Karloff Frankenstein


Technically I suppose I should call this guy the Pierce Frankenstein since it’s Jack Pierce that designed and applied the make-up the makeup for this version of the creature. The same creature design was worn by Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lon Chaney Jr. and Fred Gwynne. A more appropriate moniker would be the Universal Frankenstein since it’s Universal Studios that holds the copyright (or, more likely, the trademark) on the makeup. Still, it’s Boris Karloff who wore the make-up first so it’s Karloff that I think of when I see this version of the creature no matter who is actually under the latex and greasepaint.

I’ve given the poor guy leather shoes. Those big platform boots that the creature wore in the movies helped to make him taller and more intimidating than the rest of the cast but seem like an odd choice of footwear in “real” life. Who has a pair of those things lying around the castle? Maybe if Frankenstein had made (and dressed) his creature in the 1970s …

2 thoughts on “Karloff Frankenstein

  1. I always thought the same thing about the shoes, then I started to wonder wether they weren’t some kind of authopedic solution to the fact Dr F had, had to source the legs off two different bodies so the monster has different length legs.

    G

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