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Ok,Nerd alert.
Over the past week or two I watched all five of the 'Frankie' movies in order.
Plus "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" and "House of Dracula" since they all seem to be in the same
continuity.
While many things changed from movie to movie (Like Elisabeth's hair going from blonde to brunette in
one evening) it seems like there was some attempt to keep things consistent at least at the end.
Here's what I got from my notes:
In 'Frankenstein' the Doctor works in an old watch tower near Goldstat. The Frankenstein home seemed
to be some distance away and more like a large house/mansion than a castle. The monster burns to
'death' in an old windmill. At the end DR F. is being cared for by Elisabeth with his father, the Baron
Frankenstein, overlooking.
In 'Bride' it's the same night, Elisabeth is a now a brunette, and they now live in a castle that is
There is no Baron/father character.
At the start The monster is alive in a cave under what's left of the watchtower. At the end The
monster and bride are crushed to 'death' when the lab crumbles.
In the 'Son of' the lab is now across a ravine from a very gothic 'Castle' Frankenstein. It is only
missing a roof even though it was pretty much destroyed in the last movie.
Ygor is now there and has worked with the original DR F. even though we've never seen him before. He
has taken care of the monster for 25 years, give or take. At the end the Monster falls into sulfur pits
to his 'death'. Wolf Frankenstein deeds the castle and property to the village and returns to America.
How Ygor came into the story could be a neat hidden adventure if Universal wanted to pursue it. The
same can be said for the bride. What if she also survived?
In 'Ghost of' the monster(now played by Glenn Strange) has been preserved in the sulfur and is found
by Ygor. He and Ygor leave the village of Frankenstein after the villagers blow up the castle. They go
to Vasaria where the rest of the movies seem to take place. There they find a 2nd son, Ludwig, who has
an adult daughter named Elsa. Ludwig Frankenstein dies at the end. Ygor's brain goes in to the monster
but he is blind since the brain/body aren't compatible. The Ygor/monster 'dies' in a fire.
In 'Frankenstein Meets Wolfman' Larry Talbot's body (he died at the end of Wolfman) is in a crypt
that is being robbed. It, miraculously, hasn't decayed over the years and he comes back to life when
the wolfs bane covering his body is removed. He finds the old Gypsy woman who cursed him from his first
movie. She is in, wait for it... Vasaria. She tells him of DR F.-a man with power over life and death.
Larry finds the monster(played by Bela Legosi) encased in ice. Neat trick since he 'died' in fire
last time around. He is mute and doesn't talk like Ygor like he did at the end of the last movie. He
seems to still be blind but sometimes it's hard to tell.
Larry wants to die and use DR. F's research to do it and seeks out and finds Elsa Frankenstein who
seems more European than the last movie.
The Monster and Wolfman drown to 'death' when a dam is exploded by the villagers and bursts.
In 'House of Frankenstein' Boris Karloff's character DR. Neimann finds both monsters frozen in ice
from the burst dam. He also brings Dracula back to life by pulling the wooden stake from his skeletal
remains but Drac burns to 'death' in the sun light not far into the movie.
Wolfman is 'killed' by a silver bullet. He is shot by the Gypsy girl who loves him but not before he
bites and kills her. They die in each others arms. The monster(back to Glenn Strange), who seems to
have his site back, drowns to 'death' in quicksand along with DR Neimann.
In 'House of Dracula', Drac is more sympathetic (and back to life) and is looking for a cure from a
Doctor Edelmann who lives in, wait for it.... Vasaria. When Drac finds out the DR's nurse was one of
the victims that got away and seems to have a change of heart about a cure.
Talbot shows up shortly after also looking a cure from the same doctor. How he is alive again is
also never explained.
This time the hunchback is a pretty woman who is also a nurse for the DR. He is working on a
substance that can soften bone in hopes of curing her. At the hunchback nurses urging the DR uses it on
Talbot instead to expand his cranium and seemingly cures Talbot since he is able stand in a full moon
with no transformation.
The monster (Glenn Strange) is found in a cave below the DR's estate along with DR. Neimann's
skeleton. It is surmised that the muds carried him there.
Dracula is being cured with blood transfusions from the Doc but Drac's blood infects him instead. The
Doc doesn't seem to become a Vampire but at least turns evil and has no reflection. He goes to Drac's
coffin during the day and opens it to sunlight and 'kills' him. Then proceeds to revive the monster.
The monster burns to 'death' in a fire which is the exact same footage from the end of Ghost of
Frankenstein. Glenn didn't so much but lie in the mud and on a table in this one.
It was fun watching Lionel Atwell pop up in different roles in the last 5 films.
It wasn't perfect but there did seem some thought into keeping facts right from film to film.
Whew. ok I'm done.Better late than never.....Comment
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I've read that Lugosi actually had lines in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" (Ygor's brian in the monster's body at the end of "Ghost"), but the producer's felt it didn't work and cut the scenes with him speaking out. Supposedly, the lost lines explained that the monster is blind, which is why he walked slow with his arms extended. Of course, that kind of became a staple for the character in later years. I'd love to see a cut of the film with those lines by Lugosi.
Also Chaney Jr. was going to play both Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster as a publicity ploy — he actually played the Monster in "Ghost," but it was quicker and less expensive to get another actor for the Monster. Of course, Lugosi turned down the role of the Monster in the 1931 original which thankfully opened up the part for Karloff.Comment
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Hey bleit, nice over view. We're making our way back through the cycle, and will try to squeeze in Frank Meets Wolfman, and the two House movies this weekend.
It would be great to see the uncut Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman, but I doubt the footage still exists. If such a find was ever made, it would be right up there with finding London After Midnight!I've read that Lugosi actually had lines in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" (Ygor's brian in the monster's body at the end of "Ghost"), but the producer's felt it didn't work and cut the scenes with him speaking out. Supposedly, the lost lines explained that the monster is blind, which is why he walked slow with his arms extended. Of course, that kind of became a staple for the character in later years. I'd love to see a cut of the film with those lines by Lugosi.
Also Chaney Jr. was going to play both Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster as a publicity ploy — he actually played the Monster in "Ghost," but it was quicker and less expensive to get another actor for the Monster. Of course, Lugosi turned down the role of the Monster in the 1931 original which thankfully opened up the part for Karloff.
Chaney as Frankenstein did a bit of the extended arm walk. I think that was maybe people interpreting Karloff's stiff, sudden movements, but not doing as good a job of it. I hadn't thought about the blindness contributing to it in later movies, but it makes a lot of sense. The blindess is definitely dropped by A&C Meet Frankenstein, as the Monster is startled when he sees Wilbur (Costello) in the wax museum.
Chaney playing both roles would have been interesting, but probably less satisfying. If the two shared a scene together, you would have known one of them was a stand in. In several scenes it's clear that Frankenstein is NOT played by Lugosi, but some other actor. I was reading on UMA there is a great debate about who that person (or persons) is. I blieve there are two additional actors who may have put the make-up on during filming.
ChrisComment
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Absolutely, the footage with Lugosi's dialogue from "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man" is at the top of my lost scenes wish list along with the spider pit sequence from the original King Kong.
Apparently during early screenings of the movie, audiences found Lugosi's Hungarian accent humorous during the scenes, so they were removed.
A search through the Universal vaults was supposedly undertaken to find the footage in the 80s, but it wasn't located.
(Yes, Lugosi's movements with arms outstretched were referencing the fact that the Monster is still blind following the end of "Ghost of Frankenstein".)PUNY HUMANS!Comment
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I believe I read that Chaney may have done some scenes as the monster in Frankenstein meets Wolfman.
As for the Lugosi lines, it would be cool to see one of the original scripts since the footage didn't survive, but I'm sure if there was an original script with the lines it would have shown up by now.
The first part of the film is pretty good with Chaney in the sanitorium and then with Maleva, but it breaks down pretty in the scenes with the Monster possibly because of the lost dialogue.
As a kid, actually read about all the universal movies in a set of orange-colored children's library books before seeing the films. I was so excited to see Frankenstein meets the Wolfman, but even as a kid was let down by how weak much of it was.
Have any of you read "Return of the Wolfman" by Jeff Rovin? It's a paperback novel that picks up the story of the Universal Monsters in the 1990s. It recaps Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein and continues Larry Talbot's battle against Dracula in Florida.
It's not great, but good enough for me to finish. It's a fun read and neat to see the storyline that started with the 1931 Frankenstein — as Brian and others pointed out — continue into the present. Heck, I'd love to see Universal adapt it as a TV or straight to video or big-budget movie using Pierce's original make-up designs. Pipe dream, I know but one can imagine.Last edited by madmarva; Oct 29, '11, 10:32 AM.Comment
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^My wife brought home some of those orange monster books last year. The library she works at was discarding them. We do have the Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman volume, in fact, I've been reading it with my son for the last several nights!
I haven't read Rovin's book, but I am now very intrigued! I know there was that TV mini-series House of Frankenstein about 10 years or so ago. From what I saw of it, I wasn't impressed. A continuation of the actual classic Universal storyline on film would be great, but you're right, probably a pipe dream.
ChrisComment
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That House of Frankenstein mini series was pretty bad.
If I were the head of any of the comic book companies, I'd do whatever I could to option the license to the Universal monsters and do an ongoing series featuring them. It'd be my pet project. It's one of the many reasons why I'll never be the head of a comic-book company.
Last edited by madmarva; Oct 29, '11, 11:11 AM.Comment
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I'm guessing Universal is fairly costly to license from, at least for comic companies. There haven't been very many official Universal monster comics. And then there is the public domain versions of all these characters that you can publish with no license. But I too would like to see a comic series set in the continuity of the films. It would be nice to see someone try and weave the movies together more cohesively and explain some of the flubs away, like how the Wolfman survived the silver bullet from House of Frankenstein, and how he became a werewolf again in time for A&CMF.
We need a writer as obsessed with Universal movie continuity as Roy Thomas is with Golden Age. A monster version of All-Star Squadron!
Chris
ChrisComment
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If the writer didn't have to use any more logic or craft than the screenwriters for Universal did, it would be pretty easy to do.
Oh I realize, the license would be steep particularly to use the likenesses of the Lugosi, Chaney and Karloff. It would likely be prohibitive for the limited audience, but again if I were a billionaire publisher, it would be done. Heck, I would probably pull a Bill Jemas (former Marvel publisher that wrote a Sub Mariner mini) and write it myself.
I'd also publish an ongoing Santa Claus title, too.
Fantasy-land for sure.Comment
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I'd had heard about Legosi's speaking footage. It would be cool if it was found.
I watched A/C meet Frankenstein but didn't add it even though it's spot on enough to be in the same 'universe'. What did happen to Larry's cure?
A few years ago Dark Horse published several Universal Monsters novels based on the movies. There is one for Frankenstein, the Bride, the Creature, Wolfman and Dracula. Has anyone read them?
They took the Bride in a different direction from the movie. Being an immortal being opens up a lot of possiblilties. They could easily use the same character in a movie but set in modern days. Or follow her evolution over the decades.
Not sure I like the history they set up for the Creature but the books ending would make a cool looking visual in a movie.
The books don't seem to be in the same universe mostly because of the depiction of Elisabeth in the Frankenstein and Bride novels but are pretty good reads.Better late than never.....Comment
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I haven't read any of those novels, but I keep meaning to take a look at them.
I did collect all of Dark Horse's comic adaptations of the Universal movies when they came out a few years back (Frankenstein, Mummy, Dracula, Creech)... but I never found the Wolf Man one... it was advertised as coming soon, but I never saw it anywhere.PUNY HUMANS!Comment
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so true
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