Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

A phrase often associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood is, “They don’t make them like they used to." In this age of remakes, reboots, and sequels, it is common to be overly nostalgic about the good ol' days of cinema; when Hollywood seemingly could no wrong and was consistently pumping out quality, and original, movies. Of course, this is one big lie - reboots, remakes, and sequels are nothing new to cinema; they go back to the very beginning of film itself. The 1940s, in particular, may have been of the most sequel heavy decades in movie history – and the studio that was pumping them out on a regular basis was Universal. Modern audiences groan on the endless string of Saw and Paranormal Activity movies but Universal was basically doing the same thing with their classic Monsters line up - in 1940, they released The Mummy's Hand and The Invisible Man Returns (with Vincent Price); the former being a reboot of  the Boris Karloff classic, and the latter being a belated sequel to the 1933 film starring Claude Rains. In 1941, Universal added The Wolf Man to their monster line up and it proved to be a tremendous success; the character would pop up in four more movies throughout the course of the decade.

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was the first movie to pair up Universal’s classic monsters, as well as being a sequel to both The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein.  It is also marked the only time that Bela Lugosi would play the Frankenstein Monster. It is by no means a classic, and is heavily flawed, but it is a lot of fun. It may not up to par with Bride of Frankenstein, or The Wolf Man (which is arguable), but it is certainly not the worst monster movie to come out that decade. It benefits greatly from a first rate cast, beautiful cinematography (by George Robinson), and fast paced direction by Roy William Neill; its short run time, 74 minutes, doesn't hurt either.

Bela Lugosi's performance as the Monster has often been the source of criticism - it consists of stumbling through the scenery with his arms outstretched and letting out an occasional grunt. Though, in all fairness to Lugosi, it's not entirely his fault; the Monster stumbles about as a result of being blinded in the previous film, Ghost of Frankenstein, and, originally, Lugosi was given dialogue to perform. However, when the movie was finally released to the cinemas in 1943, all references to the Monster's blindness was deleted, as was all of Lugosi dialogue - though there are a few times in the movie where you can actually see the Monster moving his lips. There is also a moment in the finale, during an elaborate operation, where the audience is given an extreme close up of the Monster opening his eyes, indicating that his sight has been restored. It has often been reported that the reason for deleting Lugosi's dialogue was that a test audience found the idea of the Monster speaking with a Hungarian accent funny. I'm not sure if I believe this story, considering that the previous movie, Ghost of Frankenstein, ends with the Monster talking in the same Hungarian accent (Bela Lugosi dubbed Lon Chaney, Jr. in these scenes), so the studio must have known in advance whether or not audiences would balk at this plot point. I personally believe the Monster's dialogue was removed to tighten up the movie and, more importantly, because it was superfluous to the actual story line. 

To add further insult to injury, the Monster is often played by a stuntman; this  is especially obvious in the Monster's first scene. As a result, the characterization and the look of the Monster is pretty inconsistent throughout. The Monster is essentially reduced to a walking prop and, unfortunately, this would be the standard that the later movies in the series would adopt. Lugosi, despite his prominent billing, has less than ten minutes of actual screen time.

The story line itself is pretty dour; Larry Talbot is accidentally released from his crypt by a pair of bumbling grave robbers and, rather than having to endure an existence of living as the Wolf Man, seeks out Dr. Frankenstein (on the advice of the gypsy Melava), hoping that he can put him out of his misery.  That's right, Larry Talbot, merely wants to die. On his journey, he stumbles upon the Frankenstein Monster, preserved in a block of ice, underneath the catacombs of the Frankenstein castle. Odd, considering that in The Ghost of Frankenstein, the Monster met a fiery demise.  Talbot learns that Dr. Frankenstein is dead, so he contacts Elsa, the doctor's daughter, hoping that she can lead him to her father's notes about life and death. Also thrown into the mix is Dr. Mannering, who has been searching all of Europe for Talbot; he thinks Talbot is in desperate need of medical help. Dr. Mannering agrees to help Talbot and learns from Frankenstein's notes that he can drain the life out of Talbot and transfer into the Monster.  Then all hell breaks loose!

The character of Elsa Frankenstein is also a carry-over from The Ghost of Frankenstein, except in that movie the role was played by Evelyn Ankers. Why Universal recast Ilona Massey in the role is a mystery. Perhaps, given that Ankers also played Lon Chaney, Jr.'s love interest in The Wolf Man, the studio was afraid that audiences might confuse the two characters. Massey, at best, has a superficial resemblance to Ankers, but otherwise they might as well be two different characters. What happened to Erik, Elsa's suitor in The Ghost of Frankenstein? 

Ankers

Massey

The leading ladies in the Universal Monster movies usually had the thankless task of screaming and looking pretty- which Miss Massey does rather admirably. Elsa doesn't appear until the movie's halfway point  and most of her screen time is reaction shots; Larry Talbot freaks out, cut to a close up of Elsa looking confused. Dr. Mannering becomes fascinated by the Monster, cut to a close up of Elsa looking worried. She solely exists to show Dr. Mannering and Larry Talbot where her father hid his journal, then she is promptly shoved into the background.

Dr. Mannering is a bland character as well - I never bought his transition from concerned physician to mad scientist. He is initially going to drain the monster of all its power, but then decides, seemingly just for the hell of it, that he must see it at full strength. Patric Knowles is a serviceable actor, but he lacks the panache that Colin Clive, Basil Rathbone, and Cedric Hardwicke brought to the previous films. The best thing you can say about Knowles is that he doesn't get in the way of the proceedings. Thankfully, the movie only hints at a potential romance between Dr. Mannering and Elsa as opposed to turning it into a major subplot. It also should be noted that Knowles also appeared in The Wolf Man as Frank Andrews, Gwen's fiance and Larry's romantic rival. That might explain why Larry is so apprehensive towards Dr. Mannering - he reminds him of that dullard Frank.

 Lon Chaney, Jr. gives an effective performance as the gloomy Larry Talbot. The audience actually sympathizes with Talbot, because he doesn't want to harm anyone and is willing to take his own life rather than live a cursed existence. Chaney is actually at his best when silent - his sad eyes effectively convey the eternal guilt that haunts Larry Talbot. The Wolf Man was Chaney's best role, because he was playing himself - a seemingly decent man who was haunted by his own inner demons; in Chaney's case it was alcohol. By all accounts when Chaney was sober he was one of the nicest men you could meet, but when drunk, he was extremely unpleasant and volatile to be around.

The movies gets a lot of mileage out of its great supporting cast:  Dennis Hoey is great fun as the dimwitted Inspector Owen. Comedy relief in old horror movies is usually painful, but in this case it is welcomed. Maria Ouspenskaya reprises her role from The Wolf Man, as Meleva, the sympathetic gypsy woman. She takes on a maternal role to Larry Talbot and hopes to end his torment. Lionel Atwill is amusing as the jovial mayor of Vasaria. It is interesting to see Atwill in such an inconsequential role as he was usually cast as either a stern lawmen or a shifty eyed villain. In the previous movie, Ghost of Frankenstein, he played the treacherous Dr. Bohmer - the man responsible for putting Ygor's brain in the Monster's body. Here, his main concern is keeping the anxious villagers under control. Rex Evans is easy to hate as Vazec, the belligerent innkeeper. Oddly, enough it is this character that resolves the plot and not Dr. Mannering. Finally, it's great to see Dwight Frye, co-star of Dracula and Frankenstein, in a small role as a paranoid citizen. Often, the difference between a bad movie and a watchable one is the cast, and, fortunately, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man has a lot of aces up its sleeve.

The direction by, the underrated, Roy William Neill is first rate. Neill's greatest feat is keeping the movie going at a swift pace. He accomplishes this by constantly having characters on the move; the movie begins in the Talbot family crypt, in Wales, and ends in an a dilapidated castle in Eastern Europe. Larry Talbot searches the countryside to find Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Mannering follows him. Neill also does a great job in handling exposition - while at a village festival, Talbot tells Dr. Mannering about Frankenstein's journal. Instead of doing this in a typical two shot, Neill places the two characters at the back of the frame, while in the foreground Vazec can be seen listening in on their conversation. This helps add tension to the scene and fuels Vazec's growing suspicions about Dr. Mannering,

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is definitely a step down from the previous movies in the franchise, and it is certainly no classic, but there are far worse ways to spend 74 minutes. It is definitely worth a look for its interesting cast and atmospheric direction by Roy William Neill. Hell, it even has a catchy musical number at the midway point. "For life is short, but death is long. Faro - La Faro - Li."

Cast:  Lon Chaney, Jr. (Larry Talbot/The Wolfman), Patric Knowles (Dr. Mannering),  Ilona Massey (Baroness Elsa Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi (The Monster), Lionel Atwill (Mayor), Maria Ouspenskaya (Melava), Dennis Hoey (Inspector Owen), Don Barclay (Franzec), Rex Evans (Vazec),  Dwight Frye (Rudi), Harry Stubbs (Guno).

Director:  Roy William Neill
Screenplay: Curt Siodmak
Running Time: 74 min.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Depending on who you talk to, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is either one of the best horror comedy films ever made, or the absolute the nadir in Universal's monster series of the 40s. To many horror aficionados it is a depressing sight to see three great horror icons (Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Frankenstein Monster) playing second fiddle to the comedy stylings of Abbott and Costello. In their mind, it's on par with shouting "HAIL SATAN!" in the middle of a Sunday church service, ABSOLUTE BLASPHEMY! I am part of the former camp that claim it at as one of the best, if not the best, horror comedy ever made.
 Of course, I'm absolutely biased as I first saw it when I was nine and watched it obsessively throughout the course of my youth. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was also my first exposure to both Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster (I saw The Wolf Man before hand). I own it in two different formats (VHS and DVD). I remember seeing the VHS on the shelf at Suncoast video, beckoning me to buy it for the low price of $19.99 and I obeyed, spending two weeks worth of allowance money on it in the process. A few months ago I spotted it on the DVD rack at Wal-Mart for $7.50 and needless to say bought it (especially after learning that it had a Greg Mank commentary on it).

The films of Abbott and Costello are fairly hit or miss, their best films include: Pardon My Sarong, Hold That Ghost, Who Done It, The Time of Their Lives, Buck Privates, Buck Privates Come Home, Africa Screams, and, of course, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Their other films range from being tolerable, but mediocre to downright painful; the 50s, in particular, was not a kind decade for the comedy duo. Though, I have a soft spot from the absolute dreadful Abbott and Costello Go Mars, mainly because it borders on the surreal at times (the boys bump into a civilization of attractive warrior women that inhabit Venus). Costello's childish antics can be funny, especially when paired with the supernatural, but can be irritating as well. Bud Abbott was the perfect straight man and brought balance to the proceedings, often to the point of being able to offset Costello's mugging.
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein would be the swan song for Universal's classic monsters, they would be replaced in the following decade by giant insects, alien invaders, dinosaurs, and most famously, the Gill Man from The Creature From the Black Lagoon. The plot is fairly simple: Dracula (Bela Lugosi) wants to put the brain of the dimwitted Wilbur (Costello) in the body of the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) so it will be obedient to his commands. Enter Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney, Jr.) whose top priority is stop Dracula, when he isn't turning into a werewolf and tearing up hotel rooms. While many horror fans complain about the monsters being relegated to supporting roles to a "second rate" comedy team, the truth is that Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is far more respectful to the classic horror icons than the two previous films in the Universal series, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula. The Wolf Man comes off rather well in these two pictures, but that's largely because he's central to the plot of both films. Dracula, wonderfully played by John Carradine, gets killed off midway through both films and the Frankenstein Monster is essentially a walking prop. In House of Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster spends most of the film strapped to an operating table, then in the finally closing minutes (the last two to be exact) he stumbles around inside a burning castle, only to have the roof come crashing down on him. To add insult to injury, the shot of the roof caving in on the Monster is lifted from The Ghost of Frankenstein. 
The reason Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a success is that it takes the horror elements seriously; never once are the monsters made to look silly. There's no scene in which Dracula's trousers fall down, or the Wolf Man taking a pie in the face. Dracula poses a very serious threat to our protagonists and Lugosi gives a very commanding performance (in the role he made famous seventeen years earlier). The humor comes from the characters reactions to the supernatural elements, or them being completely oblivious to them. In one funny/scary scene, Larry Talbot begs the boys to lock him in his hotel room and they reluctantly comply. However, Wilbur notices that Talbot left his suitcase in the hallway and brings it in, unaware that Talbot has just changed into the Wolf Man. The scene is filled with near misses and in one particularly moment Wilbur sits down to write Talbot a note, letting him know where the suitcase is, ignorant to the fact that the Wolf Man is lurking right behind him. Modern days audiences will probably find the scene more amusing than scary, but I'm sure it was an absolute scream fest in 1948.

The film is loaded with horror film iconography:
1) A creepy wax museum. The owner of the wax museum, Mr. McDougal, has purchased what he thinks are the "remains" of Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster, unaware both are fully intact and very much alive. This is where Wilbur first encounters Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster.
2) The shot of the full moon. In the opening sequence, Larry Talbot is on the phone in his London hotel room, trying to convince Wilbur, a baggage clerk at a railway station, not to deliver the crates that contain Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster to McDougal's House of Horrors. However, before he can finish his sentence, he notices the full moon and transforms into a werewolf and proceeds to tear apart his room.
3) A dilapidated, old castle. Dracula lives inside the castle under the pseudonym Dr. Leighos. It's also where he keeps his laboratory is located.
4) Secret passages. Chick and Wilbur, while searching the castle, stumble upon a underground passageway. Wilbur leans against a brick wall, which turns out to be a revolving panel that leads to a secret room where the Frankenstein Monster is being kept. Wilbur experiences a few close calls with both Dracula and the Monster. When Wilbur goes to get Chick, they have both seemingly vanished into thin air.
5) Hypnotism. Dracula is able to hypnotize Sandra (Lenore Aubert) and Wilbur into obeying his will.
6) The bat on the string effect. We get plenty of shots of Dracula, in bat form, flapping about the countryside.   It's also one of the few horror films of the decade in which the audience gets to see Dracula transform into a bat and vice versa. This is achieved through animation and, while not entirely convincing, is a rather neat effect to watch.
7) The laboratory scene. At the end of the film, Dracula has both Wilbur and the Frankenstein monster strapped to operating tables inside his laboratory. However, before he can begin his operation Chick and Larry come bursting into the save the day. Just when it seems Wilbur is finally safe from all harm, Larry turns into the Wolf Man.

The only real flaw of the film is the character of Dr. Stevens (Charles Bradstreet), whose main function is to serve as a love interest to Joan Raymond (Jane Randolph), an insurance investigator working for McDougal.
He is a rather uninvolving character and nearly drains the fun out of every scene he is in, which, thankfully, isn't too many. He does destroy the Frankenstein Monster at the film's end (by setting it on fire), but even that is a bit anti-climatic, considering Chick and Wilbur are rowing to safety in a row boat, while the Wolf Man and the Dracula have plummeted to their supposed deaths.

However, this is an extremely minor flaw in an otherwise great film. Abbott and Costello would bump into other monsters (The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Mummy) in the next decade, but none of those films come close to capturing the magic of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It was lightning in a bottle that would also signal the end for the classic Universal Monsters.

Credits:
Cast: Bud Abbott (Chick Young), Lou Costello (Wilbur Grey), Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Lon Chaney,Jr. (Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man), Glenn Strange (Frankenstein Monster), Lenore Aubert (Sandra Morney), Jane Randolph (Joan Raymond), Frank Ferguson (Mr. McDougal), Charles Bradstreet (Dr. Stevens).

Director: Charles Barton
Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant.
Running Time: 83 min.