History Trivia / Frankenstein1931

** Creator/BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]]. Lugosi reportedly hated playing the character so left the project alongside the film's originally assigned director. Lugosi got his chance to play the Monster 12 years later in ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan''. It could be argued that his instincts were correct as he is widely considered to have been miscast as the Monster. Before this, he was also offered the role of ''Dr.'' Frankenstein...which would've made for an especially amusing CastingGag, as the character's mentor is played by none other than [[Film/{{Dracula1931}} Dr. Van Helsing]], while his assistant is Renly!

** Science equipment in the film were later reused in ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''.

** Creator/BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]]. Lugosi reportedly hated playing the character so left the project alongside the film's originally assigned director. Lugosi got his chance to play the Monster 12 years later in ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan''. It could be argued that his instincts were correct as he is widely considered to have been miscast as the Monster. Before this, he was also offered the role of ''Dr.'' Frankenstein...which would've made for an especially amusing CastingGag, as the character's mentor is played by none other than [[Film/{{Dracula1931}} Dr. Van Helsing!]]

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JamesWhale chose to direct the film because he wanted to do something other than than war films.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JamesWhale chose to direct the film because he wanted to do something else than war films.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The reason that Victor Frankenstein's first name was changed to Henry (which was his best friends first name) was because the producers felt that Victor would sound too unfriendly and severe for Great Depression audiences (but maybe because they made Frankenstein's best friend Henry Clerval a bit of a severe character, they decided to change his name to Victor.)

** Creator/BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]]. Lugosi reportedly hated playing the character so left the project alongside the film's originally assigned director. Lugosi got his chance to play the Monster 12 years later in ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan''. It could be argued that his instincts were correct as he is widely considered to have been miscast as the Monster.
*** Before this, he was also offered the role of ''Dr.'' Frankenstein...which would've made for an especially amusing CastingGag, as the character's mentor is played by none other than [[Film/{{Dracula1931}} Dr. Van Helsing!]]

** The studio got cold feet over several aspects of the film. Reaction to a preview screening resulted in a mandate to add an introduction warning audiences about what they were about to see; the death of Maria was considered too graphic so it was cut (resulting in audiences thinking something ''even worse'' had happened to her, robbing the Monster of much of the viewer's sympathy); a key line about Victor saying he knew what it felt like to be God was censored for decades; and an ending was tacked on to reverse the original plan to kill off Henry at the end.

** Creator/BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]]. Lugosi got his chance 12 years later in ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan''.

** The role of the Monster was also offered to Creator/JohnCarradine, but he refused it because he felt that it was beneath him.

* PlayingAgainstType: James Whale chose to direct the film because he wanted to do something else than war films.

* DyeingForYourArt: Boris Karloff removed his partial bridgework to achieve the monster's creepy sunken-cheeked appearance. In ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' the monster learned to speak, preventing Karloff from repeating the effect; as a result, the monster looks considerably less weird the second time around.
* EvolvingCredits: Opening credits list all the actors ''[[NotNamedInOpeningCredits except]]'' the one playing the Creature, who is billed only with a question mark. Boris Karloff is only named in the closing credits.

* StarMakingRole: For Boris Karloff.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Edward Van Sloan and Creator/DwightFrye also appeared in ''Film/{{Dracula 1931}}''.

* [[BannedInChina Banned In Kansas]]: In its initial release.

** Some of the sets were remainers from Universal's 1927 film ''Theatre/TheCatAndTheCanary''.

* ScienceMarchesOn: As mentioned on the LightningCanDoAnything page, the film extends the historical anecdote of Luigi Galvani, discovering in the 18th century that by shocking frogs' legs he could make them jerk about, to mean [[MoreDakka REALLY shocking]] a piece-meal corpse could bring it back to life. Yeah, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Neuroscience Does Not Work Like That]]. The dialogue gives some further explanation, but it falls short of an AuthorsSavingThrow...its talk of a "ray beyond the ultraviolet" which brings life is more a case of pre-Bomb ILoveNuclearPower than anything else.

* ScienceMarchesOn: As mentioned on the LightningCanDoAnything page, the film extends the historical anecdote of Luigi Galvani, discovering in the 18th century that by shocking frogs' legs he could make them jerk about, to mean [[MoreDakka REALLY shocking]] a piece-meal corpse could bring it back to life. Yeah, [[YouFailBiologyForever Neuroscience Does Not Work Like That]]. The dialogue gives some further explanation, but it falls short of an AuthorsSavingThrow...its talk of a "ray beyond the ultraviolet" which brings life is more a case of pre-Bomb ILoveNuclearPower than anything else.

*** Before this, he was also offered the role of ''Dr.'' Frankenstein...which would've made for an especially amusing CastingGag, as the character's mentor is played by none other than [[Film/Dracula1931 Dr. Van Helsing!]]

* EvolvingCredits: Opening credits list all the actors ''except'' the one playing the Creature, who is billed only with a question mark. Boris Karloff is only named in the closing credits.

* PropRecycling: Some of the sets were remainers from Universal's 1927 film ''[[{{Theatre/The Cat and the Canary}} The Cat and the Canary]]''.
** Science equipment in the film were later reused in ''[[{{Film/YoungFrankenstein}} Young Frankenstein]]''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]]. Lugosi got his chance 12 years later in ''[[{{Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan}} Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]''.
** The role of the Monster was also offered to [[{{Creator/JohnCarradine}} John Carradine]], but he refused it because he felt that it was beneath him.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Edward Van Sloan and Creator/DwightFrye also appeared in ''Film/{{Dracula}}''.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Edward Van Sloan and DwightFrye also appeared in ''Film/{{Dracula}}''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]]. Lugosi got his chance 12 years later in ''[[{{Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan}} Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''Film/TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]].

* PropRecycling: Some of the sets were remainers from Universal's 1927 film ''{{The Cat and the Canary}}''.
** Science equipment in the film were later reused in ''YoungFrankenstein''.

** The role of the Monster was also offered to JohnCarradine, but he refused it because he felt that it was beneath him.

** The role of the Monster was also offered to John Carradine, but he refused it because he felt that it was beneath him.

* DyeingForYourArt: Boris Karloff removed his partial bridgework to achieve the monster's creepy sunken-cheeked appearance. In ''BrideOfFrankenstein'' the monster learned to speak, preventing Karloff from repeating the effect; as a result, the monster looks considerably less weird the second time around.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Edward Van Sloan and Dwight Frye also appeared in ''Film/{{Dracula}}''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: BelaLugosi was originally set to play the Monster. He also created his own monster make-up, which is reported to have resembled the eponymous being from the 1920 film ''TheGolem''. 20 minutes of test footage was shot with him, but it is considered to be [[MissingEpisode lost]].

* [=~Hey, It's That Guy!~=]: Edward Van Sloan and Dwight Frye also appeared in ''Film/{{Dracula}}''.