The Monster's make-up design by Jack P. Pierce is under copyright to Universal through the year 2026 and licensed by Universal Studios Licensing, Inc.
While preparing to film the scene where the monster attacks Elizabeth, Mae Clarke admitted to Boris Karloff that she was worried that when she saw him in full makeup coming towards her, she might really be frightened. Karloff told her that throughout the scene he would wiggle his pinkie finger out of sight of the camera so that, despite the horrific makeup, she could always see her friend Boris waving at her and letting her know that she was safe.
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 (or parodies, such as 'The Munsters') that features any of these physical abnormalities takes its inspiration from Pierce's make-up work.
A 20-minute test reel, starring Bela Lugosi as The Monster and directed by Robert Florey, was filmed on the Dracula (1931) sets. This footage has not been seen since 1931 and is considered lost. Only a poster, featuring the vague likeness of Lugosi as a 30-foot colossus, remains.
The thick-soled boots The Monster wears are known as "hot asphalt boots." They were used by men who had to work with hot asphalt on roads. The soles are specially designed to resist heat.
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