We now move to the 1940s and Universal’s second decade with the Frankenstein films. This is the fourth installment of Universal’s Frankenstein franchise, and it’s the first one in which Boris Karloff does not appear. That absence is strongly felt. Top billing went to Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who, as a classically-trained veteran of the stage, brought a certain stiffness and formality to the proceedings. Incidentally, he was also the father of the late Edward Hardwicke, who played Dr. Watson in the beloved Sherlock Holmes series television series in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Plot: This film picks up exactly where Son of Frankenstein left off: Wolf Frankenstein (the son of the monster’s creator) has shot Ygor full of bullets and pushed the monster into a pit of boiling sulfur. Relieved of those burdens, Wolf goes on presumably to enjoy married life with the lovely Josephine Hutchinson. In this latest movie, however, we learn that Ygor had not in fact died, and continues to live in Dr. Frankenstein’s ruined castle. Meanwhile, the villagers, fed up with how the Frankenstein “curse” has kept their village spurned and devoid of visitors, blow up the castle with dynamite. Unfortunately for them, the explosions succeed in cracking open the dried and hardened sulfur pit, and out comes a very well-preserved and very alive Frankenstein’s monster.
Ygor (again played by Bela Lugosi) is thrilled that his “friend” (as he calls him) is still alive, and the two of them manage to escape the castle before it fully collapses. But Ygor soon discovers that the creature is sickly, presumably after spending years in a sulfur pit, so he seeks help from a doctor.
But wait: We haven’t arrived at the hard-to-swallow part yet. It turns out that Baron Frankenstein (the creature’s original creator) had not one but two sons. So with Wolf Frankenstein (played in the last movie by Basil Rathbone) having moved away, Ygor goes to a nearby town to track down the younger son, Ludwig Frankenstein (played by the estimable Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Ludwig refuses to help restore the creature, but he’s visited by the ghost of his father, who encourages him to give the creature a good, new brain. (The ghost, incidentally, is not portrayed by Colin Clive, who’d played Baron Frankenstein in the earlier films; instead, he’s portrayed by Hardwicke himself. So much for continuity). Oh, and Ludwig’s assistant is played by Lionel Atwill, who you’ll remember as Inspector Krogh from Son of Frankenstein.)
Anyway, Ludwig decides he’ll follow his dead father’s advice and replace the creature’s damaged brain with a good one. The creature, meanwhile, wants the brain of a little girl he’s befriended. And Igor wants for his own brain to be placed in the creature’s body. Through some trickery, Igor gets his wish, and his brain ends up controlling the monster. What’s more, somehow the monster now talks with Igor’s voice. But in the end, the creature is killed in a conflagration. Of course, given that the monster was presumably killed in Universal’s last three movies, we shouldn’t count him out too quickly.
The Monster: Boris Karloff declined to play the creature in this movie, partly because he was starring in a successful run of Arsenic and Old Lace on the stage, but also perhaps because he felt the role had run its course. So in his place we have Lon Chaney, Jr, who had just finished starring in Universal’s The Werewolf. The son of the silent movie actor Lon Chaney Sr., Chaney Jr. played a number of Universal’s monster films, including The Mummy and Dracula.
Chaney is a far cry from Karloff. For starters, he’s much heavier, a fact which is evident even through the makeup. (Makeup artist Jack Pierce again applied the same trademarked image that he’d done for Karloff. And this was the first time Pierce would be acknowledged in the movie credits.)
Chaney is also much less expressive. Karloff didn’t speak in two of his three Frankenstein movies, but at least he grunted and growled and whimpered and changed his facial expressions. Chaney does not do any of this. Sadly, it’s this less personable monster, with outstretched arms and granite expression, that has come to define the creature in the public imagination.
The Atmosphere: This was the cheapest of Universal’s Frankenstein movies so far. But it’s still atmospheric. It’s filmed in black and white, with heavy shadows, an oppressive sky, stone dungeons, and gnarled trees.
Overall Comments: Ghost of Frankenstein didn’t do as well at the box office as its predecessors had, perhaps because of the smaller budget or due to Karloff’s absence. Or, some say, it’s because audiences in 1942 were experiencing enough death and evil coming from the war in Europe, and preferred lighter fare.
So, with a Frankenstein franchise that is getting long in the tooth, and with the true star of the series–Boris Karloff–refusing to participate, you’d think it would be a good time for Universal bring the Frankenstein procession to a close. But you’d be wrong. For in a desperation move, Universal decided to pair Frankenstein and Wolfman in a single movie! Tomorrow we’ll review the unlikely Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. You can watch it on YouTube.
Chasing Phantoms 