He's Alive! - to Live On as Horror's Greatest Monster- It's the Original "Frankenstein" - Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- we transport you to a laboratory on your Labor Day weekend – where you will witness the birth of a horror movie legend- as we present the original Universal classic- “Frankenstein”!

It all begins at a somber funeral ceremony- the sanctity of which young Dr. Henry Frankenstein and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz despoil afterwards by sneaking to the grave to retrieve the newly buried body! The plan- collecting body parts to combine into a being that Henry theorizes he can return to life with a theoretical technique! The duo go about the grisly task of collecting more body parts from the dead- but a fatal flaw emerges when Fritz is sent to collect a brain from the university- only to have the bumbling assistant accidentally steal one that previously occupied the skull of a criminal !

Meanwhile, Henry's soon-to-be bride Elizabeth has no idea what her fiancé is up to- or the reason for his long absences. She worries that his work is driving him to a mental and physical breakdown. Despite his refusal to see anyone while immersed in his work at his laboratory, she recruits one of Henry’s friends- along with a former teacher she knows he respects- to try to intervene, and provide some calming influence on him, perhaps even persuade him to take a break. Sadly, it is too late to do so, as they witness Henry's maniacal mission to complete his quest- to bring life to dead tissue, using his fabulous laboratory equipment, along with the awesome power of lightning, to make his creation live!

At first, it seems that Henry has indeed achieved his goal, and finally can relax. He sems to be on the road to recovery and his wedding to Elizabeth- yet the lure of further experimentation with his "new man" is something he can't ignore. Soon,he returns to the lab, aided by his teacher Dr. Waldman - and Fritz, who seems to be doing more harm than good. It becomes more and more evident that the Monster is becoming a danger to them - and its lack of understanding, combined with its fearsome strength, finally convinces Henry that his creation must indeed be destroyed! However- while Henry is preoccupied with his wedding day- the Monster makes his escape- and soon grips the community in deadly fear!

This landmark film is always a hit with our viewers, no matter how many times they have seen it, and we love presenting this cornerstone of horror films once again. Boris Karloff is, to many, the definitive portrayer of the Monster- with nuances and shadings of emotion that few other actors who played the creature ever equaled, and which even evolved brilliantly as he played him again in the series. Here’s an interesting fact that has resurfaced in the light of the current actor’s strike-our friend Joe Mantegna sent us an article from a while back written by Tom Campbell that reveals that Boris Karloff actually was a founding member of the Screen Actor’s Guild! After facing long hours and dangerous conditions on the set of this very film-“Frankenstein”- Boris joined the new movement in support of unionizing screen actors. On his union membership card- he was member number 9 !

Our other cast members: Colin Clive as the obsessed and often frantic Henry- with Mae Clarke as his devoted fiancée. We get the actor who was Bela Lugosi’s Dracula nemesis Dr. Van Helsing- Edward Van Sloan- as Dr. Waldman- and former "Dracula" henchman Renfield- Dwight Frye- in the role of yet another sinister helper- Fritz! We’ll discuss these cast members, give you some background on the production, and provide all the usual Sven fun. Plus- some celebrity interviews, a song and more!

"Frankenstein" airs tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central- and you can check for time and channel in your area at www.metv.com or in your local TV listings. Many former Twitter / now X fans ( and we don’t mean ex-fans) continue to post Tweets ( Xs) during our show, making us trend nationally- so feel free to join in- using the hashtag #svengoolie. In the Chicago viewing area, we give you an encore of last week’s man-monster- in the “War of the Colossal Beast” –at 11 am on our main local channel, CW26.

Before too long, we will be getting into our annual Halloween public events tour- so make sure you occasionally check under the “appearances” tab here on our website to find out where and when you can visit with me!

Tonight- join us in revisiting the film that made Boris Karloff a star- and made this monster perhaps the greatest film legend of horror!