10 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About The Universal Monster Movies

10 Interesting Behind The Scenes Facts About The Universal Monster Movies

The Universal monster films remain iconic pieces of movie history to this day, and learning about their production often proves quite fascinating.

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The Universal monster series is arguably one of the most popular franchises in movie history. It also proves that the movie industry hasn’t changed all that much in the last 40 or 50 years, as the Universal franchise was essentially the Marvel franchise of the mid-20th century. Most of the movies were connected to some degree, and they were very much marketed as a “franchise” of films.

These films remain iconic pieces of movie history to this day, and learning about their production often proves quite fascinating. In some cases, behind-the-scenes stories may prove just as interesting as the movies themselves.

10 Bela Lugosi Was Not Paid Well

Bela Lugosi is now a movie legend, having played and perfected the character of Dracula in the original 1931 film. Often considered the best Dracula, Lugosi inhabited the role and made him into a mainstay of pop culture. Even to this day, his mannerisms as Dracula are repeated, referenced, and parodied.

However, The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi reveals that Lugosi was paid a measly $3,500 for the movie – the equivalent of about $60,000 today.

9 Much Of Dracula Was Directed By Its D.P.

If fans were to look at the credits of Dracula, they would see it was directed by Tod Browning. However, the film experienced quite a difficult shoot, and Browning was largely replaced by the director of photography, Karl Freund.

According to some reports, Browning “grew bored” with the film and allowed Freund to take over much of his directorial reigns. Unfortunately, Freund never received credit for his work, and even to this day, Browning is widely credited as the film’s director.

8 The Original Frankenstein’s Monster Was Violent

Frankenstein is arguably the most popular of the Universal monster movies. It’s arguably the most famous story (aside from maybe Dracula), and the monster could very well be the most popular anti-villain in movie history. The movie takes a gentle approach to its primary villain, portraying a mindless biological entity who is largely childish and who acts upon mere impulse and instinct.

However, the monster was originally depicted as being far more violent and ruthless. It wasn’t until the casting of Boris Karloff that its personality was significantly altered.

7 Frankenstein Contains A Genuine Tesla Coil

Born in 1896, special effects wizard Kenneth Strickfaden worked on Frankenstein and became the preeminent expert on special effects concerning the use of electricity. He helped create the film’s iconic “creation scene,” which contains many props that shoot out beams of electricity.

According to Harry Golman’s book, Kenneth Strickfaden, Dr. Frankenstein’s Electrician, one of these props included a genuine Tesla Coil personally constructed by Nikola Tesla. Tesla would live another 12 years after the movie’s release, passing away in 1943.

6 Kansas Wanted Half Of Frankenstein Removed

While an incredibly popular film, Frankenstein faced its fair share of controversy. Numerous scenes were censored to some degree – this included the cutting of the famous scene in which Frankenstein’s monster throws Maria into the lake, and removing a supposedly blasphemous line of dialogue.

According to Thomas Patrick Doherty’s book, Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930–1934, the state of Kansas wanted 32 scenes removed from the film, which would have accounted for half of the movie.

5 The Mummy Was Written By A Journalist

The Mummy was largely inspired by the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the winter of 1923. Some people associated with the opening perished in bizarre ways, leading some to believe that the tomb was cursed. To write The Mummy (a movie about the unearthing of a mummy and its resulting curse), Universal hired ex-journalist, John L. Balderston.

Balderston covered the opening of King Tut’s tomb for the New York World, and Mark A. Vieira writes in his book Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic that Balderston named the villain Imhotep after an ancient Egyptian architect.

4 Boris Karloff Worked Nearly 24 Hours A Day On The Mummy

Boris Karloff was quickly typecast as a horror movie villain, having portrayed the main villains in both Frankenstein and The Mummy. His craft was widely commended, and that included his impeccable work ethic (as detailed in Vieira’s Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic).

It took eight hours to apply Karloff’s mummy makeup, often taking place between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm. He then filmed until 2:00 am, and the make-up was removed by 4:00 am. All told, it was, “the most trying ordeal [he had] ever endured.”

3 The First Script For The Invisible Man Concerned Bolsheviks

The Invisible Man is now regarded as a classic thriller, but the original script was so bad that the writer was fired within a day. Universal hired comedic screenwriter Preston Sturges to pen the script, and he wrote a story about a man seeking revenge against a group of Bolsheviks, a radical Marxist faction co-founded by Vladimir Lenin.

According to Gregory Mank and Philip Riley’s book, The Invisible Man, Universal read the script and fired Sturges the next very next day. He was in turn replaced by the credited writer, R.C. Sherriff.

2 The Wolf Man’s Makeup Was Recycled

The makeup work on The Wolf Man is so good that viewers often forget the actor underneath. Unfortunately, this once cost makeup artist Jack Pierce a major headache.

According to Vieira’s Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic, Pierce had provided near-identical makeup work for the film Werewolf of London, but director Stuart Walker rejected it as the actor was unrecognizable beneath the caked-on effects, and this didn’t make sense within the context of the story. He recycled the work for The Wolf Man, and movie magic was made.

1 Creature From The Black Lagoon Was Born During Citizen Kane

The idea for Creature from the Black Lagoon came from movie producer William Alland. While filming Citizen Kane, Alland was attending a dinner and began speaking with Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. According to Vieira’s book, Figueroa and Alland spoke about fictional creatures living in the Amazon River.

Alland wrote some brief story notes modeled after the legend, and professional writer Maurice Zimm turned the notes into a film treatment. Said treatment was then written as Creature from the Black Lagoon by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/behind-the-scenes-facts-about-universal-monster-movies/

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