Film Reviews by Viewer,RowG

It's such a classic it's difficult to review but my initial impressions were a. a stark contrast between moments of great drama and awfully stagey dialogue. b. overuse of the silhouette against a bright horizon c. the empathy you feel for Karloff's "monster" and d. the utter incongruity of the three ancilliary characters (the fiance, the spivvy friend, and the father). This comedy father is also a prominent character in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, although in the latter he is less of a bumbling half wit and more a figure of old fashioned righteousness. In fact, I became overly preoccupied by this father figure because his script makes a mistake and asks why Dr Frankenstein is working away in a windmill (which is actually where he dies not where he revives the body parts).

There's a sweet melancholy about this story of two men escaping from prison - the one who is a great worldly success and the other who is a loveable failure. It really moves along without any duff moments. Like all the 1930s films I have seen this year it has a laughable father figure - this one is probably the worst as he is not much more than a snobbish pimp. But the film's heart is in the right place throughout. From the dodgy moment where the big boss arranges marriage for his best friend with the pretty employee to the great scene where she appears to be waving to him from a balcony but it really waving to her burley lover. The sets must have been amazing to filmgoers of the time and it is still hard not to believe they are real prisons and factories. A very pleasant, and dated, entertainment.