Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Mary Shelley (suggested by the story written in 1816)
Wyllis Cooper (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 January 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror | Drama

Tagline:

The black shadows of the past bred this half-man . . . half-demon ! . . . creating a new and terrible juggernaut of destruction !

Plot:

Wolf Frankenstein, son of Henry Frankenstein, returns with his wife, to his fathers estate to claim his inheritance...

Plot Keywords:

Back From The Dead | Father Son Relationship | Doctor Frankenstein | Revenge | X Rayed Skeleton

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Boris Karloff	...	The Monster
Bela Lugosi	...	Ygor
Lionel Atwill	...	Krogh
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Elsa von Frankenstein
Donnie Dunagan	...	Peter von Frankenstein
Emma Dunn	...	Amelia
Edgar Norton	...	Benson
Perry Ivins	...	Fritz
Lawrence Grant	...	Burgomaster
Lionel Belmore	...	Lang
Michael Mark	...	Ewald Neumüller
Caroline Frances Cooke	...	Mrs. Neumüller (as Caroline Cooke)
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	Burgher
Lorimer Johnston	...	Burgher (as Lorimer Johnson)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 (cut) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:(Banned) (1955) | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Norway:16 (1955) | Finland:K-15 (2004) | Finland:(Banned) (1939) | USA:Approved (PCA #4987) | Sweden:7

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The film was originally begun in Technicolor, but the decision was made to revert to black and white after it was determined that Boris Karloff's make-up didn't photograph well in color. In the process of this switch, Dwight Frye's entire performance was cut. The Karloff family home movies shot on the set of the film reveal the Monster had a green face. The brief clips show Karloff in Monster make-up sticking his tongue out at the camera and pretending to strangle make-up artist Jack P. Pierce can be seen on the CD-ROM The Interactive History of Frankenstein (1995) (VG) and 100 Years of Horror (1996) (V), courtesy of Sara Karloff. In the late 1980s a reel of Technicolor test footage was discovered in Universal's vaults, but was soon thereafter stolen from the desk of the executive who was in possession of it.

Goofs:

Continuity: On the train ride to his father's estate, the same tree passes by Baron Wolf Frankenstein's train window several times.

Quotes:

Inspector Krogh: One doesn't easily forget, Herr Baron, an arm torn out by the roots.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in One More Time (1970/I)

Soundtrack:

Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main

Karloff, Lugosi and Rathbone in one movie? Someone please pinch me.

What a delightful sight, seeing Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi all together in this movie. Seeing the three of them in one shot gave me a special feeling, these three guys are among the biggest screen legends of all time.

Basil Rathbone is always a big pleasure to watch in a movie, he was a true great 'classic' actor. Bela Lugosi was almost unrecognizable in his role as Ygor and he played his character with lots of passion. Unfortunately the age was showing for Karloff. He was well over 50 years old when he played the Frankenstein monster for the last time in this movie. His 'old' age is truly notable, even through his make-up. I think it was a good thing that he never played the famous classic horror character again after this movie.

The story is still interesting enough to make this movie original, even though the depth and emotions of the previous two Frankenstein movies is missing.

It's a bit strange that the first two Frankenstein movies with Karloff are very well known but this movie is not. This movie is truly excellent and should deserve so more recognition and appreciation. The atmosphere is just as good as from the previous two movies and the monster is still one powerful horror character, even though his role is rather limited compared to the first two movies. This time the real main part is Baron Wolf von Frankenstein played by Basil Rathbone. Some people might be disappointed by this but being a fan of Rathbone I'm not complaining about this.

The movie has enough originality and the story is surely interesting enough to call this movie a worthy addition to the Frankenstein movie legacy. But what made this movie truly interesting and amazing to me, were the three main actors of the movie Rathbone, Karloff and Lugosi.

9/10