Karloff Frankenstein in Color

[Hawdkoah]

Fun fact: Son of Frankenstein was originally supposed to be shot in color, but they couldn't get the make up for the monster to look right in color so they kept it black and white.

[MultiJman69]

EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SHORT IT WAS REALLY SWEET, FRANKENSTEIN LOOKS AWESOME IN COLOR. ITS LIKE SEEING THE HULK IN COLOR FOR THE FIRST TIME , NOT COMPARING THE MOVIES JUST THE CHARACTERS.

[TheShotgunslade]

My all time favorite Movie and in color. Wow guys more pleeze. King Karloff prowls again. thank you so very much for posting. love it.

[cstoczyn]

BOO!!!!

[cstoczyn]

Happy Halloween!!!!

[younghoss]

I can't say I disagree with 801 liveable, in the sense that I have never heard or read of early tinted Frankenstein move. I also have never heard of green being associated with fear.

[cstoczyn]

@younghoss Me Neither

[801liveable]

@younghoss "THE PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLODEDIA of FEAR", pgs. 256-257 by MICHAEL WELDON..states "some of the original prints were tinted with the color of green, the color of fear". WELDON, says other early UNIVERSAL, horor films were also tinted..thanks for not judging before getting any information. i guess you can judge now..appreciate it..

[Sawlon]

Awesome!

[cstoczyn]

@Sawlon MMM HMM

[monk22yrs]

long live colorization!

[cstoczyn]

@monk22yrs HUZZAH!

[georgee895]

I'm feeling a bit lost myself.

[cstoczyn]

@georgee895 I Don't

[twilightwindwaker]

This was Photoshopped huh? It must have been a pain to color it frame by frame. I made a Caramelldansen video that I had to edit frame by frame. I didn't have to colorize it or anything but I had to cut out the character from the background and add in another background which took awhile for each frame.

[metaldave08096]

uurrrrrrrr COLOR BAD, COLOR BAD!!!!!

[cstoczyn]

@metaldave08096 OMG!

[IDaCashman]

Not bad, but it's much better in B&W.

[cstoczyn]

@IDaCashman Actually, I Like Both

[JBoogeyman]

that was nice.

[801liveable]

originally SON OF FRANKENSTEIN was going to be filmed in color but JACK PIERCE confered with UNIVERSAL STUDIO heads telling them shooting in color would create problems with the KARLOFF make-up thus black and white..

[younghoss]

@801liveable

And according to Famous Monsters magazine, Pierce's makeup-on Karloff was greenish, so that when it was filmed in BW, he would appear a ghostly pale, or bloodless grey to moviegoers. So he was to appear pale to moviegoers, and filming in color would have required all new make-up to achieve the desired effect- that the monster's skin was grey.

[801liveable]

@younghoss since we're discussing the color green, i read that a couple of early prints of "FRAKENSTEIN" were filmed with a tint of green..the reason given: green is the color of fear..

[cstoczyn]

@801liveable Oh, It Is Green, Huh?

[cstoczyn]

@younghoss I Thought His Skin Was Green!

[splayedcadaver]

Remember when he tore those kids apart in the sewers under Derry?

[fenriz218]

The only 'colorized' film I've seen was "Dr.X" (1932) which seemed like a nice experiment, giving the film a weird, psychadelic feel.

Interesting fact though: Marvel's The Hulk was originally based on Karloff's Frankenstein and was originally grey, then almost bluish before becoming green ... while some maniac once planned to turn him red for the TV-show!

[kgammill]

@fenriz218 Note - DOCTOR X was not colorized. It was actually filmed in early two-strip Technicolor, although there is a black and white version too. It was filmed with two camera at the same time so they could have a color negative and a B&W negative for making cheaper B&W prints.

[TheMaskaz]

@fenriz218 HAHA ha a red hulk thats funny NOOO wait their is a new hulk in the comic books and he is red-------Now green hulk fights red hulk --- Can sell more hulk toys now and have some cool fights between them..

[Karloff12969]

Awesome colorization work! I'm a huge fan of the old Universal and Hammer Horror monsters, and I miss the days of late night horror movie hosts like Count Gore DeVol and Ghost Host Theater. I'm always glad to meet someone else with a similar passion for the classics.

[GTinsdale]

Very well done! Having done similar experiments in Photoshop, frame by frame, I appreciate the enormous amount of time you put into this brief clip. BTW, the Monster was indeed green as evidenced by Karloff's home movie from Son of Frankenstein which is readily available on YouTube.

[dltanner99]

Horror novel see video book trailer

[grapper6676]

Nice Work.

I wish they would colorized all the Universal Classics.

[jimmysudar]

there's no doubt about it, the use of b/w in the frankenstein movies of that era, particularly son of frankenstein, was a stunning example of cinematic expressionism, but i found this short flash with karloff in color rather thrilling.

[redfenderguy]

you dont half get some idiots on youtube who do stupid things like this

we can all see its  fake as fuck

[kgammill]

@redfenderguy

what? 

[CAPNMRVL]

@kgammill Don't worry about redfenderguy. That's probably just the methadone talking.

[MrFBCBSALES]

@redfenderguy Tell me please, how fake is fuck? LOL???

[indiemen]

fake

[BobaFettRules321]

no shit

[mytube5090able]

I love colorisation....who did the job on WEIRD SCIENCE ? The Phantom looks really good, and the Karloff and Wolfman sequence.....

[pylgrym]

Wonder what color the Monster was on that "Route 66" episode?

[rider012]

Very nice video. I've read where the producers of "Son of Frankenstein" were actually thinking of filming the movie in color but decided it would cost too much so changed their minds.

[grimlockfire]

plus boris karloff was not green he was pale white the green frankenstien came from the munsters

[kgammill]

@grimlockfire

The point of this little experiment was not to show the monster's true color, just to have some fun adding color to a scene. Karloff's make-up was actually reported to be a grayish green, which was chosen for the way it photographed in B&W. And though there were many green depictions of Frankenstein before the Munsters, Herman Munster was never green. There are many color photos and the color movie MUNSTER GO HOME (plus later TV movies) which show Herman as sort of blueish gray.

[grimlockfire]

@kgammill i happen to have an orgianal picture of karloffs frankenstien and he was pale white not grayish green

[kgammill]

@grimlockfire

If you have an authentic color photo of Karloff as Frankenstein (besides those home movies shot during Son of Frankenstein) you have something no other film researcher in the last 75 years has been able to find. The closest thing we have is a pastel portrait by Rolf Armstrong done from life during the making of Bride of Frankenstein.

[grimlockfire]

@kgammill i found it at comic con this year i took a picture of it and its now the wallpaper for my phone i found it in a stack of pictures at some guys stand but it was to expensive for me to buy so i just toke a picture of it

[paullubliner]

@kgammill See what I've just written.

[paullubliner]

@kgammill Sorry but those film researchers missed that 16mm Kodachrome clip!

[paullubliner]

@grimlockfire How do you know it was an original color photo and not hand tinted which was VERY common then. He was a grayish green. Check out the 1938 KODACHROME 16mm home movies Karloff had shot of himself in character. You can see the set guys at work in the background. Kodachrome had the green spectrum improved in July 1939 making that portion of the color spectrum stronger to more closely reflect reality. Therefore, the way he looks in make up could have a bit stronger of a green cast.

[TheClam88]

@kgammill But I like the way bsil Gogos 'colorized' FrankenKarloff, on the cover of FM# 21.

[paperraven]

@grimlockfire Actually there is a color home movie that shows Karloff and makeup man Jack Pierce clowning around. Karloff's makeup was green as it was in the original...

[CAPNMRVL]

@grimlockfire Wrong. He was green. It was necessary for him to look the way he did in black and white. AND there is some honest to god COLOR home movie footage from Son Of Frankenstein showing Karloff in makeup playing around a bit with Jack Pierce. And he was GREEN. So shut your piehole grimlockfire. What Kerry Gammill has done is accurate and cool as hell.

[paullubliner]

@grimlockfire It's funny, I've known about that Kodachrome clip for probably 20 years as I simply saw it on TV during a monster special. I guess you guys must be pretty young.

[Onlymusical]

@grimlockfire Actually, when you look at the actual color film taken on the set of "Son of Frankenstein," the color was green although that was only because green photographed better in b&w. Although it's true that corpses do turn green at one point so it wouldn't be preposterous for the monster to be green.

[hermankatnip]

@grimlockfire

Not true. The Jack Pierce make-up was indeed green for the son of frankenstein and indeed amateur cine film exists of a green colored monster messing about with jack pierce. The only reason you believe he was pale white is because thats how he looked in a b&w movie.

[yoshiofdeath]

IMPRESSIVE!

[trex6321]

love boris karloff and frankenstein we ain't got films like this no more

[jlovebirch]

Son of Frankenstein was originally going to be shot in color but Universal went back to B&W as it was difficult to make the monster's makeup look right. A documentary I saw had color home movie film of Karloff in costume clowning around on the set. Wish someone would find that and post it as well.

[invaderpink]

OOO now do the old phantom of the opera :D

[Crackpot7272]

Lovely job!!

[Leatherbubba]

That looks like ass.

[georgechimpanzee]

wow how long did it take

[kgammill]

@bobszvetics1

LOL. Do you know how long it takes to transfer ten seconds of films to photoshop a frame at a time, colorize each separate frame, then put it back together into a quicktime movie? Sorry that wasn't good enough for you.

[PrimaveraPictures]

@kgammill Amazing work... Looking forward to seeing future clips, do "Frankenstein Jr." :) "SUBSCRIBED"

[seriesdetv]

@kgammill 100%

[DammitDrag]

@kgammill Fantastic job, thank you for sharing.

[fenriz218]

@kgammill I don't know about those technicalities ... couple of minutes? So, when will you post the entire film in color? And, just to make sure and since people tend to complain anyway, better make two versions ... one in green and one in light blue ... ;)

[kgammill]

@artdamaged Yes. Thanks!

[artdamaged]

@kgammill Are you the same Kerry Gammil who used to work for Marvel Comics? If so, I loved your stuff.

[classicvinylbiz]

Boris Karloff narrates "Peter and the Wolf," 1940s recording:

watch?v=EmgNPA5EwmM

thanks and regards.

[MuzzleBlast357]

What...that was it?

[balrog13571]

From what I heard the movie was originally meant to be in technicolor. The Monster's sweater was supposed to help with the color coming out or something like that despite Karloff's annoyance with it. However it was ultimately filmed in b&w. It's not a problem really, I think b&w is fine. We colorized It's a Wonderful Life and it looks okay, but it doesn't have the same appeal. There's just a more emotional and artistic look to b&w and it focuses on the actors more. Regardless great job on this.

[redfenderguy]

is that it??????

[mandy3784]

you people dont know wat frakenstien is its a classic for the best horror movie is thats so manny ppl love it ?

[rickw1100]

Why not give fans the choice-you can always turn off the color. I'd repurchase em'all.

[jayce79]

Wow , that looked awesome man. Big Thumbs uppy.

[bernardoohara]

people think that frankenstein monster is green because in the time the movie was made the monster was green in all the posters and publicity artwork

[FlamingoKicker]

Why do people think Frankenstein's monster would be green?

He is made of dead people so if anything he'd be pale white cause he's made of dead Caucasians (not Martians).

He'd only be green if he had some serious infections going on inside there.

[mouthfungus]

@FlamingoKicker

As both Jack Pierce and Mary Shelley made the monster, he was actually more of a pale yellow. Although, Shelley's monster was not made of dead people.

[VinBad007]

A lot of the original Frankenstein movie posters were illustrated with him having green skin.

[MrAchmed123456]

huh im lost lol

[joeyvader]

Super job...from the few colour stills I've seen, you have his skin tone down perfectly...

[docbrownenterprises]

Holy crap! Woah! Universal should hire this guy! Woah! It's better than those fake color versions they always do. This is great!

[oldschoolsituationz]

the hulk was based in part on the frankenstein monster. i dug how universal serialized the frankenstein franchise. it created a frankenstein universal universe that culminated in the munsters when it had grown too corny. but i loved it anyway. hammer didnt do to bad either. none of the modern versions in my opinion capture that feel of the old days.

[wowarenthebuffle]

looks like hulk

[brenwicru]

wow do you do that ? thats awesome 5/5

[Jeffzkrazie]

GUH-GUH-GUH-GUH-GO KILL YOURSELF BlackDragon :-D

[Blackdragon52k]

im sorry =--(

[TheUndead3eyedBeast]

Does anyone know how to do something like that? I would appreciate if you told me.

[mclein1097]

Incredible Frankenstein

[1952kid]

It looks like a 1960 japenese movie in color !

[s3ct4u]

a nanosecond of frankestein in colour!!! how AWSOME is that?!!!1

[NazKing12]

wow frankenstein looks fat

[SuperPingvinen]

its his son...

[supermax1998]

No....the doctor in this movie is the son of Henry Frankenstein, the doctor in the first....

[arandomperson240]

you mean victor frankenstein?

[supermax1998]

Well, in the 1931 Frankenstein they renamed him Henry, and this movie is a continuation of the original, so I used the name Henry.

[She80]

lol

[ki55army]

damn kerry, i bet that took a bit of time! Victory Rolls is obviously an idiot not to think that was fun to see.

[VictoryRolls17]

Without the black and white

it just doesn't look the same...

it an old movie soo I hope that

people won't try to chance them ALL (old movies)

into color..!!! It as if they want to chance the history

of movie making..!!!!

[54spiritedwill54]

I love it! it looks very nice in colour!

[aijinita60]

I agree!

[alwaysxnever]

Oh wow that looked Excellent!

[gre2381]

Boris was the man! He played the best Frankenstein monster ever! he really gave him life!

[jerryaltman]

The Grinch stolen the christmas again... háa háaa...

[emoviebuff87]

where did that come from?

[IMBakz]

Universal Studios had the foresight to patent that image to forever be identified as Frankenstein. What all the Studios created in the 30's & 40's including the star system will outlive anything created by "hollywood" today.

[imbo8w]

In the movie Weird Science, the whole creation scene is in colour

[ScrooYooTube]

scary

[utube9000]

I agree. In todays multicolored, Hi-Def world, I find that B&W film is very soothing to the eyes and mind. I know it sounds funny, but I even like the soft popping and crackling of the old soundtrack, I find it relaxing.

Anyone else feel that way?

[cha5]

Oh yeah, It's sort of like when Philip Glass did that new alternate score for the

Bela Lugosi 1931 Dracula film by The Cronos Quartet,

It's really irritating to the ears.

[wanghobb]

I feel the exact same way. In fact, I'm on an active hunt for good B&W films, going back to the vault to discover stuff that is old, but new to me. B&W is VERY relaxing and atmospheric.

[GhostOfACPast]

@utube9000 I do and I always have love B&W movies the best because they actually had plots, etc... whereas in todays CGI crap the CGI is the story.

[MrWesdotcom]

@utube9000 Yep, sure do

[KaptainChronic69]

Very good 5/5

[RJGoldenPictures]

you shoul try wolfman

[couchpotatotheatre]

Very nice little clip. Great job.

[cha5]

Yeah in the first two films, Frankenstein, The Bride Of Frankenstein the dead grey skin that you have for the monster is perfect,

Green skin really looks cheezy IMHO.

[yardleyaloe]

No. No. No. Black & White Classic ONLY.

[StephenCollins]

Nice, though he shouldn't be green...

[utube9000]

FYI, there's a rare color clip on Youtube of Karloff as Frankenstein and the skin tone of the makeup is green.

[StephenCollins]

The make up was green to look pale & dead on black & white film. Pale make up would photograph 'blown out' and with no detail.

[utube9000]

Good point, I am sure you are right about that.

But somehow the image stuck and survived beyond the original B&W films. There are many depictions of Frankenstein as a "green" monster. In posters, drawings, etc.

I don't mind it, I can accept a variety of "Frankensteins"

[warmachine1983]

good color

[BIackwatch]

green is not such a dead color... ill say bluemis

[DrazharX]

In the novel, he's described as yellow.

[dominick03]

I think this Great!!!!!could you try a snippit od Dracula,Your work is really great, and much appreciated.This from a old old horror fan, bring on the COLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[coventrygardens]

that was neat. i have no idea how accurate the colors were, yet i still liked it. on the other hand, i'm not so sure that i'd wish to see the whole movie in color. for nostalgic reasons, i prefer seeing movies the way the original audience would have seen it. in some ways, watching a colorized movie seems like cheating.

[Cocainetheclown]

how did you do that

[hymmie4]

i remember watching weird science and they were watching the origanal frankenstein in color. is there a colorized version of this film?

[Skawucheck]

I tried that with Dracula. It's lot of work: you have to rembember all the colour proportions, colouring frame by frame...

[143AC]

That's true..but?

There are some photos of Boris celebrating his birthday

on the set with Basil,Bela and Jack Pierce. He is seen blowing out the candles on his birthday

cake..messing up his sheepsking vest and smiling infront

of the cake and a bowl of popcorn.

[143AC]

I wish that that color home movie footage

taken of Boris in his "Frankenstein Monster's"

make..also showed him in character celebrating

his birthday with Bela,Basil and with Jack Pierce.

[kgammill]

I think Karloff's wife was a little too busy to be taking home movies that day. She was giving birth to Karloff's daughter Sara. :-)

[brnleague99]

Not bad! That colorization was actually pretty good! You deserve a cookie, Kerry.

[kgammill]

The color film that exists is not a Technicolor test, it's a 16mm home movie taken by Karloff's family on the set. The color may not be completely accurate because of the film type and the lights used, but it's the only color film we have of the Frankenstein make-up. It doesn't represent the way the monster would have looked in a color movie. The greenish make-up gave the monster a pale grayish look on black and white film.

[indiesloth]

Ah right, I must of remembered that wrong then... I just e

remember the horrible bright colours and thought of technicolor.

[honestabe666]

@kgammill It is true. Karloff's daughter came to a local theater here and showed footage of him in the make up chair. I dig your vids! I love colorized stuff. It really does make classic flicks a whole new viewing experience! I would love to see a clip of The Black Cat with Karloff and Lugosi colorized. It has so much potential.

[indiesloth]

There are technicolor screen tests that exist - you can see one on the DVD extras of the frankenstein legacy collection. Yes, it looks horrible - like wizard of Oz or something. The make up is bright green. The original make up is grey, to look like a corpse, and to show up better on B/W film. The bright green thing was for the posters.

[TheCrimsonSkull]

The Original "Son of Frankenstein" was to be filmed in TECHNICOLOR.

I know! I am the Crimson Skull....

[mickeeteeze]

This is true. I do think some of it was even filmed in color.....but is long since lost.

Good job to the original poster, BTW. Nice.

[vamfv]

I don't like it. Looks horrible.

[anton1990]

Looks great

[drjitters]

Beautiful work, Kerry!

[Ganavon]

I like it. A lot of people don't know that 'Son Of Frankenstein' was considered for color-in fact color test footage was done. Great Job!

[horstrnr]

Nahhhhhhhh...leave it alone! Keep it B&W.

[kgammill]

Well said!

[anton1990]

Even though i love black and white, it would be interesting to see "Son of Frankenstein" which is terrific by the way, in color.

[Kratos3993]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh i hate when classics with karloff and lugosi when they put it in color it ruins how authentic and inventive it once was and still is today

[nader112389]

i agree. it takes away from the creepy factor too.

[filmaddict818]

I agree

[axecalibore]

I love it! I don't care who doesn't like colorization. Kerry Gammill is a famous comic artist, so he gets to.

[jmet718]

dam just a tease

[GregK]

Colorization.....Yuck! At least I give him credit for basing the colors on the home movie footage incolor showing Karloff on the set during filming.

[cha5]

Amen! I really hate Colorization,

It always looks like someone colored it in with crayons or puke.

[tintinesk]

Wow!

[karloff4]

it looks very nice in colour!

but I still like the black and white

[filmaddict818]

I agree, it does look nice, but the BW version is still the only one for me

[Ganavon]

Wonderful! It would be great to see the entire film like this. Just as good, the 1929 "MYSTERIOUS ISLAND" retinted and colorized (to replace the lost color footage that only survives in b/w)

[ghoulsI]

Great stuff--Color Karloff! Reminds me of the color cover to FM# 21--by Basdil Gogos!! Great Job, Ken. From a fellow monstermag collector.