PULLMAN A Monster Film Fest featuring two vintage Hollywood classics “Frankenstein” (1931) and “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935)kicks off at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 in Todd Auditorium.The event is the next in a semester-long series of broad-ranging activities sponsored by Common Reading Tuesdays at Washington State University. The event is open to the public and the popcorn is free to all.
Common Reading Tuesdays help extend lessons beyond the classroom from the common reading book used by more than 3,500 freshmen this fall. The book is “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers,” by best-selling author Mary Roach, who visited campus in September. Most Tuesday evenings this fall, representatives from WSU’s world-class researchers are sharing their expertise through presentations and panels for students and the university community. Half-way through the semester, more than 3,500 people have attended eight Tuesday evening events.
Saturday’s Monster Film Fest is the first event to take place on a day other than Tuesday. It is part of the Common Reading Tuesdays subtheme, “What Are We Really Afraid Of?”
In both movies chosen for the showing, actor Boris Karloff is the star. “Frankenstein” is the first movie in which Universal Studios does not tell the viewers who was playing the monsters. Karloff’s name in the opening credits was replaced with a question mark; his name was not revealed until the closing credits of the film. Also, pre-release pictures of the monster from the movie were not available so Karloff’s appearance could be concealed. For a long time, many people believed that Karloff competitor Bela Lugosi would play the monster and not Karloff.
The “Bride of Frankenstein” is considered to be the best film of the string of sequels to “Frankenstein” because the monster actually talks in this film. The monster is also presented not as inherently evil as he was in the first film.
For more information, visit commonreading.wsu.edu.
