Frankenstein: The First Adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Novel to Film (1910)

102 years ago, J. Searle Dawley wrote and directed Frankenstein. It took him three days to shoot the short, 12-minute film (when most films were actually shot in just one day). It marked the first time that Mary Shelley’s literary creation was adapted to film. And, somewhat notably, Thomas Edison had a hand (albeit it an indirect one) in making the film. The first Frankenstein was shot at Edison Studios, the production company owned by the famous inventor.

You can download the movie at the Internet Archive, or find it permanently listed in our collection of 725 Free Movies Online. (Also, you can find Mary Shelley’s classic novel  in our collection of Free Audio Books and Free eBooks.) To get more information on Dawley’s short film, please visit The Frankenstein blog.

Related Content:

The Birth of Film: 11 Firsts in Cinema


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Open Culture was founded by Dan Colman.