Edison Frankenstein Online!

[ramsey37]

I stumbled across this link recently:
Internet Archive: Details: Frankenstein (http://www.archive.org/details/FrankensteinfullMovie)
This site has the entire 1910 "Frankenstein" silent film archived for viewing. The movie's only twelve minutes long, and marks the very first time that the story of Frankenstein was filmed. The movie was produced by the Edison Studios and stars Charles Stanton Ogle as the Monster. The movie is kinda goofy by today's standards, but is still worth a view. Tell 'em George sent ya ;)
George

[Type3Toys]

That was pretty darn cool George!

[Werewolf]

It's a rip of the DVD the late Alois F. Dettlaff (who had the sole remaining copy) released in 2003.

I have the DVD. Bought it years ago. The movie is in surprisingly watchable condition considering its age, somewhat damaged state and Mr Dettlaffs excessive watermarking. It's missing the original intro, inter and end titles but does still have the original color tinting.

Awesome piece of Monster and movie history and we are lucky it still exists at all.

[palitoy]

Odd as soon as I read this I knew Dettlaff had to be dead.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I take it this Dettlaff guy hoarded the film for years?

Anyone ever have any luck finding a print of Chaney's "London After Midnight"?

Chris

[toys2cool]

nice...How cool is that :grin:

[Werewolf]

I take it this Dettlaff guy hoarded the film for years?

From what I've read, he didn't even know he had the last surviving print until around 1980 when he became aware that the American Film Institute was listing it as a lost movie.

During his later years he was said to have become very protective (understandably) of the movie and a bit reclusive because he felt his archival efforts had not been fully appreciated and he feared people making money off of his work without fairly compensating him. Because even though he owned the only remaining print, the movie itself was in public domain

The heavily compressed videos floating around various video sites don't really give a fair impression of the condition of the movie. All things considered, it really doesn't look that bad. Like I mentioned earlier, Dettlaff did authorize one DVD release called "Movie's First Monsters Back to Back" under A.D. Ventures. The movie is paired with Nosferatu. Which is from a decent print but missing the color tinting.

There are also various DVR bootlegs floating around of Edison's Frankenstein too since Dettlaff passed away a few years ago. But you'll probably want to avoid those and just get the one Dettlaff released.


Anyone ever have any luck finding a print of Chaney's "London After Midnight"?


After a reportedly exhaustive world wide search no copies have been found. Unfortunately it's gone. The only thing that exists is a still reconstruction authorized by Turner Classic Movies.

[ramsey37]

Anyone ever have any luck finding a print of Chaney's "London After Midnight"?

Chris

"London After Midnight" appears to be gone for good. Todd Browning remade the story in 1935 as "Mark of the Vampire" with Bela Lugosi. Luckily, this version survives and is available on DVD.
George

[ramsey37]

I used to spend a fair amount of time on some of the silent film boards a few years ago. Detlaff was pretty widely hated by silent film collectors and enthusiasts. The only way to insure the survival of rare films is to make new copies of them, since the original films were made of unstable chemicals that deteriorate over time, and Detlaff was determined to hang onto his copy with both hands to the bitter end. I can understand wanting to protect his investment, but owning a movie that no one else is allowed to see outside of heavily watermarked copies is kinda like having the only copy of the Declaration of Independence or the Mona Lisa and keeping the rest of the world from ever seeing them. Edison's "Frankenstein" is certainly not a masterpiece, but it *is* a unique piece of film history that deserves to be preserved and viewed. It' a sad commentary on Detlaff's life that he died alone and apparently lay undiscovered for about a month. I wonder who has his films now?
George

[Gorn Captain]

That's amazing. I had never seen this version, only some photos.
Thanks for the info!
I'll look for a decent copy on Ebay!

[Meule]

Hadn't seen this one yet, thanks very much for sharing. Pretty cool movie for 1910

[misterdroid]

When I tried to watch it, all I saw were gigantic compression pixels and crisp anachronistic fonts (use period typefaces people, c'mon!)... The soundtrack was nice I guess. Guess I'll have to track down a DVD...