After being awakened, Larry Talbot chips Frankenstein's Monster out of a block of ice. When Talbot changes to the Wolf Man, the two creatures battle each other.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a 1943 American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film series.
Larry Talbot finds himself in an asylum, recovering from an operation performed by the kindly Dr. Mannering. Inspector Owen finds him there, too, wanting to question him about a recent spate of murders. Talbot escapes and finds Maleva, the old gypsy woman who knows his secret: when the moon is full, he changes to a werewolf. She travels with him to locate the one man who can help him to die - Dr. Frankenstein. The brilliant doctor proves to be dead himself, but they do find Frankenstein's daughter. Talbot begs her for her father's papers containing the secrets of life and death. She doesn't have them, so he goes to the ruins of the Frankenstein castle to find them himself. There he finds the Monster, whom he chips out of a block of ice. Dr. Mannering catches up with him only to become tempted to bring him back to life while using Frankenstein's old equipment.
Poor Bela Lugosi. After achieving big-screen stardom in 1931's "Dracula," he turned down the role of the Monster in "Frankenstein," calling the inaudible creature a part for an "idiot" or a "tall extra" (according to William Gregory Manks' fine book on the Frankenstein series, "It's Alive"). As a result, a bit player named Boris Karloff accepted the part and became the cinema's number one boogieman, far eclipsing the proud Hungarian actor who would soon be reduced to supporting roles, often second-billed to the lisping Englishman he is often said to have envied and despised. For Lugosi, "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" may have been more traumatic and embarrassing than the Ed Wood films he would soon be reduced to appearing in, because here the rarely employed actor was cast in the very role he so proudly declined, the role that helped put his more successful rival on the map.
As the Monster, Lugosi is pretty terrible but his ineffective performance was made worse in the editing room where his dialogue was cut out after it was decided that the Monster should not have an Hungarian accent. Yet Lugosi's lips move and he flails his arms about as if he were speaking. It's a rather sad footnote to what is an enjoyable horror film.
This movie is carried by Chaney Jr. who is totally inside the character of the Wolf Man. It is probably Chaney's best performance as beast, and he steals every scene he is in. As Talbot, he shows the horrible trauma of being an unwilling murderer, giving the character a greater presence that fills the screen with charm.
The rest of the cast is surprisingly good, with old friends like Lionel Atwill and Dwight Frye in small supporting roles. Beautiful Ilona Massey plays Elsa Frankenstein who in an odd change appears as a cold smart businesswoman vastly different from the character's traits in "Ghost of Frankenstein". Nevertheless, Massey plays the role with grace and her beauty shines in the screen.
Its wonderfully atmospheric, thanks to Roy William Neill's moody direction, crisp cinematography and sincere performances from the actors. The opening shot is one of the best in Universal's horror cannon, the camera dollying over a gloomy cemetery while crows hop and croak as two grave robbers make their way to the Talbot tomb. They didn't choose the time particularly well, for it is a full moon, and all that's needed to bring the Wolfman back from the dead is its silver-white touch on Talbot's dead hand.
Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman even has a barnstorming musical song as the village celebrates the Festival of The New Wine, "For life is short and death is long" being verbal torture for Talbot. The monster comes searching for his new friend and certainly puts a dampener on things for the villagers!
Worth watching for fans of the old Universal horrors, this one is entertaining even if it is not one of the best of the bunch.
Trivia:
Several photos exist showing the deleted scenes (the fireside chat between the Monster and Talbot beneath the icy catacombs of the castle for instance; where Talbot & the audience learn that the Monster is still blind). This has been confirmed by several sources, including screen writer Curt Siodmak. In the mid-'80s a search was made through the Universal Studio vaults for a print or negative of the uncut prerelease version. As of this date, it has not yet been found.
When The Monster's dialogue was deleted (see Alternate Versions), also removed were any references to The Monster being blind - a side-effect of Ygor's brain being implanted into The Monster at the end of The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). As a result, Lugosi's sleepwalker-like lumbering gait with arms outstretched is not explained and became the subject of ridicule. It also established the Frankenstein Monster-walk stereotype.
The dialogue spoken by the Monster in the film was edited out before the film's release. His dialogue in the film spoke of his desire to control the world but Universal executives feared that World War II audiences would find it too close to Adolf Hitler's own rhetoric.
The film was shot during WWII, amid a notorious anti-German public campaign by the United States government. Screen writer Curt Siodmak, a German Jew himself who had fled his country after hearing anti-Semitic speeches there in 1937, deliberately changed the location of Frankenstein's castle from Germany to the fictional "Vasaria." "Vasaria" translates loosely to "water place" in German, obviously correlating the dam, waterfall and hydroelectric turbine that are integral to the film.
Originally, Lon Chaney Jr. was to play both the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein Monster, but the producers decided the make-up demands and schedule wouldn't permit this. Late in life Chaney stated in an interview that he did, however, play both monsters in the film. He may well have been referring, correctly, to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) where he briefly doubled Glenn Strange after Strange broke an ankle throwing a woman through the laboratory skylight near the end of the film. You can actually see Strange stumble but keep upright after the throw.
The Frankenstein Monster, played by Bela Lugosi, is mute in this film, even though Boris Karloff's monster spoke in the earlier The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Interestingly, Lugosi had refused the role in the original Frankenstein (1931) because he would have had no lines. When Lugosi accepted the part in this film, the original script contained dialogue for the Monster, which was later edited out.
This is the first Frankenstein movie to not feature a "Dr. Frankenstein." Lawrence Talbot seeks Dr. Frankenstein for help, but never does meet him. However, there is another "Frankenstein": Ilona Massey's Baroness Elsa Frankenstein, possibly named after Elsa Lanchester who played both Mrs. Shelley and the Female Monster in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). According to the opening scene of the same "Bride" movie, the Monster's name is also Frankenstein within this film continuity, regardless of what it says "in the book."
Evelyn Ankers who played Elsa Frankenstein in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) does not reprise her role in this film. It was decided that Lawrence shouldn't have two love interests played by the same actress so Ilona Massey was cast. This is not the first time in a Frankenstein film that the female lead was re-cast from an earlier film. Mae Clarke played Elizabeth in Frankenstein (1931) while Valerie Hobson took over the role for The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
When Larry Talbot discovers a photo of Elsa Frankenstein, you can see the Monster's mouth moving, but without sound coming out. Most scenes that included the Monster's dialogue were cut completely from the film or dramatically shortened. Here, Bela Lugosi's voice track was simply erased.
With Bela Lugosi's dialogue scenes cut, he's only on screen for five minutes and 6 seconds, with stunt men and doubles appearing in almost two additional minutes.
The dog (Bruno) in the film is a German Shepherd named Moose, whom Lon Chaney Jr.adopted from the Universal Lot just after Moose's earlier appearance as the wolf that attacks Lawrence in The Wolf Man (1941).
In the screenplay, the transplantation of Ygor's brain (in The Ghost of Frankenstein(1942)) caused the Monster to become both blind and deaf.
This film marks the first time that two of Universal Studio's classic monsters appear on screen together.
Stuntman Gil Perkins doubled for Bela Lugosi in the action scenes, as well as the scene of the Monster being released from the ice. In the climactic fight scene, Eddie Parkerdoubled Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolfman, while Gil Perkins took over as the Monster. Based on interviews given years later, Perkins may have also doubled Chaney's Wolf Man in the chase scene through the woods into the castle ruins. Some film scholars insist Eddie Parker appears as the Monster in a handful of shots in the climax.
The matte painting of the town of "Vasaria" is lifted from Universal's My Little Chickadee (1940).
This was Bela Lugosi's only stint in the role made famous by Boris Karloff, and was shot October 12-November 11, 1942, released March 5, 1943 (copyright 1942) .
Part of the original Shock Theatre package of 52 Universal titles released to television in 1957, followed a year later with Son of Shock, which added 20 more features.
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| A Death Fight . . . Between Two Beasts ! |
