For our third focus on Frankenstein's Monster, we must take a closer look
at the most benevolent of the Frankenstein Monsters, Fred Gwynne's
HERMAN MUNSTER!
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The comedicaly gifted Fred Gwynne was an actor, author and artist, but he left his mark as Herman, head of the Munsters family. His version of the Monster was, in a word, goofy. And it was that goofiness, that childlike awkwardness that would endear him to his audience. If he weren’t so harmlessly goofy, his temper tantrums and larger than life expressions may’ve come off as scary to the intended audience. He was, after all, a huge presence with all of the padding and heavy boots strapped to his six foot five inch frame topped off with green make-up and neck bolts, the seven foot tall Herman Munster could’ve been a true terror.
Of all the post-Karloff Monsters, Fred Gwynne’s comes the closest to the classic Universal look--in fact, it is so similar that a few adjustments to the make-up (darkening under the eyes, furrowing of the thick brow and an expressionless stare) and one could easily see Gwynne as a serious Frankenstein Monster. I mean look at this expression here and tell me that it doesn’t project “sinister”:
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Anyway, as I was saying, THE MUNSTERS’ Herman was safe in attempting to pull off the universally known look of the UNIVERSAL PICTURES’ Frankenstein Monster because they were also owned by that very same picture company. No threat to the copyright and so they had a free pass.
FIVE FRANKENSTEIN FUN FACTS:
- Gwynne’s Monster had one brown eye and one chartreuse.
- Herman Munster was a fan of Huckleberry Hound and Pat Boon albums.
- Herman Munster was built in Germany by a Dr. Frankenstein, but was adopted at an early age and raised in Shroudshire, England by a family named Munster.
- The idea of a family of funny monsters was first submitted to Universal Studios in the late 1940s by animator Bob Clampett, who wanted to make a cartoon series. The project wasn’t developed until the early ‘60s, when ROCKY & BULLWINKLE writers Burns and Hayward submitted a similar treatment. Norm Liebman and Ed Haas wrote the pilot script, “Love Thy Monster” when it was still undecided if the show would be live-action or animated.
- Herman Munster is a U.S. Army veteran of Wrold War II.
Citations...
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This is an interesting final note--the test pilot for THE MUNSTERS that was never used. Interestingly, it was shot full color (the show itself doesn’t even use color, but for the test pilot they go with color?). Nonetheless, it is an unfinished, unpolished dress-rehersal where the interaction between the characters, their make-up and the tone of the show is sampled.
It comes off as darker, by far, than the final product. Perhaps more in the vein of THE ADDAMS FAMILY than they wanted. Yvonne De Carlo’s Lily Munster does not appear, instead Herman is married to a Vampira look-alike named Phoebe played by Joan Marshall. Eddie in this piece is played viciously by Happy Derman--surely his take was a little too scary for what the show was to become.
Neat stuff, check it out...
Gwynne retained fond recollections of Herman, saying in later life, "... I might as well tell you the truth. I love old Herman Munster. Much as I try not to, I can't stop liking that fellow."
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As you may or may not know I do enjoy the heck out of the old horror films that Turner Classic Movies provides we humble viewers with every October, so I will be including (when I can remember it) listings of the night’s treats and boy are there a few grand ones on tonight:
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
8pm
THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)
9:30pm
DOCTOR X (1932)
11:00pm
MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935)
12:15am
HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945)
1:30am
ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU (1957)
2:45am
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
4:30am
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)
And one more thing...?
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