Elizabeth Frankenstein and Me
Exclusive interview by Jim Mack for dancingskeleton.com

Photographs courtesy of Michael W. Schwibs used with permission; All rights reserved.
BORIS KARLOFF as THE MONSTER and MAE CLARKE as ELIZABETH in the original Universal Studios production of FRANKENSTEIN (1931).
RANDAL MALONE Remembers MAE CLARKE




BEHIND-THE-SCENES TALES of CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD, featuring BORIS KARLOFF in the original FRANKENSTEIN, JAMES CAGNEY in THE PUBLIC ENEMY, and MORE! 

A TREASURE TROVE of movie history, REVEALED HERE for the FIRST TIME!

As told to JIM MACK, April, 2009.

JIM MACK:  Good morning, Randal!  The coffee's on, and the tape's rolling once again.  I have been looking forward to this ever since our FRANKENSTEIN RISING discussion, last Halloween.  In fact, I was so excited, I woke up early and watched the original FRANKENSTEIN just this morning!

RANDAL MALONE: You're referring to the 1931 Universal Studios production of FRANKENSTEIN, with Boris Karloff, Colin Clive and Mae Clarke, directed by James Whale?

JM:  But of course.

RM: Because that's exactly what Mae would say:  'The Original 1931 Universal Studios production, with Boris Karloff.'

JM:  The one and only.  Now, in our earlier FRANKENSTEIN RISING interview, you spoke of your close personal relationship with Mae Clarke, who played Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein's bride-to-be, in that classic FRANKENSTEIN for the ages.  We are anxious to hear the stories that she personally told you about working with the great Boris Karloff on that definitive monster movie masterpiece.  But for the benefit of those readers that missed our earlier interview, could you give us a little background on how you came to know Mae Clarke?

RM: I will.  She was a very good friend of mine, despite the difference in, obviously, in our ages.  I knew her through Frances Malone, my grandmother.  They were both members of, and attended, this social group called the Southern California Motion Picture Council.  This goes back to the 1980s, when Mae and I became really, really close.  I can't believe it's been so many years!  I was, of course, very young at the time.  She was a very, very special person, in every way.  She was just warm, and loving and genuine, almost like a second grandmother to me.  I loved being with her!  She would spend holidays with us.  She had been married three times in her life, but had no children, so naturally, you know, she and I would become close.  She did have a nephew that she wasn't terribly close to.  As I remember, his name was Ricky, but they didn't do a whole lot together.  She had one brother and one sister, and they had both passed away by that time.  Her mother lived to be very old, like 94, when she passed away.  Mae was close to her mother, and I guess losing her was probably, she felt, the last, you know, link she had to any family.  So a couple of days a week, she and my grandmother and I would go to lunch at the Motion Picture and Television Country House, where Mae was a resident.  Especially on Wednesdays, we loved Wednesdays.  We would often go, in the afternoons, to the movies.  And as I said, we would spend our holidays together.  So we became very good friends.

Mae lived in Bungalow No. 24 at the Motion Picture and Television Country House.  I sometimes referred to it as 'the Home', but Mae was always very insistent about calling it the proper term.  I would say, 'Well, you know out at the Home...', or 'At the Motion Picture Home where you live...', and she would say, 'It's the Motion Picture and Television Country House.'  And it wasn't just me, she corrected everybody!  She was like that.  She always had to be so exacting about the title.  I would always get a kick out of that.  I would say, 'Alright, it's the Motion Picture and Television Country House.'  I loved it when she would do that.  She was a hoot!  We had so many great times together.  Thank God we had many years together.

...
MAE CLARKE with RANDAL MALONE in an undated photo,
courtesy of Michael W. Schwibs.