In 1974, the movie, “Young Frankenstein,” directed by Mel Brooks was released to the United States. The movie itself is a parody of other “Frankenstein” related movies which came before it, rather than being a specific parody of the original novel by Mary Shelly. Whether intentional or not, the producers of the film actually created a movie which is much more closely tied to the novel than it is to the motions pictures which followed it. It is not within the plot where the true similarities lie, as is the case with most other Frankenstein films; but is instead found within the over exaggerated stereotypes and the underlying themes which those stereotypes produced as a byproduct of their presence.
The plot, although similar on a very basic level, is actually quite different from the novel. The movie was intended to appear as though it were a sequel to the book, with the main character being the grandson of Shelly’s infamous Victor Frankenstein. This character which the films calls, Freddy Frankenstein, is called to report to his grandfather’s house after his death. During his stay at his grandfather’s old home, he eventually picks up where Victor left off and is absorbed by the compelling drive to reanimate dead flesh. Freddy is convinced that he can preform the same operation, but this time, because he will use the brain of a dead scientist, he will not create a monster as his grandfather did, but instead, he will simply create a seven foot tall brilliant, and previously deceased scientist.
Throughout Shelly’s novel, the story itself has a sort of eerie, dark and dank aspect to it. The poetry inserted to the chapters are in way like her version of a director’s special effects. She uses verses from things like “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” which are bleak and dismal, thus helping to convey the desired emotion within the reader. The directors of the film did not need to turn to poetry for their special effects, simply because they literally had their own special effects to work with. To convey the similar state of mind the way that Shelly did, they used effects like lightening flashes, booming thunder and images of shadows that dart across walls in specific scenes. All of these aspects combine to leave the viewer with the same heavy sensation of lingering suspense within every scene.
As far as the director’s choice of stereotypes, there is a long list. Nowadays, when most individuals think of “Frankenstein,” the first thing that comes to mind is a massive green zombie like creature with bolts coming out of his temples, a decrepit looking castle and a hidden underground laboratory in which the crazed mad scientist preformed his gruesome experiment. Mary Shelly, while not explicitly describing anything exactly along those lines, does indeed leave room for the imagination to fill in the blanks which she left with images not far from the above mentioned stereotypes. Within “Young Frankenstein,” the bulk of the film takes place literally within the walls of the castle which Victor Frankenstein allegedly lived. There are scenes which contain startled horses rearing unexpectedly amidst bright flashes of lightening, and characters cowering in fear at the sound of what are said to be the howls of werewolves.
Nowhere in Mary Shelly’s novel does she mention anything akin to a werewolf (aside from the creature itself) however with werewolves come feelings of apprehension and fear, things which she absolutely did try to convey through her words. Nowhere does she discuss a structure similar to a castle, however the house which Freddy returns to, is complete with multiple turrets and cold stone brick walls, which leave the viewer uneasy at the sight of. It is through these visual effects where the producers sought to instill those very same feelings which Shelly managed to do through her words.
Also hidden within the movie are subtle similarities within the script of the movie. One of the central themes to Shelly’s novel, was the idea of how Victor was so blinded by the idea of his creation that he failed to see exactly what it was that he was producing. To him, the creature was going to be a thing of beauty, a creation of shear genius, and he was appalled when the reality of the situation struck him. One of the words which Shelly used to describe the creature was “hideous.” This word was used more than once when referencing the creature, and was probably chosen specifically because it is such a strong word that conveys such utter negativity. Within the script of the movie, both of these aspects – the idea of being blinded by his passion, and the concept of the creature’s grotesqueness – appear at once during the creation scene. Freddy’s assistant says to him, “He’s hideous.” to which Freddy promptly retorts, “He’s beautiful, and he’s mine.” This demonstrates the same underlying situation which appeared within Shelly’s pages, but can only be extracted with a fine tooth comb.
The last aspect of the film which is central to it’s relation to the novel, is the use of music. In “Young Frankenstein,” the only thing that can control the creature, is the sound of music. What is interesting about this, is that it is specifically the sad, woeful tune of the violin which controls him. Although this is a specificity and an idea which does not appear in Shelly’s tale, the concept does. The fact that it is not the bold blaring of a trumpet, or the rhythmic thumping of a drum, but is instead the gentle and delicate sound of the violin which cuts straight to the creatures’s core, demonstrates the vulnerability and the ultimate sadness which the creature feels. Similar to the novel, the creature is indeed sad, and looking for companionship, and whether it realizes it or not, it is seemingly in search of acceptance of some kind.
While the film is in no way intended to be a serious motion picture, it does however bare numerous subtle similarities to the very serious novel of “Frankenstein.” Ironically enough, it is just that – the fact that it was not necessarily intended to be taken all to seriously – which brought it one step closer to being a standard “Frankenstein Movie.” In the end, it was the aspects of the movie which for most people would have taken the film further away from the novel such as the stereotypes, the words chosen for the script, and the additional aspects provided by the director’s creative license which all helped to bring this seemingly aloof film to another level of alikeness to Shelly’s original novel.
