frankenstein meets the wolfman


Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein’s monster. The movie was the first of a series of “ensemble” monster films combining characters from several film series. This film, therefore, is both the fifth in the series of films based upon Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and a sequel to The Wolf Man.

Trivia:

  • The Frankenstein Monster, played by Bela Lugosi, is mute in this film, even though Boris Karloff’s monster spoke in the earlier 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.
  • 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. However, late in life Chaney stated in an interview that he did play both monsters in the film.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • The very first time we see the Frankenstein Monster, it is not Bela Lugosi in the makeup. Stuntman Eddie Parker also made appearances as the Monster – most noticeably during the final battle with the Wolfman.
  • 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 Parker doubled 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 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.
  • The matte painting of the town of “Vasaria” is lifted from Universal’s My Little Chickadee (1940).
  • 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” – Baroness Elsa Frankenstein, played by Ilona Massey.
  • With Bela Lugosi’s dialogue scenes cut, he appears in less than five minutes of the film, with stunt men and doubles appearing in almost two additional minutes.
  • The dog in the film is actually Lon Chaney Jr.’s own German Shepherd, Moose who had made an earlier appearance as the werewolf that attacks Lawrence in The Wolf Man (1941).

Filed under: Horror

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