The Man Behind the Man: Frankenstein
A flash of lightening, a howling wolf -- few things truly freeze the blood like a classic horror movie. Among the finest examples are DRACULA, of course, and the seminal FRANKENSTEIN. Naturally, such luminaries as Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, and James Whale come to mind, but there is another man. This man has been shrouded in the shadows. His name: Kenneth Strickfaden.
Long ignored in the annals of horror movie fame, Strickfaden is the man whose electrical designs made FRANKENSTEIN the movie that it is. He was called "Dr. Frankenstein's electrician" and was directly responsible for all of the electrical effects used in the monster creation scene. He also created all the electrical effects for the following film sequels. He was even a stunt double for Boris Karloff, who was deathly afraid of electricity.
Strickfaden concocted various laboratory equipment, as well as securing the use of a Tesla Coil built by the legendary scientist Nikola Tesla himself. Rest assured, all the electricity in the film was real. He was responsible for all the dazzling electrical devices both Frankenstein and Fritz, clutched, clung to, and recoiled from. With the aid of Tesla's coil, he coordinated the memorable lightening bolts that shot across the lab.
It should be noted that Tesla coils are a resonant transformer created by Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla around 1891. These coils create very high voltage, low current and high frequency alternating current electricity. The electrical discharges produced those lighting-like plasma filaments that were wonderfully used in the film. Believe it or not Strickfaden actually allowed some of the currents to flow through his body to enhance the effects.
Strickfaden was celebrated as an innovative special effects genius, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. He worked on movies from FRANKENSTEIN to THE WIZARD OF OZ to THE MASK OF FU MANCHU. In his later years, he worked on various television series, including THE MUNSTERS. With more than 100 motion pictures to his credit, he still managed to give 1500 traveling science demonstrations and lectures across the U.S. and Canada. He remains one of the nearly forgotten heroes of early film and television, where the lightening bolts were real, the laboratory equipment dangerous, and stuntmen walked into electricity storms. - 23806
Long ignored in the annals of horror movie fame, Strickfaden is the man whose electrical designs made FRANKENSTEIN the movie that it is. He was called "Dr. Frankenstein's electrician" and was directly responsible for all of the electrical effects used in the monster creation scene. He also created all the electrical effects for the following film sequels. He was even a stunt double for Boris Karloff, who was deathly afraid of electricity.
Strickfaden concocted various laboratory equipment, as well as securing the use of a Tesla Coil built by the legendary scientist Nikola Tesla himself. Rest assured, all the electricity in the film was real. He was responsible for all the dazzling electrical devices both Frankenstein and Fritz, clutched, clung to, and recoiled from. With the aid of Tesla's coil, he coordinated the memorable lightening bolts that shot across the lab.
It should be noted that Tesla coils are a resonant transformer created by Serbian-American scientist Nikola Tesla around 1891. These coils create very high voltage, low current and high frequency alternating current electricity. The electrical discharges produced those lighting-like plasma filaments that were wonderfully used in the film. Believe it or not Strickfaden actually allowed some of the currents to flow through his body to enhance the effects.
Strickfaden was celebrated as an innovative special effects genius, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. He worked on movies from FRANKENSTEIN to THE WIZARD OF OZ to THE MASK OF FU MANCHU. In his later years, he worked on various television series, including THE MUNSTERS. With more than 100 motion pictures to his credit, he still managed to give 1500 traveling science demonstrations and lectures across the U.S. and Canada. He remains one of the nearly forgotten heroes of early film and television, where the lightening bolts were real, the laboratory equipment dangerous, and stuntmen walked into electricity storms. - 23806
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