Frankenstein

The first known film adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, produced by Edison Studios and directed by J. Searle Dawley. In this 12-minute silent short, Frankenstein (Augustus Phillips) creates his monster (Charles Ogle) not through electricity but through chemical means in a boiling cauldron, and the creature manifests as a skeletal apparition born of fire and smoke. Ogle designed his own monster makeup, creating a hunched, wild-haired figure that bears no resemblance to Boris Karloff's later icon but established the first screen image of Shelley's creation. The monster haunts Frankenstein's wedding night, a psychological torment that ends when the creature sees its own reflection and vanishes. Long believed lost, a print was rediscovered in the 1970s. The film is in the public domain.