Frankenstein (1931)

This geocache is NOT at the above coordinates. You must obtain the coordinates to the location of the container by watching the film in the title and finding the answers to the eight questions below. This is one of eight Classic Monsters geocaches, each of which can be solved and found independent of each other. There is also a final multi-cache that can be found by writing down the puzzle clue that is in each of the eight movie geocaches.

This series is meant to ease the burden of the stay-at-home orders in place to some extent; watch a movie you may not have seen ever before or recently, and work on finding a new geocache as well.

This cache was placed while following all Colorado guidelines and rules during the Coronavirus outbreak. As these conditions change frequently, please ensure that you follow all current guidelines while searching for this series of geocaches.

These are Classic Monster movies, not classic horror movies; when they were made, they may have shocked the audiences but by today's standards, they are not very scary at all.

This Classic Monsters series is named after 8 films, all produced by the same Hollywood film company, from 1931-1945. Seven of the eight are in black and white, also known as "monochrome", with Phantom of the Opera being produced in Technicolor. As such, a few of the Phantom questions are about colors seen in the film. There will also be a final cache, which you can get the coordinates for by keeping track of the puzzle clues that will be in each of the eight movie caches. These movies are not lengthy -- 7 of the 8 range from 70 to 79 minutes long, and Phantom of the Opera is 92 minutes. You DO NOT have to purchase anything to solve the puzzles to learn where the geocaches are -- they are available on several streaming and download services, as well as at many libraries.

So -- let's get started !

BE SURE TO WRITE DOWN THE LETTER CODE IN THE FRONT OF THE LOGBOOK WHICH IS USED IN THE “CLASSIC MONSTERS" FINAL CACHE which is still being worked on for now. Also, there is a Frankenstein (1931) trackable printed out and in the front of the logbook as well for discovery.

Here are all the geocaches in the Classic Monsters series:

1. Dracula (1931)

2. Frankenstein (1931)

3. The Mummy (1932)

4. The Invisible Man (1933)

5. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

6. The Wolf Man (1941)

7. Phantom of the Opera (1943)

8. Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

9. Classic Monsters FINAL cache

If you are willing to watch one of Hollywood’s finest classic movies, get your movie source ready, fire up the TV, maybe pop some popcorn, and have a pen and paper ready to answer the below questions, which YES -- ARE IN THE ORDER they are presented in the film. The questions should be EASY to answer as in these difficult times, the idea here is to just ENJOY the movie and then have the opportunity to get out and find a cache while meeting the state guidelines during the Coronavirus outbreak.

The cache is located at North 38 5A.BCD West 105 1E.FGH

Latitude:

A: First scene is of a funeral at a cemetery; camera pans right and shows a boy, a lady, a lady, a man, a man, a priest, a man, a priest a man and then what?
If another lady, A=7; if the gravedigger, A=8; if the grim reaper, A=9

B: The funeral is over and a church bell is heard ringing in the distance; the gravedigger finishes his work, and then pats the dirt with his shovel 3 times before sticking it in the dirt, which takes how many tries?
If three tries, B=5; if two tries, B=4; if four tries, B=7

C: Dr. Frankenstein and Fritz are preparing to re-animate the monster. Dr. Frankenstein exclaims "Throw the switches!" How many switches does Fritz throw before Dr. Frankenstein says "Good!" ?
If three switches, C=6; if five switches, C=3; if only one switch, C=2

Before getting to the next question, a bit of trivia: After the Creature shows some signs of life, Dr, Frankenstein exclamins: "It's alive! It's alive!" This was voted as the #49 movie quote of all time by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

D: Just after the famous quote "It’s alive … it's alive, it's alive IT'S ALIVE!!!" we see the Baron, who is Dr. Frankenstein's father. Describe his bow tie.
If it is a striped pattern, D=7; if it is solid black, D=1; if it is a polka dot pattern, D=5

Longitude:

E: The Baron and Elizabeth are allowed entry back into the castle; upon reaching the door to Dr. Frankenstein's room, Elizabeth knocks on it how many times just before Dr. Frankenstein falls to the floor?
If she knocks twice, E=7; if she knocks six times, E=8; if she knocks four times, E=2

F: The monster has been sedated and is on a guerney; Dr. Waldman writes in a logbook. In his log entry, it is Tuesday at what time?
If it is 9:15, F=9; if it is 7:30, F=7; if it is 8:45, F=8

G: Baron Frankenstein tells us about his family wine; he then tells the butler to give the servants some champagne as "This stuff is wasted on them." The butler then leads a toast to "The House of Frankenstein" with how many servants?
If there are 4, G=9; if there are 3, G=5 if there are 2, G=3

H: "I must see you for a minute." is followed by "What is the matter?" During this, there is some impressive cinematography that takes us through 2 walls and into a room where Elizabeth asks "Could you leave us for a moment?" She asks this of how many bridesmaids?
If there are 2, H=8; if there are 6, H=5; if there are 4, H=2

FTF congratulations go to hartsdale ! (one exclamation point for his first FTF in this series)

Some trivia, from www.imdb.com:

Boris Karloff was considered as such an anonymous actor by Universal that he was not invited to the December 6th premiere.

The monster make-up design by Jack P. Pierce is under copyright to Universal through the year 2026, and licensed by Universal Studios Licensing, Inc.

The Monster in this film does not physically resemble the character in Mary Shelley's novel. It was make-up artist Jack P. Pierce who came up with innovations such as the Monster's flat head, the bolts through the neck, the droopy eyelids, and the poorly-fitted suit. Any future Frankenstein film that features any of these physical abnormalities is taking its inspiration from Pierce's make-up work.

The movie's line "It's alive! It's alive!" was voted as the #49 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

Ken Strickfaden, who created all the electrical effects for the movie, also doubled for Boris Karloff during the sequences that showed the million volt sparks playing over his body. The same machines were later used in the comedy Young Frankenstein (1974), and director Mel Brooks gave Strickfaden the onscreen credit he had not received in this film.

Boris Karloff is considered a late bloomer in Hollywood. Frankenstein (1931) premiered when he was 44 years old.

The leading character of Mary Shelley's book, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, was renamed Henry because it was decided Victor would sound too "severe" and "unfriendly" to American audiences at the time.

Boris Karloff's shoes weighed 13 pounds each.

The method of animating the creature is never discussed in Mary Shelley's novel. In the book, Frankenstein, narrating, refuses to divulge how he did it so no one can re-create his actions. Although there are some hints that it involves mixing chemicals. However, the use of lightning to resurrect the monster has become the accepted methodology and appears in almost every Frankenstein movie since. Two notable exceptions are Frankenstein: The True Story (1973), in which the Monster is animated by sunlight, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), which uses electric eels instead of lightning as the source of electricity.

Technically not conceived as a "horror" movie, since the term "horror" as a film genre was first used in 1934.

Boris Karloff often referred to the Frankenstein Monster as "the dear old boy".

Mary Shelley was only 19 years old when she wrote the novel.

Carl Laemmle Jr. offered James Whale a list of 30+ film adaptations he could direct, and Whale picked this one. Whale said he did so because he wanted to get away from the war pictures with which he had been associated. Whale is now, by far, best-remembered for his four horror films.

Dr. Frankenstein's first name is Henry, while his best friend's name is Victor Moritz. In the novel, the doctor's name is Victor Frankenstein, while his best friend is Henry Clerval.

Boris Karloff's make-up took four hours each day for Jack P. Pierce to apply and his cumbersome costume weighed 48 pounds in the uncomfortable heat of summer.

Bela Lugosi inadvertently paved the way for Boris Karloff's fame: if Lugosi hadn't turned down the role of the monster, Karloff might have forever remained relinquished to obscure villain bit parts, as he had been confined to doing for the ten years since arriving in Hollywood.

The time period and setting of the film are never mentioned and have been the subject of continuous debate. The electronic devices in this film and its sequels suggest a time period of the late 1800s but Mary Shelley actually wrote the book in the early 1800s. The names of characters and locations seem to be mainly of German origin but the actors are mostly British and speak with British accents.

Many argue that Frankenstein should be called "the monster" and not "Frankenstein", however the second film's title, The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) settles this debate once and for all: the monster is nicknamed by his creator's last name and is simply known as "Frankenstein", since "the bride" was created for him and not for his doctor creator.

Johnny Cash's favorite film.

The top-grossing film of 1931.

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