Why Didn't Paul Help Victor? - The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) Discussion

[–] au_law2001 15 years ago

Well that is an ambiguous one, there are three ways you can see it: Since most of the film takes place as a flashback, with the Baron relating the story to the priest who visits him in his prison cell, which means that this version of the truth of the murders for which the Baron is condemned might be taking place only in his own mind. This is reinforced by Paul's comment to Elizabeth -- who had been the Baron's fiance -- at the end of the film, that there is nothing more they can do for him. Taken one way, they can't help him avoid the guillotine. Taken another way, Paul is cynically sacrificing the Baron (and the truth about the creature's existence) so he can run off with Elizabeth. Taken a third way, Paul recognizes that the Baron is hopelessly insane, and is guilty of the murders, despite his desire to blame them on his imaginary creature. Source: wikipedia.

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[–] rway-1 15 years ago

......"Since most of the film takes place as a flashback, with the Baron relating the story to the priest who visits him in his prison cell,..." au_law2001

Well if it is a flashback from Baron Frankenstein's point of view he then essentially confessed to at least one murder of his direct doing, killing the old professor. So from that standpoint the death sentence could be justified and therefore blaming the creature wouldn't have saved him. The creature's brain came from the professor. It was all premeditated of course. So how Paul could help him by admitting the creature's existence is a moot point, unless Frankenstein only confessed to the priest and noone else. I also find it strange that Elizabeth gave up on him so quickly without the audience being on to it. If the creature was indeed real and not the imagination of a mad scientist he could have Elizabeth as an eyewitness. The creature grabbed her and the baron shot at the creature several times and it even appeared that Elizabeth was shot it the shoulder. It was all wrapped up very quickly and Elizabeth went from loyal and true bride-to-be to screw him I'm marrying Paul. The movie did seem to make the attempt that Elizabeth at least showed interest in Paul.
I can see where it all may be ambiguous. It is plausible that he did imagine the creature, but that itself leads to more even more questions like who killed the boy and his blind grandfather, and the maid, Elizabeth's amazingly speedy recovery from being shot, etc? Was it Baron Frankenstein? If so then it's a bit unfair to the audience that the movie doesn't lend itself to it. It is therefore highly unlikely that the monster is just in Frankenstein's head.

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[–] dmackie5 14 years ago

Because Paul is a *beep*head. Baron Frankenstein is so cool - Cushing did an excellent job.

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[–] Skye_Reynolds 14 years ago

Because Baron Frankenstein didn't deserve any better.

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[–] onnanob2 15 years ago

POSSIBLE SPOILER: If I remember correctly, Paul went to get help from the authorities. I think he realized this was too much for he and Dr. Frankenstein to handle. So, he was actually helping in his own way. Dr. Frankenstein couldn't wait and ran off to confront the creature alone.

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[–] JuanLatino 15 years ago

onnanob2, I was actually referring to when Dr.Frankenstein is in jail and asks Paul to vouch for him that Frankenstein is telling the truth and that the monster is real.

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[–] pundit-1 12 years ago

Or if I remember correctly he just got fed up with the mad doctor's criminal behavior and decided to turn him in to the authorities.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Answer: It was trying to get away from Col.Sanders.

H.L.

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[–] puirt-a-beul 14 years ago

I've just watched this, and my own take on it is a two-level one: he wants to protect Elizabeth from Victor (and also have her for himself, the dog!), so he doesn't help Victor; and secondly, he did say to Victor that the whole thing had to stop, so perhaps he feels that the best outcome is Victor's death (along the lines of Mary Shelley's original book, where Prometheus steals the fire from heaven but he has to be punished by the gods).

Besides, Paul suspects that Victor is responsible for at least the murder of the Professor, and believes he is also responsible for the death of the maid (whether it was actually by Victor's hand or not), so maybe he feels it's the best thing to do to leave Victor to his fate.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

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[–] plwblj 13 years ago

Quite rational;

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[–] loriacerny 13 years ago

In my opinion,

the entire story, including the creature, was factual. Paul chose not to help Victor because:

1) he was in love with Elizabeth and wanted to marry her,

2) his confession would not have helped Victor escape the gallows due to Victor's insanity and murderous tendencies. Don't forget, he tried to strangle Paul at the end,

3) Paul feels he himself was not culpable because he tried to stop Victor several times and even shot and killed the creature once. Paul even was on his way to the authorities when he was stopped by Victor and the creature's attack on Elizabeth.

4) Paul sincerely believes Victor needs to be executed immediately to prevent further mental/emotional damage to Elizabeth, himself and the friends of the victims.

5) Releasing information regarding the creature to the authorities would eventually be leaked to the newspapers and gossips. The whole town and country would know of Frankenstein's exploits and the notoriety would further damage his friend Frankenstein's reputation. Better to be remembered as an insane murderer than an insane murderer who pieced together a living creature from the remains.

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