The Universal "Frankenstein"

 In the 1930s, horror movies were made for adults, not teenagers, and Frankenstein is grim, purposeful and intelligent. The dialog is eloquent, particularly in a speech evidently written by director James Whale, and while the film may show its age, it is also unquestionably a classic, one of the best horror films ever made.  Colin Clive, as Henry Frankenstein, is at once sensitive and heedless, the very image of a scientist crossing forbidden barriers. But of course, the actor who was made a star by this film was Boris Karloff, whose performance as the Monster is ferocious, touching, amusing, child-like and terrifying. To Karloff's credit, he never repudiated his beginnings, and to the end of his long life, always considered the Monster his "best friend." 

Don't be misled: this is not a "campy" movie at all; though the movie is definitely a product of its period, there's a timeless quality to Frankenstein. We follow Henry Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) as they steal bodies to shape into a man that Frankenstein hopes to bring to life. His fiancee Elizabeth (Mae Clarke) is troubled, turning to her former beau Victor (John Boles) for help. In turn, they seek the advice of Henry's mentor, Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan, also in Dracula), and the three visit Henry in his laboratory, housed in an old watchtower. This three "very sane spectators" watch as Frankenstein sends  his pieced-together body up into the lightning while Kenneth Strickfaden's wonderful machinery crackles and sparks around them. The Monster comes to life -- but unknown to Henry, the brain Fritz stole from Waldman's school was that of a madman.... 

Whale's famous arch humor doesn't turn up much here (though hunchbacked Fritz does fastidiously pull up a sock at one point); instead, he's intent on telling a powerful story in as compelling and frightening a manner as possible. It's a movie created by a talented team of filmmakers, and there were precedents for some of what we see. But the movie transcends these precedents; it even transcends itself. The idea of the Monster killing a child out of an appreciation of beauty, of Elizabeth in her silvery white gown menaced by the Monster, clad in black; the final confrontation in a burning windmill -- all these seem to have come out of a kind of Jungian racial memory, not the mere minds of men. Bride of Frankenstein is a better movie, maybe the best horror movie of all time, but Frankenstein has its own dark power. 

After a prologue in which Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) discusses her story with Percy Shelley and Lord Byron, the movie opens shortly after the burning windmill scene that climaxed FRANKENSTEIN. The villagers assume the Monster (Boris Karloff) has been burned to death, but two of them learn the hard way that he survives -- badly scarred by the flames, but angry and murderous. He wanders off, hoping to find something like happiness. 

Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) also hopes to find happiness with his bride Elizabeth (now Valerie Hobson), but he's confronted by a specter from his past: the sardonic, wickedly humorous Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who hopes to talk Henry into creating a female Monster. 

Meanwhile, the Monster has a series of increasingly upsetting adventures. While clumsily trying to rescue a shepherdess who falls into a river when she sees him, the Monster is shot by some passing hunters. He tries to flee, but is pursued and captured by villagers and taken back to town. He immediately breaks lose, and stomps out of town, killing a couple of people offscreen. (The production notes reveal that in the original cut, there were at least 21 deaths; to satisfy the Production Code, this was reduced to a mere ten.) In the forest, the Monster takes refuge with a blind hermit (O.P. Heggie), and for a while, it looks as though he might be able to live a semblance of a normal life. But a couple of hunters (one is John Carradine) again  intrude, and the Monster flees, taking refuge in a cemetery.  It happens to be the same crypt where Dr. Pretorious is gathering bones for his planned creation of a female Monster. When he meets the Monster, Pretorious discovers he can talk -- and that he's found the perfect means of persuading Henry to continue with their project.... 

Nothing less than one of the greatest horror movies ever made -- many claim it to be the greatest . But just what does "the greatest horror movie" mean? The scariest? BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN was never especially scary, not even when originally released back in 1935. The grimmest? BRIDE shows the impish, sardonic personality of its director James Whale so vividly that many have (erroneously) called it a comedy. What "the greatest horror movie" means, at least in the context of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, is simple: it's one of the best movies that can be classified as a horror movie, and undoubtedly the very best of the classic era. 

It was never intended to be very frightening (though it does have some creepy sequences); instead, it's a witty, imaginative and compassionate tale of fantasy, of science gone wrong. The production values are superb; there's never been another movie that looks quite like this one, with its mixture of German expressionism, some touches of surrealism, and Hollywood gloss. Even without having seen the film in decades, almost any film buff could identify the movie from a single frame of film -- it's that distinctive. 

James Whale originally balked at doing a sequel to his hit, FRANKENSTEIN, but after a while, and offers of greater money and authority, he finally gave in -- and created his masterpiece. And when you consider his other films include the 1935 SHOWBOAT, THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE OLD DARK HOUSE, that's quite some accomplishment. 

If you've never seen this film before, don't come to it expecting a rip-roaring horror thriller; BRIDE is far too sophisticated for that. James Whale's ironic, playful attitude infuses the entire film, but he treats the characters with real sensitivity as well.   Finally, it showcases probably the finest performance of Boris Karloff's movie career. Even though he felt the Monster shouldn't talk, he went along with it -- and gave himself over to the role, heart and soul. The Monster is a killer, a creature made of parts of the dead, but he's also a heartbreaking figure of tragedy and a strange, awkward beauty. There is no other performance like it in movie history. 

In the mid-1930s, the combination of England's out-and-out ban on horror movies, and the snarls of the various censorship groups in the United States essentially brought the horror movie boom to a sudden halt. But in 1938 or 39, a local Los Angeles theater paired "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" -- and ended up with lines around the block, every day. The double bill played across the country to similar results. 

Universal Studios realized horror movies were back in a big way, and produced the elaborate "Son of Frankenstein," the longest movie in their Frankenstein series. It wasn't closely linked to "Bride of Frankenstein," the previous film, but the Monster still lives, sort of. The horror ante is upped mostly in dialog: the Monster kills a very particular way (bruising his victims' necks, which somehow causes their hearts to explode); also, it turns out it was cosmic rays that brought him to life in the first place, altering the pieced-together body in pretty unconvincing but extravagant ways. (All this was ignored in the later films in the series.) 

The movie was advertised as being "streamlined," that being a hot advertising term at the time. But it is true that it doesn't look remotely like the films that precede and follow it. The sets are spectacular, somehow being both austere and extravagant, full of sourceless shadows, high blank walls, twisting staircases and the like. Someone says that the boy Peter's room is "surprisingly cheerful." Yeah, if you're a mortician. 


Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) returns to his family home of Frankenstein (the town) with his American wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and son Peter (Donnie Dunagan, the voice of the young Bambi). The townspeople are highly suspicious, though one-armed Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill) is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

Wolf hopes to re-establish his family's name, but that's not likely to happen once he meets the broken-necked Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a murderous blacksmith who survived his execution by hanging. Mysteriously, several members of the jury that convicted him have been killed. Wolf, a sly, sinister but mock-jovial type, stuns Wolf by revealing that the Monster (Boris Karloff) still lives, albeit in a nearly inert state. Ygor finds it easy to convince Wolf that he can best restore his family name by reviving the Monster to show that his father was a Maker of Men. Things do not go smoothly. And there's a reason there's a pit of boiling sulfur in one 
corner of the laboratory. 

Vigorously directed by Rowland V. Lee, "Son of Frankenstein" is fast-paced and full of incident (though it takes too long for Karloff to get up and going). The revival scene, involving pulleys, chains, lots of strange lights and big tables, is a highlight of the film. Overall, though, the screenplay by Willis Cooper has just too much going on: Ygor's revenge, Krogh's suspicions, the Monster's revival, Wolf's increasing obsession and nearly demented behavior, etc. etc. Still, it's the last in the Frankenstein series to have its own style and look; all of the rest were more routine and ordinary. 

Some, particularly horror movie buffs, have complained that Rathbone's performance is too broad and hammy, almost uncontrolled, but actually Rathbone's playing is tightly disciplined. Yes, it is a broad performance, but it's what Lee wanted, and works well against the strange, bleak sets.  Karloff has only a few good scenes as the Monster (it was the last time he played his signature character), but those few are outstanding, as when he first encounters Wolf in front of a mirror, and when he later finds the dead body of a friend.  Atwill, who turned up in several Frankenstein movies (always in different roles), is excellent, having great fun with his "phony" right arm. He was the inspiration for Kenneth Mars' one-armed inspector in "Young Frankenstein," but Atwill is far more inventive, likable and interesting.  The standout performance, though, is Bela Lugosi as Ygor; it's his finest screen portrayal, even better than his Count Dracula. Ygor is sly, sinister, practically oozing self-centered evil; his voice is a growl, and his body is twisted from the results of his broken neck (the bones almost stick through the skin). He is so very good that it remains mysterious to this day why Universal didn't realize his potential. From this point on, he almost always was confined to leads in cheap B movies and brief supporting roles in more expensive films. He deserved better. 

"The Ghost of Frankenstein" takes up soon after the end of "Son." Ygor didn't die after all (though he's cleaner with a tidy haircut), and is still lurking around Frankenstein castle. When angry villagers blow up the lab, the explosion cracks the now-solidified sulfur, setting free the Monster (Lon Chaney, Jr.). Ygor is delighted when lightning revitalizes the Monster, and they set out in search of the second son of Frankenstein, Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke). 

He has a mental health clinic outside the town of Vasaria; his assisted by his daughter Elsa (Evelyn Ankers) and the somewhat shady Dr. Bohmer (Lionel Atwill). Elsa's beau is town official Erik Ernst (Ralph Bellamy). No sooner have Ygor and the Monster arrived in town that, in trying to help little Cloestine (Janet Ann Gallow) retrieve her ball from a rooftop, the Monster kills a couple of villagers and is immediately imprisoned. Erik persuades Ludwig to see this strange man -- and they recognize each other for who they are. But the Monster escapes with the help of Ygor.

When they show up at the asylum, Ygor immediately spots Bohmer's glowering ambition, and begins working on him to help him in his goal of restoring the Monster to its full strength. (A theme that continued through all of Universal's other movies featuring the Monster, including "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.") Ludwig wants to destroy the Monster by dissection, until the ghost of his father convinces him to try to complete his work. Ludwig decides to give the Monster the brain of an intelligent young scientist the Monster killed, but Ygor and Bohmer have other (disastrous) ideas. 

"The Ghost of Frankenstein" is quick and efficient (and a half-hour shorter than "Son"); it's entertaining enough, but the rather flat photography and heavy use of standing sets show that Universal was interested in making a profitable sequel more than they were in living up to the standards of the first three Frankenstein movies. 

Hardwicke gives a dull performance, as if he wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else, while Atwill turns in his patented Mad Scientist performance -- he's not bad, but there's very little new here. Lugosi, though a tidier Ygor, is still Ygor to the max, and gives the best and most entertaining performance. Lon Chaney, Jr. doesn't have many opportunities to actually emote as the Monster; mostly, he's just huge and menacing. But there are a few moments here and there; he remains somewhat miscast, with his broad face and expressive mouth, but comes to life in the climactic scenes following the brain operation. Then he seems menacing, even scary. 

Like the movie itself, Erle C. Kenton's direction is brisk and efficient, but lacking in imagination and Gothic power. It's an entertaining movie, but does mark the starting point for Universal's scaling-down of their horror films from scary thrillers to action adventures. (Bill Warren) 

The first three entries in the Frankenstein series - Frankenstein (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939) - had sustained a significant creative high, but the fourth entry, The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), had revealed the limitedness of the formula all too clearly - the stumbling monster revived again, another member of the Frankenstein family forced to take up the abominable experiments and everything brought down in flames at the end by villagers with torches. It was by now well and truly a series that had all its characters, their plot arcs and the ending of the show written to a predetermined formula. 

The novelty of the monster teamup at least gave the series a direly needed shot in the arm, even if this entry is routine in every respect. The script comes from Curt Siodmak, one of the great B movie hacks who wrote the scripts films such as The Ape (1940), Son of Dracula (1943), Bride of the Gorilla (1951) and The Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), among numerous others. However Siodmak fails to combine the creatures in any inventive way - it is really more of a werewolf film than it is a Frankenstein film, with the monster being of relative unimportance to the plot. It is all very dully set up - Lon Chaney's Wolf Man seeks the Frankenstein diaries on the slim pretext of finding a cure for his condition, he pulls the monster from entombment in ice, finds yet another member of the Frankenstein family and, before anything can really happen, a crazed villager blows up a dam destroying the castle and lab. Things happen for absurdly melodramatic reasons - about to pull the switch that will revitalize the monster, Patrick Knowles for no apparent reason suddenly changes his mind and announces "I can't destroy Frankenstein's creation - I have to see it at its full power." Director Roy William Neill (who also directed most of the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series for Universal) directs in a thoroughly pedestrian way with none of the flair that James Whale or Rowland V. Lee injected into respectively the first and second and the third films. The lab sequence, reusing the equipment from Ghost, is wimpy. 

There's an interesting cast lineup. Bela Lugosi plays the monster. One may be aware that Lugosi was originally to have played the monster in Frankenstein but didn't want to play a part where his face would be hidden beneath makeup. But since then the fame that Lugosi originally found after playing the title role in Dracula (1931) had flagged to B and Z movie parts and Lugosi recanted his decision and decided to play the role after all. Alas Lugosi makes for the worst Frankenstein monster in the entire series. His creature stumbles about in gaping strides with arms out in front as though it were drunk . What made the Frankenstein series so popular in the first place was the sense of pathos that Boris Karloff invested the creature with.  It is also interesting to track the parts the various actors played in the films. Lugosi gave up playing the monster in Frankenstein but played the shepherd Ygor in Son and Ghost. Lionel Atwill was memorable as the wooden-armed inspector in Son but, despite being the best actor in this entire cast, was subsequently stuck as Frankenstein's assistant in Ghost and now plays the bit part of the mayor. Lon Chaney Jr became famous as the Wolf Man in 1941, played the monster in Ghost and now returns to play the Wolf Man again. Chaney was a big, lugubrious, hulking actor who only ever came across as dim-witted. As the nominal hero here, he seems merely simple-minded.  (Richard Scheib)