Terry Gross

I want to talk with you about the 1931 film Frankenstein, which was directed by James Whale, who also directed the first film version of Show Boat.

And...

Which is quite a contrast.

Well, you know, I watched that movie so many times when I was a child because it used to be run frequently on Million Dollar Movie in New York and they would show one movie and run it over and over all week.

And then I watched it again a few nights ago because I wanted to refresh my memory.

And part of what I love about the movie is just the otherworldliness of it.

The cinematography is so good.

And it reminds me of like film noir, German expressionism.

And it's misty.

It's stormy.

It's dreamlike.

Yeah.

Did the style of filmmaking, the shadows, the lighting, the mist, the nightmarish quality of the images, did that influence you as a filmmaker?

Did you study anatomy in order to do that?

Congratulations.

What did you tell your collaborators about what you wanted your Frankenstein to look like?

Because he looks nothing like Boris Koloff.

I don't just mean his face, but he doesn't have a bolt in his neck.

He doesn't look all stitched together.

The original Frankenstein movie is so dreamlike, nightmare-like.