Who directed the 1910 film Frankenstein?

J. Searle Dawley directed the 1910 film Frankenstein. Produced by Edison Studios, this short silent film is generally recognized as the earliest known screen adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

Dawley also wrote the film’s scenario, or screenplay. The production was made as a one-reeler and filmed in only three days—13, 15, and 17 January 1910—at Edison’s Bronx facilities in New York City. Unlike James Whale’s famous 1931 adaptation, Dawley’s version presents a more condensed and theatrical interpretation of Victor Frankenstein’s experiment.

The surviving film includes Charles Ogle as the monster, Augustus Phillips as Frankenstein, and Mary Fuller as Elizabeth. Its creation scene used an early reverse-motion effect: a dummy was burned, and the footage was reversed so the creature appeared to form from smoke and ashes. Thomas Edison produced the film, but he did not direct it; that is the key distinction behind this question. James Whale directed the better-known 1931 version.