Original subtitles

- [Paul] This is Paul Morrissey, 2005.

This is a screen test that I made

before I started the film Flesh for Frankenstein.

Srdjan Zelenovic was cast by me

to play the Frankenstein monster,

and there was no need to screen test him,

because I'd cast him in the part.

But this was offered to me by the producer, Carlo Ponti.

He had some short ends of film and I'd never worked on 35,

so I thought it would be fun to do.

I made a test with him and Maria Smith

and then her sister, Geraldine Smith.

Geraldine had appeared in my film Flesh

and two other films I made later.

They were in Rome, Zelenovic was in Home

before the film started.

I was just doing the test for the sake

of seeing what angles were better than others,

and just testing his voice,

which was one of the main reasons I cast him in the film.

Unfortunately, the audio part of the screen test

I seem to have lost,

but it's interesting to me to see the screen test again,

because he has in this little test,

which I did the same day as I did the Dracula test,

a quality that reappears in the Frankenstein movie

of strange otherworldliness,

which was good for both Frankenstein and Dracula,

where my intention was that he would play the Count Dracula.

But I was testing also Maria,

who is American, from New York.

And I intended at the time to use her and her sister,

her sister's in the Dracula movie.

But later, I found out that I had to use Europeans,

and was only allowed one American actor

for the Italian nationality.

I don't know what interest this is to other people,

but they ask for these things

on these extra things on DVDs,

so I've thrown it on.

I like to see it. I'm glad it's on the DVD.

I hope it has some meaning for somebody else.

I don't think that screen tests are necessary,

and I've never done them for any person I've ever had

in any film.

I cast on impulse, on intuition,

and I never change my opinion,

and I go ahead with whoever I think I want to use.

In the case of Maria Smith and her sister,

I was not allowed to use them,

so I casted for an Italian girl in Frankenstein,

and European girls in Dracula.

In this shot, you can see the sort of stoical intensity

of the Frankenstein zombie that Srdjan

later played in the film itself.

Something I liked about him was he was deadly serious,

because I knew I would have film that was very comical,

and the more serious one of the main characters is,

especially one of the central characters,

the better for a comedy.

And I thought he was very good in the film.

Making the screen test at Cinecitta,

it was the first time I ever went there,

and around that time I met the great Federico Fellini,

who was making Amarcord on the soundstages at Cinecitta.

I got to know him and had lunch with him a number of times,

met him in New York later.

It was the best, wonderful experience,

to get meet such a great guy,

great film director.