The 1931 film Frankenstein was released in 1931.
Directed by James Whale, the film opened in New York at the Mayfair Theatre on December 4, 1931. It followed Universal’s major success with Dracula and helped establish the studio’s influential cycle of classic horror films.
The production starred Boris Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein. Although the movie is associated with Mary Shelley’s novel, its immediate source was a chain of adaptations involving Peggy Webling’s stage play and John L. Balderston’s screenplay work.
The year can be confused with 1935, when Bride of Frankenstein was released, or with 1932, when Universal issued The Mummy, another landmark horror film starring Karloff. Frankenstein itself belongs firmly to the first wave of sound-era horror cinema in 1931.