What Kind Of Boots Did Frankenstein's Monster Wear? (video)

In "Frankenstein" (1931), Boris Karloff wore special boots for greater height.

They were a modified pair of knee-high "asphalt spreader" boots with the soles greatly enlarged.
Each boot is said to have weighed 13 pounds.  This added to the Monster's lumbering gait.

There have been conflicting accounts over the years...
...as to how the construction and weight of the boots vary in subsequent sequels.
They do seem smoother and more custom crafted in later films.

The Monster has been caught without his trademark boots only once...
...at the end of "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1944).

I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it!

Thanks to Joro Gaming for the music.

What Kind Of Boots Did Frankenstein's Monster Wear? (video)

GETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT: THE UNIVERSAL "FRANKENSTEIN" SERIES (Part Two of Two) by Porfle

Here's the intro for Part One:

If you're just a casual viewer of the classic Universal horror films from the 30s and 40s, you might sometimes wonder exactly what's going on in a particular episode of the "Frankenstein" saga.  How come the Monster can talk in one movie, but is mute in the next?  How did he end up in that block of ice?  Why does he suddenly look like Bela Lugosi? 

Let's see if we can't get the story straight, and make as much sense out of things as possible, so that the next time you watch a "Frankenstein" movie, you'll know exactly where it fits in the continuing story of the Monster.  Although there's certainly more nitpicking that can be done with these films, such as various anachronisms, changing locations, and multiple spellings of certain names, we'll be dealing with the basic storylines and more fun-type details here.

And if you already know all of this stuff--well, what the heck, you can read it anyway.

And now, continuing with our recap of Universal's classic "Frankenstein" series with regard to its film-to-film continuity, we set our sights on the final four films...

(Warning: wall-to-wall spoilers ahead!)



FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943)

In this installment, which is more a sequel to THE WOLF MAN than anything else, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) once again finds himself roaming the earth waiting for those dreaded nights in which the full moon will transform him into a bloodthirsty beast.  He seeks help from the gypsy woman, Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), who once cared for her own lycanthropic son Bela before he passed his terrible curse on to Talbot and was then killed by him.  Together they travel to the village of Vasaria, where Maleva is sure Dr. Frankenstein will be able to help Talbot. 

When they arrive, they discover that Dr. Frankenstein is dead and his castle (into which the mental institution of the previous film seems to have morphed) is in ruins.  The full moon rises, and Talbot once again becomes the Wolf Man.  With a passel of torch-wielding villagers hot on his heels, he darts into the ruins of Frankenstein's castle and falls through a hole into an underground ice cavern.  There, after returning to his human form, he discovers the Frankenstein Monster frozen in a wall of ice (with stuntman Gil Perkins in full makeup providing the impressive first closeup).  How did he get there, after last being seen burning alive in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory?  Hmmm.  I guess he fell through the floor again like he did in the windmill at the end of the first movie. 

Anyway, Talbot has the bright idea that the Monster might be able to lead him to Frankenstein's records, which contain the secrets of life and death and might show him a way to end his miserable existence.  The Monster, now played by Bela Lugosi (which is fitting, since Lugosi's "Ygor" donated his brain to the Monster in the last movie), obligingly leads Talbot to a hidden panel where he believes Frankenstein's diary resides.  But it is empty.  Talbot then devises a plan to contact Frankenstein's daughter, Elsa (played by Evelyn Ankers in GHOST, but now embodied by bombshell Ilona Massey), to see if she knows the diary's whereabouts.  Talbot persuades Elsa to come to the castle with him, where she shows him a hidden compartment that contains the actual Frankenstein records.
 

Dr. Mannering (Patrick Knowles), who treated an injured Talbot earlier in the film and believes him to be dangerously delusional, inexplicably agrees to help him in his self-destructive endeavors, restoring Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory and using his records to come up with a way to drain off Talbot's life energies.  Elsa urges him to use the same technology to finish off the Monster as well, to which he agrees.  But at the crucial moment, Mannering realizes that he can't destroy such a monumental scientific achievement as the Frankenstein Monster, and must see it at its full power. 

With Talbot and the Monster both strapped to tables in the laboratory, Mannering fires up the machinery and fills the Monster with life-giving electricity.  The Monster blinks his eyes--he can see again!  For indeed, in the original script he was blind just as he had been at the end of the previous film, and what's more, he spoke throughout the film in Ygor's voice.  But, as the story goes, the studio executives thought this sounded too gosh-darn funny (especially when they heard Lugosi speaking some of the really bad lines that Curt Siodmak had written for him), so they simply cut all of the Monster's speech, and references to his blindness as well, out of the finished film.  This explains why Lugosi plays the Monster with his arms stiffly outstretched, and why in some scenes his mouth moves even though there are no words coming out of it!  It's also one of the main reasons Lugosi's earnest performance as the Monster has been so unfairly maligned ever since this film premiered. 

But back to the story--the Monster can see again, and he feels unlimited power surging through his body as he breaks the straps and lumbers off of the table to grab the unwilling Elsa (apparently electricity works pretty much like Viagra).  Meanwhile, the full moon has risen again and Talbot has turned into the Wolf Man.  He also breaks free, then performs a flying tackle on the Monster. 

Elsa and Dr. Mannering hightail it out of the castle just as one of the villagers blows up the dam above, sending a raging wall of water down the mountainside while the Wolf Man and the Monster (with stuntmen Gil Perkins and Eddie Parker filling in for the aging Lugosi) take each other on in the monster rumble to end all monster rumbles.  The water hits the castle and destroys it, washing both monsters away as the villagers gape at each other in confusion.  Should they be happy?  Or should they run for their lives as the massive wall of water descends upon their village?



HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944)

Karloff is back, but this time he plays the evil Dr. Niemann, a maniacal devotee of the late Dr. Frankenstein's scientific endeavors who has no qualms about applying this knowledge to such dubious efforts as transplanting the brain of a man into the head of a dog.  In the opening scenes, Niemann and his hunchbacked minion Daniel (J. Carrol Naish) escape from prison and kill the owner of a traveling horror show (George Zucco), assuming the identities of him and his driver. 

As this film is a multi-monster extravaganza (with the classic monster era fading, Universal was drawing audiences into theaters with the promise of more monsters for their money), they have a brief encounter with Dracula (John Carradine) before arriving at Frankenstein's castle to look for his records.  Venturing into the same underground ice cavern seen in the previous film, they discover the frozen bodies of both the Monster and the Wolf Man, apparently deposited there by the flood waters, and set about thawing them out.  Talbot comes to first, none the worse for wear but a bit cranky after his long nap ("Why have you freed me from the ice that imprisoned the beast that lives within me?" he asks). 

But the Monster is in bad shape and in need of rejuvenation again, which Dr. Niemann is quite willing to provide once they journey to his old laboratory with Talbot and the Monster in tow.  On the way there, they pick up a gypsy girl named Ilonka (Elena Verdugo), who turns the smitten Daniel into a palpitating bundle of jealousy when she promptly falls in love with Talbot.  Back at the lab, Niemann straps the Monster to a table (where Glenn Strange, the former stuntman and bit player who now plays the role, will spend most of his time in this movie and the next) to prepare him for his electrical "pepper-upper".
 

Talbot grows more and more agitated as the next full moon approaches, impatient for the doctor to help him instead of fiddling around with the Monster.  Ilonka takes pity on him, and plans to shoot him with a silver bullet ("fired by the hand...of one who loves him enough...to understand" she recites gravely) the next time he turns.  In one of the best transformation scenes in any of the Wolf Man films, Talbot once again becomes a hairy, fanged beast and rushes out into the night looking for a jugular vein to bite.  Ilonka follows him and is fatally wounded, but not before she can fire the crucial shot that will end Talbot's misery. 

Daniel is heartbroken when he finds her body, and blames Dr. Niemann for devoting all his attention to the Monster instead of fulfilling his promise to put Daniel's brain into Talbot's healthy body and turn him into a chick-magnet.  He attacks the doctor and breaks his back.  The Monster, grateful to the doctor for restoring his strength, breaks his straps and lunges off of the table, grabbing Daniel and heaving him through a window to his death.  At this point, the omnipresent torch-wielding villagers arrive right on schedule to herd the Monster, carrying the dying Niemann, into a nearby swamp where he stumbles into some quicksand and the two of them sink slowly into oblivion.



 HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945)

This is the last film in the series and is another monsterfest like the previous one, again featuring the Frankenstein Monster, the Wolf Man, and Dracula.  Also on hand to make it even more monster-packed are "The Mad Doctor" and "The Hunchback", although Jane Adams as a kindly hunchbacked nurse named Nina isn't exactly my idea of a monster. 

The "Mad Doctor" in question, Dr. Edelman (Onslow Stevens), is first seen as a respected physician and scientist who is currently working on the creation of a special technique that can heal all sorts of physical maladies without traditional surgery.  But progress is slow, and Nina longs for the day in which the doctor can finally work his magic on her. 

It isn't long before John Carradine's Dracula shows up at the doctor's seaside mansion, this time seeking a cure for his vampirism.  The doctor examines a sample of Dracula's blood under a microscope and discovers that it contains parasites that may cause his craving for blood.  He prescribes a series of transfusions which he hopes will solve the problem.  Of course, Dracula's ever-roving eye is drawn to Dr. Edelman's other nurse, the beautiful Miliza (Martha O'Driscoll), and before you know it he's forgotten that silly notion about being cured and is hard at work luring Miliza over to the dark side. 

Not only that, but during his next blood transfusion he proves what a real first-class jerk he is by reversing the flow and injecting his own blood into Dr. Edelman's veins, which will eventually turn the kindly doctor into a ravening madman (the "Mad Doctor" promised in the film's publicity).  But Dr. Edelman manages to thwart Dracula's plans by dragging his coffin into the light of the rising sun and opening the lid, thus reducing the vampire to skeletal form once again. 

Meanwhile, Larry Talbot (who somehow survived being shot with a silver bullet in the last movie) has also arrived at the mansion hoping for a cure for his particular problem, but he's come at a bad time--the doctor is busy, and it's almost full-moon time again.  He races into town and begs the local police to put him up for the night.  They call upon Dr. Edelman to come and take a look at the "madman" they've got locked up in their cell.  Edelman tries to convince Talbot that his problem is merely psychological, but Talbot effectively proves him wrong by promptly turning into the Wolf Man (in another excellent transformation scene). 

Edelman theorizes that Talbot is so convinced he's a werewolf that it affects him physically, and plans to use his new surgical techniques to attempt a cure.  But the next day a despairing Talbot hurls himself off a cliff next to the mansion and into the sea.  Edelman has himself lowered down the side of the cliff and discovers Talbot in a cave where the sea has deposited him, then almost dies at the Wolf Man's hands before Talbot returns to human form.  Also in the cave is the body of--wouldn't you know it--the Frankenstein Monster.  Somehow, after sinking into that quicksand back in the last movie, he has turned up buried in the muck in this cave beneath Dr. Edelman's house, along with Dr. Niemann's skeleton.  There's a brief line of dialogue that attempts to explain this, but I hardly find it worth repeating. 

Edelman does what anyone else in the circumstances would do--he straps the Monster to a table in his lab, snaps on the old jumper cables, and starts pumping electricity into him.  But Talbot and Nina use some really, really corny dialogue to talk him out of it, and he realizes that, sometimes, dormant monsters are better off left alone.  So he focuses his attention instead on performing Talbot's operation. 

 

That night, Talbot is sitting in his room recuperating, when he looks out the window and sees Dr. Edelman jumping onto a passing horse-drawn wagon.  Edelman, thanks to Dracula's blood, has begun to have spells in which he turns into a maniacal killer.  He murders the driver of the wagon and is chased by the villagers back to the mansion.  When the police arrive, he has reverted back to his normal self and persuades them to search elsewhere for the killer.  But Talbot later confronts him and finds out the truth.  Edelman pleads with Talbot to kill him if he becomes a danger to others again, and wishes only to remain lucid long enough to perform surgery on Nina.

The next night, the full moon rises once again and, after a tense few moments, Talbot realizes that his own operation was a success and he is no longer a werewolf.  But as he and Miliza celebrate, Edelman goes mad and starts recharging the Monster again.  Nina interrupts, so he strangles the poor girl as Talbot rushes in.  Edelman advances with murder in his eyes, and Talbot shoots him.  In a last moment of sanity, Edelman smiles gratefully and falls to the floor, dead. 

Suddenly realizing that all of the other monsters in the movie have either been killed or cured, the Frankenstein Monster breaks his straps and heaves himself wearily off of the table for one last final-reel stomp.  The police arrive and he manages to dispatch a couple of them before clumsily knocking over a tall shelf full of volatile chemicals that burst into flame, which, needless to say, he proceeds to wade around in like an idiot.  Talbot and Miliza escape to live happily ever after, while the last official chapter in the celebrated saga of the Frankenstein Monster concludes with stock footage of Lon Chaney, Jr. stumbling around during the fiery finale of GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN.



ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)

I don't consider this to be an official part of the Frankenstein series, but it's worth mentioning just to note what our old friends are up to in this alternate comedy universe.  Somehow, Dracula has come into possession of the Monster (played for the third time by Glenn Strange) and is planning to transplant a different brain into his skull to make him more submissive (which would seem unnecessary, since the Monster follows all of Dracula's orders throughout the movie and calls him "Master"). 

As fate would have it, of course, the brain he plans to use belongs to Lou Costello as the not-so-bright "Wilbur."  Wilbur and his bossy companion, Chick (Bud Abbott), happen to work for the shipping company which receives the crates from Europe containing Dracula and the Monster.  Here, Dracula sets up shop in a castle (in Florida?) where, with the help of the evil Dr. Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert) posing as Wilbur's girlfriend, he plans to perform the brain transplant.

But Larry Talbot has discovered Dracula's plan and, for some reason, has taken it upon himself to thwart it.  The "cure" given him by Dr. Edelman seems to have worn off--he's still regularly wolfing out (in some fantastic transformation scenes).  Dracula and the Wolf Man finally do battle before the movie is over, and both end up falling from the balcony of the castle into the sea far below, which apparently kills them (not...bloody...likely!) 

After a prolonged slapstick finale--during which Strange racks up more screen time than in the previous two films combined--the Monster chases Bud and Lou onto a dock which is promptly set ablaze, and ends up being roasted alive--again.  But as I said before, as fun as this movie is, I regard it as a fanciful footnote in relation to the rest of the Frankenstein films.  (Read our full review here.)


And there you have it--the Frankenstein story from beginning to end, one film leading into the next (with varying degrees of continuity) in a saga that lasted for seventeen glorious years.  Some of them are among the greatest films ever made, while others are just above-average monster flicks.  But they are all endlessly entertaining classics, and all of them feature the most celebrated character in the history of horror movies--the Frankenstein Monster.

  

GETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT: THE UNIVERSAL "FRANKENSTEIN" SERIES (Part Two of Two) by Porfle

GETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT: THE UNIVERSAL "FRANKENSTEIN" SERIES (Part One of Two) by Porfle

If you're just a casual viewer of the classic Universal horror films from the 30s and 40s, you might sometimes wonder exactly what's going on in a particular episode of the "Frankenstein" saga.  How come the Monster can talk in one movie, but is mute in the next?  How did he end up in that block of ice?  Why does he suddenly look like Bela Lugosi? 

Let's see if we can't get the story straight, and make as much sense out of things as possible, so that the next time you watch a "Frankenstein" movie, you'll know exactly where it fits in the continuing story of the Monster.  Although there's certainly more nitpicking that can be done with these films, such as various anachronisms, changing locations, and multiple spellings of certain names, we'll be dealing with the basic storylines and more fun-type details here.

And if you already know all of this stuff--well, what the heck, you can read it anyway.

(Warning: wall-to-wall spoilers ahead!)



FRANKENSTEIN (1931)

This is the original, the one in which renegade scientist Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) first stitches together various parts of dead bodies to create a man, which he and his hunchbacked assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) then bring to life via electricity.  (Note that the name "Frankenstein", despite popular misconception, refers to Clive's character and not to the Monster himself.)  While outdone in the sequel, the thunderous creation sequence is still a highlight of horror cinema, punctuated by Clive's frenzied declaration, "It's ALIVE!"

Boris Karloff rightfully became famous overnight for his portrayal of the Monster, a pitiful, confused creature (possessed of a criminal brain thanks to the bumbling Fritz) who longs for acceptance but is greeted only with fear and loathing.  To make matters worse for the poor soul, his fickle creator, despite all of his initial enthusiasm, seems to lose interest in his creation pretty quick when the pitiful brute shows his savage side due to the cruel taunting of a sadistic, torch-wielding Fritz. 

The Monster manages to kill his twisted tormentor, prompting Frankenstein's concerned mentor, Dr. Waldman (Edward van Sloan), to suggest dissection.  The exhausted Henry washes his hands of the whole matter and scampers back to town to marry his sweetheart, Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), leaving Dr. Waldman to perform the grisly task alone.  But as Waldman bends over the lab table with his scapel, the Monster wakes up from his anesthesia and does away with him. 

Free at last, the confused creature makes his way out the front door of the old watchtower laboratory and into the wild. He ends up accidentally drowning the one person who is nice to him, a little girl named Maria (Marilyn Harris), who shows him that flowers float just like boats, but little girls don't.  The Monster then terrorizes Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth on their wedding day, but, unlike what occurs in Mary Shelley's novel, lets her live. 

A hunting party comprised of enraged villagers tracks him down to an abandoned windmill, where the Monster and his creator have their final confrontation.  Henry Frankenstein survives being throttled and thrown from the mill (thanks to a happy ending tacked on by the studio), but the Monster meets a fiery death when the villagers set the building ablaze and gleefully watch it burn to the ground.  The poor Monster, who is deathly afraid of fire, screams in agony as a heavy beam breaks free and pins him to the floor while the raging flames close in around him.



BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)

Picking up where the first film left off, we find that the Monster (Karloff again) didn't die in the fire after all.  Instead, he plunged through the collapsing floor into the stream that flows beneath the windmill.  Maria's father, who must see the Monster's charred bones for himself in order to be able to sleep at night, ventures too close and falls in himself.  The Monster angrily drowns him, then kills the man's wife when she offers her hand thinking that it's her husband who is climbing out of the ruins.  Surprise!  It's the Monster, and he's loose upon the countryside once again. 

The villagers hunt him down as before, tying him to a pole like a wild animal and lifting it straight into the air before letting it fall into a hay wagon.  In this moment, as the Monster is suspended over the crowd upon the upraised pole, director James Whale creates an audacious crucifixion analogy featuring the Frankenstein Monster as a Christlike figure.  He escapes from captivity later on, of course, and finds his way to the isolated hut of a blind hermit, who takes him in and cares for him as a fellow outcast from society.  During their time together, the kindly hermit teaches him basic English ("Breeead!  Gooood!"), and introduces him to the dubious pleasures of smoking and drinking before a couple of passing hunters (including a young John Carradine) break up the party and send the Monster stumbling into the wilderness once again. 

Making his way into an underground crypt, he encounters a flamboyantly unbalanced individual named Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Theisiger), who seeks to collaborate with an unwilling Henry Frankenstein in the creation of life and considers the Monster to be the perfect means of persuading him to cooperate.  This persuasion will include the kidnapping of Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson this time) as an additional incentive. 

The Monster is particularly interested when he discovers that Pretorius plans to create a woman as a fitting companion for him ("Wo-man...friend...wife..." he muses).  And in one of the most thrilling sequences ever filmed, full of crackling lightning, blazing showers of sparks, and generally bravura filmmaking, this is accomplished.  But the towering bride (Elsa Lanchester), a magnificent creation of perverse Gothic beauty, rejects him with the same fear and loathing with which he has been greeted by everyone else. 

In a fit of angst and despair, the Monster grabs a convenient lever ("Get away from that lever!  You'll blow us all to atoms!" Pretorius warns) and, after graciously allowing Henry and Elizabeth to escape unharmed, destroys the mountaintop laboratory in a spectacular explosion.  His last words to Pretorius and his erstwhile bride-to-be are:  "We belong dead."

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939)

Traveling to the village of Frankenstein by train, Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), son of the infamous monster-maker, looks forward to moving into the house he has inherited from his father with his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and their young son, Peter (Donnie Dunagan).  While the first film featured a roomy high-ceilinged mansion and the second an even larger and grander one, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN's oversized and stunningly Gothic castle is practically cavernous and designed in a style dripping with German expressionism.  The ruins of the once-remote watchtower laboratory are now situated directly behind it.

The Frankensteins receive a rather chilly reception from the villagers, and the local chief of constables, Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill), warns Wolf not to attempt to resume his father's work lest he risk their wrath. Krogh himself has an unfortunate history in this regard, the Monster having torn his arm from its roots when he was a child.  Before long, however, Wolf discovers the comatose Monster (who survived the explosion of the previous film, and is played by Karloff for the third and last time) beneath the ruins of the laboratory, tended by the faithful Ygor (Bela Lugosi in one of his finest performances). 

Ygor, a grotesque, broken-necked graverobber who was hanged for his crimes but survived, now lives in a cave beneath the laboratory with his friend, the Monster.  "He...does things for me," Ygor cryptically tells Wolf, alluding to the fact that, one by one, the Monster has been dispatching the members of the jury that sentenced Ygor to death before being immobilized by an errant bolt of lightning.  (Which is curious, as in other films lightning is the very thing which makes him stronger.)

Wolf is thrilled to discover the indisputable proof of his father's genius, and, even as Inspector Krogh and the volatile villagers become more and more suspicious of his actions, he quickly begins work on bringing the Monster back to full power.  But when this is accomplished, he finds the Monster (inexplicably mute once again) still in the vengeful thrall of the evil Ygor, who tasks him to finish off the rest of the jury that condemned him.  Realizing his mistake in reviving the Monster, Wolf attempts unsuccessfully to kill him, and later is forced to shoot Ygor in self-defense.  

Upon finding Ygor's body, the grief-stricken Monster strikes back by entering Peter's bedroom through a secret passage and kidnapping him.  In a climactic confrontation within the ruined laboratory, with the Monster holding both Wolf and the Inspector at bay with one foot on the little boy's neck, Wolf performs a swashbuckling rope swing and kicks the Monster head over heels into a boiling pit of sulpher, where he apparently meets his parboiled doom.  Wolf decides to take his family and leave the charming little village while the getting's good, and, for some inexplicable reason, the villagers give him a hero's send-off.

GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942)

As this story begins, the villagers are complaining to the mayor about what a dump their little burg has become due to the curse of Frankenstein.  One woman moans that her children cry themselves to sleep each night because "there is no bread."  What, did the Monster eat it all?  ("Breeead...goood.")  Did he knock down the bread factory?  Anyway, the mayor finally gives in and allows the villagers to blow up Frankenstein's castle, which prompts them to grab an armload of the nearest dynamite and gleefully scurry off to perform the impromptu demolition. 

Before you know it, the castle is a smoking, crumbling ruin, and Ygor, who somehow survived having several bullets pumped into his gut by Wolf von Frankenstein in the previous movie, is weaving his way through massive chunks of flying debris until he comes upon a startling sight--a wall has given way to reveal the solidified mass of sulphur which contains the body of the Monster (a stone-faced Lon Chaney, Jr. this time out), and he is still alive.  "The sulphur...was GOOD for you!" Ygor crows as he digs the Monster out.  Together they escape the destruction of the castle and, after the Monster is rejuvenated by an obliging bolt of lightning, make their way to the village of Vasaria, where yet another son of Frankenstein (Cedric Hardwicke as "Ludwig") presides over a mental institution while conducting his own advanced scientific research. 

Ygor is confident that this Dr. Frankenstein can restore the Monster to his full capacity, but his plan is sidetracked when the Monster breaks into the institution and murders an assistant, one Dr. Kettering.  Ludwig will have nothing of Ygor's dastardly plan, instead plotting to destroy the Monster by dissection, until the ghost of his father appears (also Hardwicke) and talks him out of doing away with his creation.  Ludwig decides instead to vindicate his father's genius by replacing the criminal brain within the Monster's skull with that of the murdered Dr. Kettering.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, the cunning Ygor persuades Ludwig's unscrupulous associate Dr. Bohmer (a leering Lionel Atwill) to make sure that his own brain is placed in the Monster's skull instead.  (The Monster's idea of having his brain replaced with that of a little girl he has befriended is vetoed.)  When the operation is over, Dr. Frankenstein is shocked to encounter a Monster that speaks not in Kettering's voice, but with the sinister tones of Bela Lugosi's Ygor, who schemes to take over the world now that his evil mind is housed in such a powerful body. 

But neither Ygor nor Bohmer foresaw a crucial element--while Kettering had the same blood type as the Monster, Ygor does not--and sudden blindness is the result.  As the ever-vigilant villagers once again take action and set fire to the institution, Ygorstein kills Dr. Frankenstein and then rampages blindly through the laboratory, knocking over several vials of flammable chemicals and turning the place into an inferno which, presumably, engulfs him.


That's it for part one!  Don't miss the thrill-packed conclusion, in which we'll take a close look at the final four films in the series: FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA, and ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.  Coming soon to this theater!

 

GETTING THE STORY STRAIGHT: THE UNIVERSAL "FRANKENSTEIN" SERIES (Part One of Two) by Porfle

Who Played The Classic Universal "Frankenstein" Monster? (1931-1948) (video)

Boris Karloff created the role of the Monster in 1931's "Frankenstein."

Karloff repeated the role in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935)...
...and "Son of Frankenstein" in 1939.

"Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942) gave us a new Monster in Lon Chaney, Jr.

Bela Lugosi played the Monster in "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man" (1943)...
...with the help of stand-ins such as Gil Perkins and Eddie Parker.

"House of Frankenstein" (1944) introduced Glenn Strange in the role.
Strange returned in "House of Dracula" (1945), the last serious entry in the series...
...and finally in the comedy, "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948).

Karloff will always be generally considered as the best actor in the role.
Glenn Strange also made the character his own and is still highly popular.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

 

Who Played The Classic Universal "Frankenstein" Monster? (1931-1948) (video)

All The Glenn Strange Monster Scenes From "House Of Frankenstein" (1944) (video)

 

Actor/stuntman Glenn Strange made his debut as the Frankenstein Monster...

...in the 1944 Universal classic "House of Frankenstein." The character had previously been portrayed by Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr., and Bela Lugosi in the earlier films in the "Frankenstein" series.

As legend has it, Strange was visiting makeup maestro Jack Pierce's chair to get a fake scar for his current role, and Pierce, recognizing a great facial structure and physique when he saw it, notified execs that he had found their new Frankenstein Monster.

After playing the role in this and following movies ("House of Dracula", "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein"), Glenn Strange's Monster became second only to that of Boris Karloff. In fact, when Karloff died many newspapers mistakenly used a photo of Strange in the obit.

Strange's craggy visage as the Monster continues to be popular in model kits, posters, action figures, and other elements of monster fandom.   

Video by Porfle Popnecker. I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

 

 

All The Glenn Strange Monster Scenes From "House Of Frankenstein" (1944) (video)

All the Glenn Strange Monster Scenes From "HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN" (1944) (video)

 

Although the original Frankenstein Monster, Boris Karloff, stars in this film...

...the Monster is played this time by actor-stuntman Glenn Strange.

Karloff is the mad scientist who restores the Monster to full power.
Strange, the fourth actor to star as the Monster, is memorable in the role.

In 1942, he played a werewolf in "The Mad Monster."

He would later gain television fame as Butch Cavendish on "The Lone Ranger"...
...and as Sam the Bartender in the 1960s western "Gunsmoke."

Strange enjoyed recounting how Karloff gave him advice on how to play the Monster.

Makeup master Jack Pierce had been searching for a new Monster when he spotted Strange.
The brawny actor's imposing physique and craggy features convinced Pierce he'd found his Monster.

He would play the Frankenstein Monster two more times, in "House of Dracula" (1945)...
...and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948).

His likeness adorns much of the Frankenstein Monster merchandise...
...and even accompanied some of Karloff's obituary notices.



I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

All the Glenn Strange Monster Scenes From "HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN" (1944) (video)

Hopalong Cassidy Being A Total Bada** #5 ("FORTY THIEVES", 1944) (video)

Hoppy (William Boyd) is marked for death...

...by an outlaw boss (Douglass Dumbrille) and a crooked sheriff (Kirk Alyn).

But when they let a hand of cards decide which hired gun gets the first shot...

...Hoppy decides to deal himself into the game.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!
 

Hopalong Cassidy Being A Total Bada** #5 ("FORTY THIEVES", 1944) (video)

How The Frankenstein Monster Was Wasted In "House Of Dracula" (1945) (video)

In Universal's final serious Frankenstein film...

...Glenn Strange's Monster doesn't have much to do.

He gets discovered buried in mud in a cave under Dr. Edelmann's castle.

Then he ends up on a lab table...
...to be revived during the film's finale.

Whereupon he stomps around for a minute or so...
...before being replaced by stock footage of Lon Chaney's Monster from GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN.

Earlier, however, after being infected with Dracula's blood...
...Dr. Edelmann dreams of using the Monster to terrorize the village.

These scenes were actually shot, yet only a few seconds were used.

It's a dreadful waste, and a missed opportunity...
...for a more interesting and eventful storyline for the Monster.

Instead of a rerun of Lon Chaney stomping around in a fire.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
 

How The Frankenstein Monster Was Wasted In "House Of Dracula" (1945) (video)

Just How Much Time Did Frankenstein's Monster Spend On A Lab Table? (video)

If you watch the entire Universal series with Frankenstein's Monster...

...the Monster often spends an inordinate amount of time strapped to lab tables.

In the original 1931 film, of course, he's born on one...
...and almost dies on it.

In the sequel, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), he avoids them altogether.
SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) puts him back on the table...
...and so does GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942).

In FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN (1943), he's on the table...
...just long enough for a quick pick-me-up.

It's in the two HOUSE movies where he really racks up the table time.

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944)
HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945)

In these films, he gets up for a brief last-reel stomp and that's it.

Finally, after a brief lie-down in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)...
...he gets to go on a proper rampage.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Just How Much Time Did Frankenstein's Monster Spend On A Lab Table? (video)

Glenn Strange Transforms Into A Werewolf In "Mad Monster" (1942) (video)

Glenn Strange was known for his many western roles...

...as well as playing the Frankenstein monster in three Universal films.

But before that, Glenn played another, very different monster.

In "The Mad Monster" (1942), Glenn's weakminded character Petro is transformed by George Zucco...

...into a fearsome werewolf who does Zucco's bidding. 


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Glenn Strange Transforms Into A Werewolf In "Mad Monster" (1942) (video)

"Ghost of Frankenstein" Ending Reused In "House of Dracula" (video)

At the end of "Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942), Lon Chaney's Monster perishes in a fiery rampage.

In "House of Dracula" three years later, the Monster is played by Glenn Strange...

...but in that film's blazing finale, the Chaney footage from "Ghost" is reused.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

"Ghost of Frankenstein" Ending Reused In "House of Dracula" (video)

Lon Chaney Replaces Injured Glenn Strange as the Monster in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) (video)

In this popular Abbott & Costello comedy, Lon Chaney reprises his most famous role, the Wolf Man.

Meanwhile, Glenn Strange makes his third consecutive appearance as the Frankenstein Monster.

But in a climactic scene, Strange breaks his ankle while tossing a stuntwoman through a window.

So Chaney, who hasn't played the Monster since "Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942), gets into the makeup and finishes the scene for Strange.

It's the only time he would play both the Monster and the Wolf Man in the same film.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Lon Chaney Replaces Injured Glenn Strange as the Monster in "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) (video)

Karloff Scream Used In Two "FRANKENSTEIN" Movies

In "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), the Monster (Boris Karloff) finds his friend Ygor (Bela Lugosi) dead...and his grief explodes in a piercing scream.

In the 1944 sequel "House of Frankenstein", Glenn Strange plays the Monster to Karloff's Dr. Niemann.

When the hunchback Daniel (J. Carrol Naish) attacks Niemann, the Monster seeks revenge.

Recognize Daniel's scream?  It's Karloff's from "Son of Frankenstein."

Boris' scream was so nice, they had to use it twice.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!

Karloff Scream Used In Two "FRANKENSTEIN" Movies