Mego reveals from tonight's live chat

[Liu Bei]

Sarah is someone I have gotten to know quite well over the past 25 years during her convention runs here in Louisville. We've sat over many a candid discussion about life and some that involved her dad's work. Wonderfest was the first to reveal the monster in color to the public before it was released on home video format for the rest of the world to see.

At the time we were entrusted with the enormous responsibility of holding all of that raw home video footage to show just the portions of Boris in costume to those who attended the convention. I can assure everyone, what is public is just excerpts from what is otherwise a very personal log of a standard day-in-the-life for Boris. His love for his daughter is really something to behold here and the monster footage contextualized is nothing more than a kind of "dad at work" moment thrown in for his daughter to have.

It is accurate that Son of Frankenstein was initially considered as a Technicolor feature before filming started. But those considerations did not coincide with this footage. I think that was one of the first questions we asked Sarah who clearly would not have her own memory of that since she was a newborn. But she indicates everything her dad told her suggests this was a regular work day in filming. So what you see is how he was prepped for the movie we have. If any suggested test footage exists, it has never been released by the studio.

Thank you for that excellent post. Did Sarah ever indicate how much footage like that is part of the Karloff estate, and have any efforts been made to preserve them for posterity?

[MIB41]

Thank you for that excellent post. Did Sarah ever indicate how much footage like that is part of the Karloff estate, and have any efforts been made to preserve them for posterity?

Thanks Liu Bei. The footage that is public is all that Sarah has acknowledged and I feel confident in stating she is not likely withholding anything of that nature. I personally know its all the footage that was on that family tape, because we watched every second of it which the public has probably only seen about a third of. Documentaries on Boris have utilized some of that footage such as him watering his garden in a top hat and being dressed in his finest with Sarah as a newborn.

I do not recall what she was doing to preserve it, but as meticulous and business minded as I know her to be, I guarantee you that consideration was likely amongst the first items looked at (given its historical value). We were supposed to see her again last year before this pandemic kicked in and scuttled everything for everyone on the convention front. While I doubt she will touch any public appearances this year under the best of conditions, I will check and get an answer for you.

When it comes to preserving film related artifacts, her dad was a very humble man who unfortunately did not commemorate much of his career with props from his movies. He even used his Grammy award from the Grinch as a door stop. I'm not terribly surprised on the Frankenstein front though because he suffered allot, especially during that first film. In fact it played a big role in why he was amongst a small group who pushed for a union, which was a dangerous endeavor back in those days.

As much as we celebrate his role as the monster, the studio and director were quite indifferent to him during the first film. He was forced to wear a paper bag over his head whenever he went into the commissary for breaks (even on days when the temperature was over 90 degrees). He developed debilitating back problems for the rest of his life from being forced to carry Colin Clive repeatedly up the latter while being strapped into a brace that gave him that stiff look. And if none of that was enough, he was not even invited to the premiere of the film. Its worth noting that while most people see a question mark next to the monster in the opening credits (as a gimmick for the day to prop up the mystique of the monster), its also considered another slight Karloff endured because he was not a named actor at that moment. You can see the leverage he gained soon after and how his name was never understated again.