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The F, the R, the A-N-K...enstein...
Nov. 2nd, 2010 09:43 amOkay, so: Frankenstein Created Woman.
Originally conceived as sort of a riff on the Brigitte Bardot movie of the almost-same name (Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman), this is a weirdly psychologically apt entry which finds the Baron shacking up with sad, fat Doctor Hertz, the hands to Frankenstein's nasty-brilliant brain. As we begin, young Hans--who will grow up to become the pair's lab assistant--witnesses his father's execution via guillotine; Daddy was a drunk, a thief and a murderer, and everybody in town expects Hans to go the same way, which makes his self-admittedly disproportionate temper a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hans is in love with Christina Kleve, the local bar owner's daughter. Like Hans, she's an outcast--born with a limp, a twisted hand and a horrible collection of facial scars. The townspeople ride her hard about all of the above, especially three rich assholes who are constantly coming in and threatening her Dad's livelihood if she doesn't serve them and take their mockery. One night, Hans is sent over to the bar for champagne (to celebrate the fact that Hertz has been able to revive Frankenstein after an hour of apparent death), where he and the Asshole Three get into a knock-down, drag-out over Christina. Christina's Dad interferes, and Hans threatens to kill him.
Christina and Hans spend the night together, but in the morning she takes off for Ingostadt, where she's supposed to see yet another useless expert about her face et al. While she's gone, the beaten-to-death body of her father is discovered; naturally, everybody assumes it was Hans, though it was actually the Asshole Three. Hans refuses to provide an alibi for himself, probably to protect Christina's reputation. After a trial during which the only effective character witness on Hans' behalf is Doctor freakin' Frankenstein (who identifies himself as a doctor of "medicine, law and philosophy." "And witchcraft!" Asshole One jokes, from the audience. Frankenstein: "The gentleman well knows that doctorates are not awarded in the black arts...but if they were, no doubt I should qualify for one."), Hans is sentenced to death. Christina arrives back in town just in time to see him get guillotined, and throws herself into the river.
So far, so...baroque and grotesque, but fairly reasonable. How-eva, we've already established that Frankenstein and Hertz have managed to "prove" the human soul A) sticks around after death and B) can be trapped in a steampunk force-field. They therefore trap Hans' soul and end up sticking it in the first fresh corpse that come along afterwards--Christina's. It's like that marriage metaphor taken to its least logical extreme, with man and GF really being "one flesh". Then Frankenstein also fixes up her face and body, just for kicks. Now she's gorgeous and amnesiac, but quickly begins to have nightly conversations with her other (if not better) half, mainly on the subject of: "Kill, Christina! Kill them alllll!" And bad shit, as ever, results.
Frankenstein's in fine form here--he doesn't seem to have access to his money anymore, so he just lives off of Hertz like a con artist, slyly manipulating the old guy into covering "their" expenses through a winning combo of haughtiness, disdain and well-spoken snark. As far as I can figure out, he needs Hertz because his transplanted hands aren't quite up to snuff just yet, but Cushing still manages to make him active and awesome; at one point he jumps out of a window and runs across roof-tops to escape the authorities, later trying to dissuade Christina from her course of action through appeals to her (minimal) sanity...and yeah, he probably does this just because he doesn't want to have to start over after all this work, but it's still pretty cool.
I've also previously noted the interplay between he and the nice yet weak-minded Hertz, who's far more mature than his usual Renfields, but still can't escape the gravitational pull of Victor's extreme crazy. It really is most like a Holmes/Watson relationship gone horribly wrong--at his best, Hertz can humanize Frankenstein, but only slightly. Frankenstein still holds all the cards, which appears to be exactly how he likes things to go. God knows what happens to the poor old bastard after he disappears at the movie's end.
Next up: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!
Amended to add: I'm expecting that Brides of Dracula essay, Ms. sovay!
Originally conceived as sort of a riff on the Brigitte Bardot movie of the almost-same name (Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman), this is a weirdly psychologically apt entry which finds the Baron shacking up with sad, fat Doctor Hertz, the hands to Frankenstein's nasty-brilliant brain. As we begin, young Hans--who will grow up to become the pair's lab assistant--witnesses his father's execution via guillotine; Daddy was a drunk, a thief and a murderer, and everybody in town expects Hans to go the same way, which makes his self-admittedly disproportionate temper a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hans is in love with Christina Kleve, the local bar owner's daughter. Like Hans, she's an outcast--born with a limp, a twisted hand and a horrible collection of facial scars. The townspeople ride her hard about all of the above, especially three rich assholes who are constantly coming in and threatening her Dad's livelihood if she doesn't serve them and take their mockery. One night, Hans is sent over to the bar for champagne (to celebrate the fact that Hertz has been able to revive Frankenstein after an hour of apparent death), where he and the Asshole Three get into a knock-down, drag-out over Christina. Christina's Dad interferes, and Hans threatens to kill him.
Christina and Hans spend the night together, but in the morning she takes off for Ingostadt, where she's supposed to see yet another useless expert about her face et al. While she's gone, the beaten-to-death body of her father is discovered; naturally, everybody assumes it was Hans, though it was actually the Asshole Three. Hans refuses to provide an alibi for himself, probably to protect Christina's reputation. After a trial during which the only effective character witness on Hans' behalf is Doctor freakin' Frankenstein (who identifies himself as a doctor of "medicine, law and philosophy." "And witchcraft!" Asshole One jokes, from the audience. Frankenstein: "The gentleman well knows that doctorates are not awarded in the black arts...but if they were, no doubt I should qualify for one."), Hans is sentenced to death. Christina arrives back in town just in time to see him get guillotined, and throws herself into the river.
So far, so...baroque and grotesque, but fairly reasonable. How-eva, we've already established that Frankenstein and Hertz have managed to "prove" the human soul A) sticks around after death and B) can be trapped in a steampunk force-field. They therefore trap Hans' soul and end up sticking it in the first fresh corpse that come along afterwards--Christina's. It's like that marriage metaphor taken to its least logical extreme, with man and GF really being "one flesh". Then Frankenstein also fixes up her face and body, just for kicks. Now she's gorgeous and amnesiac, but quickly begins to have nightly conversations with her other (if not better) half, mainly on the subject of: "Kill, Christina! Kill them alllll!" And bad shit, as ever, results.
Frankenstein's in fine form here--he doesn't seem to have access to his money anymore, so he just lives off of Hertz like a con artist, slyly manipulating the old guy into covering "their" expenses through a winning combo of haughtiness, disdain and well-spoken snark. As far as I can figure out, he needs Hertz because his transplanted hands aren't quite up to snuff just yet, but Cushing still manages to make him active and awesome; at one point he jumps out of a window and runs across roof-tops to escape the authorities, later trying to dissuade Christina from her course of action through appeals to her (minimal) sanity...and yeah, he probably does this just because he doesn't want to have to start over after all this work, but it's still pretty cool.
I've also previously noted the interplay between he and the nice yet weak-minded Hertz, who's far more mature than his usual Renfields, but still can't escape the gravitational pull of Victor's extreme crazy. It really is most like a Holmes/Watson relationship gone horribly wrong--at his best, Hertz can humanize Frankenstein, but only slightly. Frankenstein still holds all the cards, which appears to be exactly how he likes things to go. God knows what happens to the poor old bastard after he disappears at the movie's end.
Next up: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!
Amended to add: I'm expecting that Brides of Dracula essay, Ms. sovay!
