Frankenstein: The True Story. The Television Miniseries

FRANKENSTEIN: THE TRUE STORY

Frankenstein: The True Story is a bit of a misnomer in that it does deviate from the Mary Shelley novel. While it may not actually be "the true story", Frankenstein: The True Story is still an entertaining and well-acted production. 

After a brief introduction by The True Story star James Mason, we go to the Regency-era setting. 

After the death of his younger brother William, Victor Frankenstein (Leonard Whiting) becomes convinced that he should stop death itself. At the very least, he should be able to bring the dead back to life. He finds that renegade doctor Henry Clerval (David McCallum) has managed to reanimate small animals and human body parts. They join forces to achieve the impossible: bring life out of nothing.

They take body parts and resign themselves to using a peasant's brain for their new creature. However, Dr. Clerval dies in the secret lab before being able to write a warning. Clerval has discovered to his horror that the animation process is reversable. Victor, misreading the "R" that Clerval has written to mean "Ready to begin", proceeds with his plan. Out of respect, he takes Clerval's brain to place on his creation. The Creature (Michael Sarazzin) soon begins to learn about life under Frankenstein's tutelage. 

To his horror, Frankenstein finds that the Creature is devolving from the beautiful creature into a less appealing creature. Desperate to escape his horror, the Creature jumps to his apparent death. Alas, he survives his suicide attempt. Soon, the Creature becomes friends with the blind farmer Lacey (Ralph Richardson). Lacey's daughter Agatha (Jane Seymour) and her love interest Felix (Dallas Adams) however, are horrified when they see the Creature. His actions lead to both Felix and Agatha's deaths, albeit both unintentionally.

The Creature goes to the lab, hoping Victor will bring her to life. He's in for a surprise when he finds Dr. Polidori (Mason) instead. Polidori was Clerval's mentor who had a falling out with his pupil when Clerval insisted on using the sun's power rather than Polidori's liquid methods. Now, Polidori has a new corpse, or at least head, to try out his own ideas. With that, he gives metaphorical birth to Prima.

Prima, unlike the Creature, has managed to stay beautiful and pass herself off as human. Polidori cajoles the now-married Victor to let Prima learn from his in-laws and wife Elizabeth (Nicola Pagett) about how to get along in society. Prima is no innocent. She is a hard, cold, cruel creature. She is also being groomed by Polidori into being a mistress for powerful figures as part of his plan for world domination. Those plans are brought to ruin when the Creature returns yet again to life. The chaos he unleashed will soon consume everyone involved in this sordid saga. Who if anyone will ultimately survive this series of terrors?

It has been ages since I read Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. While the television movie (edited into two parts for American television) bills itself as "The True Story", it goes against my recollections of the novel. I do not recall such things as Doctor Polidori having any role in the Creature's creation. I also do not recall a desperate flight for the Frankensteins and Polidori to the United States. I would say that in terms of fidelity to the source material, the first part is closer.

Once we get past the Creature's first survival, Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy's screenplay seems to come from their imagination rather than Shelley's novel. This is not strictly speaking a bad thing. Their screenplay does have some moments of wit in it. When the Creature seems reluctant to have Agatha's corpse seen, Polidori is having none of it. 

"Come on. I have no use for delicacy, especially in monsters", Mason says in his rich tone. His delivery seemed to border between serious and hilarious. It brought back, for good or bad, echoes of when Bugs Bunny was telling his monster about how they must lead interesting lives.

I suspect that Isherwood and Bachardy were having a grand time with The True Story. How else to explain how the Creature would sometimes misremember his name as "Polly Dolly"? How else to explain the impromptu ballet that Prima breaks out into at a ball? How else to explain how Dr. Polidori's first appearance to the Creature made him look like Fu Manchu, complete with two Chinese assistants? 

Good or bad, there was some camp within this presentation. Polidori's end ought to elicit laughter more than terror. In the midst of the tempest that the ship everyone is in is caught, the Creature manages to hoist the terrified Polidori upwards. Polidori is not so much afraid of being strangled as he is afraid of thunder. As he goes higher and higher, Mason seems to go hammier and hammier. It is to where when he meets his end, you are not taking this seriously.

This is a standout for James Mason, though perhaps not in the way he might have wanted. Mason is having a whale of a time being as grand and operatic as his skills let him be. There is something comical in how he relishes being bonkers. As he goes on about how he will use Prima as his ticket to the heights of political power, James Mason looks like he is about to climax in orgasm. It is not a bad performance. I do not think it is even an unhinged or loony performance. I would say that it is a grand, delicious performance, one where director Jack Smight did not bother restraining him. It is hard to take James Mason seriously when he is dressed like an exiled Chinese emperor. 

David McCallum too was intense. His waxing rhapsodic about a dismembered arm with a life of its own looks almost rational. However, it worked for his character of Clerval. He sometimes too leaned into theatricality. However, I found his intensity matched the downright bonkers manner of Clerval. 

I think the best performance is from Jane Seymour. She had to play two parts. She was first the innocent and sweet Agatha, caught up in an unintentional tragedy. She later had to be Prima, the female creature. She was excellent as the villainous Prima, mocking everyone around her. Her failed efforts at seducing Victor. Her simulation of pregnancy, ridiculing Elizabeth. Seymour had to make the smallest gesture with her face or lip to convey false innocence. It is almost to where one feels for her gruesome end.

Leonard Whiting will probably be best remembered for his role in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. As Victor Frankenstein, he acquitted himself well. He was mostly soft spoken, but like with McCallum, it worked for the character. He was a strong blend of innocence and arrogance, of genuine concern and ruthless dismissal. 

I do have a caveat about Michael Sarrazin as The Creature. The True Story opted to follow Shelley's lead in making the Creature a beautiful figure. However, I do not think that Sarrazin was "beautiful". He certainly was not as beautiful as Leonard Whiting. I think it would have worked better if they had switched roles. Sarrazin was not bad in the role. He communicated the Creature's disillusionment and anger. He was not bad at all. He was just not beautiful.

The True Story is filled with excellent production work. It also moves fast despite its three-hour runtime. Some things do come across as funny, such as how Polidori is a mesmerist who can work on almost anyone. Overall thought, Frankenstein: The True Story has enough in terms of entertainment to keep the viewer interested. It may not live up to its title, but it works quite well. 

8/10