder. 

Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder

Also starring Madeline Kahn, Terri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman and Peter Boyle. 

Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman,
Gene Wilder and Terri Garr

Madeline Kahn and Wilder

Peter Boyle

Rolfe Sedan in one of his last roles

I will never not laugh at this. 

Mel Brooks discovered that the designer of the laboratory sets for the original Universal Frankenstein films was still alive and living in Los Angeles. 

Frankenstein’s Laboratory 

Ken Strickfaden had stored all of the old equipment in his garage. Brooks made a deal with Strickfaden to rent the equipment for the new movie and gave him the credit he didn’t receive for the original films.