THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942), Brief Review--Bela Lugosi/Lon Chaney, Jr

Well, I've been a bit out of touch lately due to a heavy work schedule and also being a bit depressed over the sad state of my DVD recorder. I find that one sure way to bring me out of the "blues" is to watch some of my favourite Universal horror films of my youth. So, I popped in
an old favorite, GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, from 1942. It's definitely a
"B" film, though I find it much more enjoyable than the preceding film
in the series, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, despite the presence of Karloff
and better production values in that one. I just think by this time,
the b factor works better in this series. Lon Chaney, Jr. is good as
the speechless Monster, and Lugosi shines as he reprises his Ygor
character. Sir Cedrick Hardwicke is great as the "other son" of Dr.
Frankenstein, and the "ghost" element is a sequence where apparently
he is visited by his father's ghost, who tells him what he should do
about the Monster. I would have liked to have seen a cameo by Colin
Clive for this (though unfortunately Clive had passed from this plane in 1937), but instead it was a blurred face Hardwicke, which was
ok, but I longed for Clive in that scene. Hardwicke's assistant is
ably played by "baddie" Lionel Atwill, who messes up the works,
naturally. The love interest is Hardwicke's daughter, played by the
most beautiful woman of 40's horror, Evelyn Ankers, and Ralph Bellamy,
but there isn't much time for distraction in this 70 minute quickie,
it starts right off with action as the villagers are intent on
destroying the remains of the castle that appeared in the preceding
film. A brief cameo by Dwight Frye as a villager who insists that
they "blow it up". One thing I found funny is when Ygor and the
Monster just traipse right into Hardwicke's town in broad daylight.
I'm thinking, ok, that isn't one of the brightest things to be doing,
a huge hulking Monster and a weird looking hunchbacked dude....ya
think that people might freak out?? LOL It's a fun film, though, and a sure-fire cure for what ails ya!!

Mark

Not much merit to this one I think ... The entry preceeding it; "Son Of Frankenstein" and following it: "Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman" were better I thought ... just my opinion ... This one falls down terribly and makes Hardwicke and Bellamy both look foolish ... !!! And it's not very creative ... !!!

Lugosi is always good, but Lon Chaney Jr. doesn't contribute much and I'm afraid to say, Evelyn Ankers lacks passion somehow ... certainly a B-lister ... !!!

Some of the special effects are good though, I remember that ... !!!

Yoawzah ... !!!

Hiya precoder!!!

Haveta say I liked this one more than you, though I'll admit that I love FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN much more, agreed! Especially the creepy beginning to that one!! But I do love GHOST more than SON (there's probably something pseudo-Freudian in there, but I'll leave that one for another board! LOL), for whatever reason the 39 film doesn't do much for me, beyond Lugosi's interesting 'ygor' character. But hey, that's me.

And I can never find Evelyn anything less than sexy yum!!! She could just show up and I'm all good.

Mark

I thought SON was better, but I do like GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN quite a bit. It's the "bridge" between the older, classier, Karloff monster films and the later multi-monster epics (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA... honorable mention to ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN). Chaney exudes power as the monster, but is strangely stoned face and mute (unlike Karloff who played the creature with a range of emotions, from sadness to laughter-- just check out his masterful performance in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN). The book IT'S ALIVE-- I can't remember the author's name, but it dealt with the history of the classic Universal monster films-- claims that Chaney was quite tipsy much of the time, with a flask of whiskey in his pocket, and actually got lost on the set during the scene wherein the monster is trapped in a gas-filled corridor! The beginning of the film, in which Chaney, Jr. is found alive in the dried sulphur pit, as the villagers dynamite the castle ruins, is very exciting, and Lugosi shines in his reprised role as Ygor... one of Bela's best (and most underrated) character portrayals. The movie has good production values, although not as fine as the earlier films. And it is something of a B movie, the first B movie of the series. The series had begun its decline, but GHOST is a pretty good 40s horror flick... but yes, I agree, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN (the first great monster meets monster movie) was better, faster paced, and more exciting.

Being a Chaney fan,Ghost of Frankenstein has a place in my collection. However, FMTWM is my personal favorite, having seen it on first release.
A note of interest...Chaney's drinking did cause production problems and it was a known fact that Chaney and Ankers did not think much of each other.
Barton Yarborough who has a small role as a doctor in GOF, was better know for his role as Doc Long in the long running radio show, I LOVE A MYSTERY.

I'll also always remember THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN for Lugosi's famous line near the beginning of the film. The revived monster is staggering through the forest, with Ygor (Lugosi) in hot pursuit, and suddenly he is struck by lightning. But rather than harming the monster, it strengthens him, prompting Ygor to say: "Your father is Frankenstein, but your mother is the lightning... She has come down to you!" I always thought that was a great line.

Steve, that's right ... Lugosi uses similiar dialgue in "Son Of Frankenstein" too refering to lightning as being the monsters mother ... That is interesting ... !!!

Yoawzah ... !!!

I remember thinking this film was only OK, but I did like SoF better mainly because of the set decoration of the house which I really think gave that film a great gothic and haunting look which was really missing from GoF. Granted in has been a way many years since I had first seen it, but I do remember the end with the monster stumbling around blind in the flame ladened lab and the event that in my VCR would pop Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man

THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN is probably the most colourless entry in Universal's Frankenstein saga. Despite the impressive array of character players, most of the acting seems tired and disinterested - even Bela Lugosi's wonderful Ygor is a far lesser presence than in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. Gone is the dense Gothic set deisgn that marked the opening three films, replaced by a cleaner, more sanitised (and certainly cheaper) look... Ever notice how much of GHOST takes place in the daylight? The usually moody Hans Salter score is of fairly high quality, but it doesn't seem at home in a horror movie. There is far less flowery, quotable dialogue than in the rest of the series, and Lon chaney's Monster is at least as weak as Lugosi's in the next entry, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN.

A disappointing effort (especially considering that so many alumni of THE WOLF MAN were present), but of fair interest.

I'm definitely with the majority on this one. Kenton did an atrocious job in comparison to Whale and Lee before him. I thought this was the weakest of the 5 films in the Frankenstein Legacy collection, with Kenton's other contribution (House of Frankenstein) being only slightly better.