The Ghost of Frankenstein, was an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie was the fourth of in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Monster, taking over from Boris Karloff, who played the role in the first three films of the series, and Bela Lugosi in his second appearance as the demented Ygor.
Synopsis
Picking up after the events of Son of Frankenstein, Ghost sees the Monster brought back to life with some help from the insane Ygor (again played by Lugosi). Ygor is forced to turn to a second son of Dr. Henry Frankenstein, Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), in order to keep the Monster alive. When the doctor determines to replace the Monster's original criminal brain with that of a benevolent, murdered colleague, Ygor conspires to have his own brain implanted into the Monster instead; however, although the Monster is resurrected with Ygor's mind and can even speak with his voice, a complication in the procedure renders the creature blind, and he is unable in the film's finale to find his way out of the burning Frankenstein mansion. (The footage of the Monster scrambling to escape the fire was later reused at the end of House of Dracula even though another actor plays the Monster in that film.)
Plot
It is a time of social unrest in the village of Frankenstein. The residents feel they are under a curse and blame all their troubles on the Frankenstein Monster. Rumors circulate about Ygor, who is still alive and supposedly trying to revive the Monster. The villagers pressure the Mayor into allowing them to destroy Frankenstein’s castle. Ygor attempts to put up some resistance but the villagers rush the gates and begin to destroy the castle. Ygor, fleeing through the catacombs, finds the Monster released from his sulfuric tomb by the explosions. The exposure to the sulfur weakened the Monster but also preserved him. Unseen by the villagers, Ygor and the Monster flee the castle to the surrounding countryside. There they encounter a powerful thunderstorm. The Monster is struck by a bolt of lightning, but, instead of being harmed by it, he seems to be rejuvenated. Ygor decides to find Ludwig, the second son of Frankenstein, to help the Monster.
Ludwig Frankenstein is a doctor who, along with his assistants Kettering and Bohmer, has a successful practice in Vasaria. Bohmer was formerly Frankenstein’s teacher but made a tragic surgical mistake and now is relegated to being Frankenstein’s envious assistant. Ygor and the Monster arrive in Vasaria and discover that Ludwig lives in a chateau at the end of town. The Monster quickly befriends a young girl, Cloestine Hussman. The Monster scoops the little girl up in his arms and carries her onto a nearby roof to retrieve her ball; two villagers attempt to intervene and are killed. After Cloestine asks the Monster to take her to daddy, the Monster returns the girl to her father and is immediately captured by the entire police force.
The town prosecutor, Erik Ernst, comes to Ludwig Frankenstein and asks him to examine the giant they have captured. Frankenstein says he will comply after he finishes some work. Soon, Ygor pays Frankenstein a visit, informing him that the giant at the police station is the Monster. Ygor implores the Doctor to heal the Monster’s sick body and brain. Frankenstein refuses, not wanting the Monster to ruin his life like it did for his father and brother. Ygor threatens to reveal Ludwig’s ancestry to the villagers and forces him to give in. After Ygor leaves, Frankenstein looks over the journals of his father and brother and tries to hide the purpose of Ygor’s visit from his daughter, Elsa.
At the police station, the Monster is restrained with chains as a hearing is conducted to investigate the murder of the two villagers. The Monster does not respond to any questions. Doctor Frankenstein then arrives and the Monster shows signs of recognizing him. When Frankenstein denies knowing him, the Monster goes berserk and breaks free. Ygor leads the Monster away.
Elsa, alone in her father’s study, finds the Frankenstein journals and reads them, learning the story of the Monster. She then sees the Monster and Ygor in the window and screams. Her father arrives and comforts her, telling her she was imagining it. Then, Ygor and the Monster break into Frankenstein’s laboratory and the Monster kills Doctor Kettering. The Monster grabs Elsa, but Doctor Frankenstein is able to subdue him with knockout gas. When Elsa revives, Ludwig tells her of Kettering’s death and promises her that he won’t let this curse from the past separate them.
Frankenstein is examining his father’s creation when the Monster revives and tries to kill him. The Doctor is able to tranquilize the Monster. Frankenstein then tries to enlist Bohmer’s aid in dissecting the Monster, but Bohmer refuses, claiming it would be murder. Ludwig, however, is determined to destroy the Monster, even if he must do it alone. While studying his family’s journals, Ludwig is visited by the ghost of his father, Henry Frankenstein. The spirit emplores him to perfect his creation rather than to destroy it. He advises Ludwig to correct the original mistake by giving the creature a good brain.
Ludwig calls in Bohmer and Ygor and tells them that he plans to put Kettering’s brain into the Monster’s skull. Ygor protests and asks Ludwig to use his brain instead. Frankenstein refuses and Ygor storms off. Ludwig charges the Monster to give him strength for the operation. Elsa protests to her father, telling him to stop his experiments but he refuses, choosing to operate on the patient as soon as possible. Ygor and the Monster are hidden in a secret chamber and as Ludwig arrives, Ygor explains to the Monster that he will receive a new brain. Ygor also taunts Bohmer, telling him that he shouldn’t be subordinate to Frankenstein. Ygor promises to help the disgraced doctor if he agrees to put Ygor’s brain into the Monster. Bohmer ponders the possibilities.
The police soon arrive at Frankenstein’s house, searching for the Monster. They find the secret room, but Ygor and the Monster are now in the town. The Monster abducts Cloestine, his young friend, and returns with her in his arms to Frankenstein’s chateau. The Monster’s reason for abducting her soon becomes clear-he wants the girls’ brain in his head. When Ygor protests, the Monster violently pushes him aside, injuring Ygor’s spine. Cloestine does not want to lose her brain and the Monster reluctantly gives her to Elsa. Doctor Frankenstein then performs the surgery believing he is putting Kettering’s brain in the Monster. Bohmer, however, has substituted Ygor’s brain for that of Kettering’s.
In the village, Herr Hussman rouses his neighbors by telling them his daughter has been captured by the Monster and that Frankenstein is harboring the creature. They race to the chateau, blood on their minds. Erik Ernst is unable to stop them, but convinces the group to give him five minutes to convince Frankenstein to give up the Monster. Ludwig admits he has the Monster and agrees to show him to Erik, thinking Kettering’s brain is in his skull. The Monster rises and Frankenstein is shocked to hear Ygor’s voice come from the Monster’s mouth.
The villagers now storm the chateau and the Monster decides to fill the house with gas to kill them. Frankenstein tries to stop him but the Monster repels the attack and mortally wounds the Doctor. The villagers find the Hussman girl and run from the building, fleeing the deadly gas. The Monster suddenly goes blind, as Ygor’s blood is incompatible with the Monster’s and won’t feed his senses. Enraged, the Monster kills Bohmer and then inadvertently sets fire to the chateau, bringing about his own demise. Erik and Elsa walk off toward the sunrise together.
Production
Ghost of Frankenstein marked the final appearance of the Monster in a solo capacity. Beginning with the next film, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (in which Lugosi plays the Monster with Chaney switching to his Wolf Man character), and continuing for the rest of the Universal Monsters series, Frankenstein's Monster would be part of an ensemble cast of creatures.
The blinding of the Monster resulted in a lasting stereotype of the creature walking with arms outstretched, even though this is the only film in which it is explicitly indicated that he is blind, such references being cut by the studio from Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, sabotaging Lugosi's performance in the process, since the audience is left to wonder why the Monster is behaving so peculiarly. The Monster's sight was also restored in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man but references to that were also cut. The Monster's ability to speak (now in Ygor's voice) would be dropped after this film (Lugosi's dialogue being filmed but ultimately deleted from Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man), though Strange utters a couple of lines in the later Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Also not addressed in later films is that the removal of the original brain from the Monster in this film results in the end of the Creature as originated by Karloff, and that it presumably carries on with Ygor's brain.
The film contains a few continuity lapses from Son of Frankenstein, which rather than being careless are calculated to extend the series. Despite having been apparently killed at the end of Son of Frankenstein, Ygor was revealed only to have been "maimed by the bullets shot into him by Wolf Frankenstein". There was no mention of a second son of the original Dr. Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein. Ludwig states that he has lived in this area his entire life, but it is not explained why only Wolf was raised in America. The most obvious change, however, is the replacement of Karloff with the obviously less emotive Chaney who does move in a lumbering slow motion as shown when climbing up stairs to reach the small girl and walking, whereas Karloff's incarnation would actually be shown actively running as shown in Bride of Frankenstein.
Ghost of Frankenstein also marked the changeover of the Frankenstein (and Universal Monsters) series from "A-movie" to "B-movie" status, with noticeably reduced budgets and the reuse of actors from previous films. As noted above, footage from this film would even be recycled in a later Frankenstein feature.
The title of the film refers to the fact that Dr. Henry Frankenstein, creator of The Monster in the first Universal Frankenstein film, appears (played by Hardwicke) as a ghostly apparition to advise Ludwig.
Cast
External links
|
Universal Monsters film series |
|
| Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
|
|
| The Phantom of the Opera |
|
|
| Dracula |
|
|
| Frankenstein's monster |
|
|
| Edgar Allan Poe |
|
|
| The Mummy |
|
|
| The Invisible Man |
|
|
| Wolves of London |
|
|
The Wolf Man
alone and with other monsters |
|
|
| The Ape Woman |
|
|
| Inner Sanctum Mysteries |
|
|
| Creature from the Black Lagoon |
|
|
| Others |
|
|
