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    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - F 2 Mins Read

    Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)

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    American TV producer Hunt Stromberg Jnr. wanted to make a definitive version of the Frankenstein story which was faithful to Mary Shelley’s classic 19th-century novel. Given the green light by Universal, he recruited Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy to develop the script and selected Jack Smight as director.

    Production on the three-hour movie took place in the UK at Pinewood Studios with location shooting at a Kensington hospital and around Denham and Bray. Principal filming commenced in March 1973 and wrapped in the early summer.

    In a spin from the old fable, here the creature (Michael Sarrazin) had intellect and beauty (although he slowly decays) giving the relationship between Frankenstein (Leonard Whiting) and his creation a strong homoerotic subtext.

    David McCallum played Frankenstein’s mentor, the drunken and abrupt Henri Clerval with Nicola Pagett as Frankenstein’s fiancée Elizabeth. Jane Seymour had a dual role as the doomed peasant girl Agatha and the female creature Prima.

    Supporting and cameo performers included Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Agnes Moorhead, Tom Baker and Yootha Joyce.

    Frankenstein: The True Story was released in UK cinemas in 1974 (with a reduced running time of 123 minutes) and eventually broadcast on BBC2 on Saturday 27 December 1975 as one long film (shown between 8:20 pm and 11:15 pm).

    In America, it was broadcast on television in two 90-minute parts on consecutive nights (Friday 30 November and Saturday 1 December 1973).

    Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy were displeased with the finished film and published their own version of their screenplay in novel form as Dr Frankenstein in 1973.

    Dr Victor Frankenstein
    Leonard Whiting
    The Creature
    Michael Sarrazin
    Dr Henri Clerval
    David McCallum
    Dr John Polidori
    James Mason
    Agatha/Prima
    Jane Seymour
    Elizabeth Fanshawe
    Nicola Pagett
    Sir Richard Fanshawe
    Michael Wilding
    Lady Fanshawe
    Clarissa Kaye-Mason
    Mrs Blair
    Agnes Moorehead
    Francoise DuVal
    Margaret Leighton
    Mr Lacey
    Ralph Richardson
    Chief Constable
    John Gielgud
    Sea Captain
    Tom Baker
    Hospital Matron
    Yootha Joyce
    Priest
    Peter Sallis
    Felix
    Dallas Adams

    Director
    Jack Smight

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