It’s Alive!

De: Julian David Stone

Narrado por: Stefan Rudnicki

The only thing harder than raising the dead is making a movie about raising the dead.

In the summer of 1931, life was good for Junior Laemmle. Though only 23 years old, he was the head of all movie production for Universal Pictures, and under his reign, the studio flourished. So much so, he was about to be bestowed with the greatest honor a young executive can receive in Hollywood: a promotion to vice president of the entire company. What’s more, Carl Laemmle, his father and founder of the studio, was returning to California for the first time in years to personally present the honor to his son.

Or so Junior thought.

When his father arrives, Junior discovers that instead of being grateful for transforming and catapulting the out-of-date studio into the future, his father is obsessed with Junior’s next production: Frankenstein. Like the year before, Carl is fervently against making another grisly and gothic film, despite Dracula becoming a huge hit—a project that Junior fought for and personally oversaw through production. Also not helping Junior’s cause, though the film is just days away from beginning production, the final choice between Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff to play the role of the Monster, has yet to be made.

It’s Alive! is a thrilling and vibrant portrait of 1930s Hollywood centered around the chaotic and exciting days just before the filming of the beloved cult-classic film Frankenstein. Woven with hopeful passion, emotional vulnerability, staunch determination, and creative fulfillment, listeners will be swept along with breathless cinematic pace through events that will not only change the lives of everyone involved, but Hollywood itself.

©2022 Julian David Stone (P)2022 Skyboat Media

Missing Pieces

Chapters seemed to be missing from the narrative. There are confusing gaps in the narrative.

Fascinating, but not what I was expecting

Like other people who have reviewed this book, I had hoped for more on the production of the movie Frankenstein, but this is really a look at the transition of the the elder Carl Laemmle and the succession of his son to being in charge of Universal Studios.

Most of the tension of the book is will Frankenstein get made, Will Karloff or Lugosi star in it. Everyone who would read this would know the outcome. I found the story of the father and son much more the focus. And although interesting, the real story is how in a few years the studio would be completely taken away from the family.

I chose this book also for hearing the master reader Stefan Rudnicki read it. He is becoming one of my favorite narrators.

An interesting slice of cinematic history

The making of the 1931 version of Frankenstein has gone down in history as difficult and challenging. This is that story. Dramatized for effect, it is, to the best of my knowledge, fairly accurate. This is not a horror story, but one of several people doing their best to navigate early Hollywood and make their names there. Good decisions and bad... the stuff of life. Carl Lemme Jr., the acting studio head who fought family and board members for his vision of the future. Boris Karloff, an unknown actor on the verge of quitting the business, but is given one last chance to make it. Bela Lugosi, famous for his portrayal of Dracula, fighting for the respect that he feels is owed him. A fascinating story of what happened, or close to it, in the days leading up to the filming of, what is now considered, a classic film. If it didn't happen exactly this way, it probably should have. Recommended for fans of classic Hollywood, Universal monsters, and the lives of movie stars.

A good story but not what I expected or hoped for

I am a HUGE fan of Classic Hollywood and especially the old Universal Monsters. So when I heard this was coming out I was beyond excited. I have read a handful of books about them before but never a good audiobook about Frankenstein specifically. Anyway, I was hoping and unfortunately assumed this was going to be a detailed account of the Film's production, background, shooting, and so on, basically a historical account of everything Frankenstein 1931. That is not quite what this book is. I won't give spoilers but this book reads like a piece of historical fiction about Carl Laemmle, Jr. at Universal and the struggles he faced attempting to start shooting and run a Studio. The book also follows a Struggling Karloff and a post Dracula Lugosi as well and all converge into a very entertaining story. While I was disappointed at first when I realized what kind of book it was, it was still a very good listen and was very compelling and in some cases thrilling. I got such a great picture of the raw emotion behind everyone involved and really felt engaged throughout. If you're looking for an ACTUAL detailed historical account of Frankenstein 1931, I'm afraid this may not be for you. However, if you love the classics like me and the characters involved in making them, then it is definitely worth the read.

Deadly

The reader had a sonorous voice but couldn’t affect the characters properly. So much so that it was tedious and boring listen.