Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writer:

Curt Siodmak (original screenplay)

Release Date:

5 March 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

A Death Fight . . . Between Two Beasts !

Plot:

Larry Talbot chips Frankenstein's monster out of a block of ice. When Talbot changes to the Wolf Man, the two creatures do battle.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Frankenstein's Monster | Gypsy | Doctor | Werewolf

Cast

Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Lawrence Stewart Talbot / The Wolf Man (as Lon Chaney)
Ilona Massey	...	Baroness Elsa Frankenstein
Patric Knowles	...	Dr. Frank Mannering
Lionel Atwill	...	Mayor of Vasaria
Bela Lugosi	...	Frankenstein Monster
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Maleva
Dennis Hoey	...	Inspector Owen
Don Barclay	...	Franzec - Townsman
Rex Evans	...	Vazec - Innkeeper
Dwight Frye	...	Rudi - Townsman
Harry Stubbs	...	Constable Guno
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Clyde	...	Llanwelly Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Jeff Corey	...	Crypt Keeper (uncredited)
Sonia Darrin	...	Villager at Festival (uncredited)
Cyril Delevanti	...	Freddy Jolly--Graverobber (uncredited)
Lance Fuller	...	Vasarian Villager (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Cardiff Police Constable (uncredited)
Adia Kuznetzoff	...	Festival Singer (uncredited)
Doris Lloyd	...	Dr. Mannering's Nurse (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	Gypsy (uncredited)
Beatrice Roberts	...	Varja - Barmaid (uncredited)
Tom Stevenson	...	Graverobber (uncredited)
Martha Vickers	...	Margareta - Vazec's Daughter (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy William Neill

Writing credits
Curt Siodmak		(original screenplay)

Produced by
George Waggner	....	producer

Original Music by
Hans J. Salter		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
George Robinson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Edward Curtiss

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman		(as John Goodman)

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(as R.A. Gausman)

Costume Design by
Vera West		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Melville Shyer	....	assistant director

Art Department
Martin Obzina	....	associate art director
Edward R. Robinson	....	associate set decorator (as E.R. Robinson)

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
William R. Fox	....	sound technician (as William Fox)

Visual Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Eddie Parker	....	stunt double: Lon Chaney Jr. (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunt double: Bela Lugosi (uncredited)

Music Department
Hans J. Salter	....	musical director (as H.J. Salter)
Charles Previn	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" - USA (video box title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 (2004) | Spain:13 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #9024) | Sweden:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Part of the original SHOCK THEATER package of 52 Universal titles released to television in 1957, followed a year later with SON OF SHOCK, which added 21 more features.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The title of this film is accurate, as Lawrence Talbot (the Wolf Man) does meet Elsa (Frankenstein). The monster, despite some popular misconceptions, is not called 'Frankenstein'.

Quotes:

Lawrence Talbot:Why have you followed me?
Dr. Frank Mannering:Talbot, you're a murderer.
Lawrence Talbot:Prove it.
Dr. Frank Mannering:You're insane at times and you know it. You're sane enough now though to know what you're doing. Why don't you let me take care of you?
Lawrence Talbot:You think it would do any good to put me in a lunatic asylum?
Dr. Frank Mannering:You know that's where you belong. It's the only thing to do.
Lawrence Talbot:Oh that wouldn't do any good. I'd only escape again sooner or later.
Dr. Frank Mannering:We might be able to cure you. It might prevent you...
Lawrence Talbot:I only want to die. That's why I'm here. If I ever find peace I'll find it here.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Creature Features: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man/Cry of the Werewolf (#1.32)" (1971)

Soundtrack:

Faro-La, Faro-Li

Atmospheric, silly, and even a little sad

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 yarn, albeit one that was perhaps the first step in turning Universal's classic horror characters into a joke, ones that would soon have no choice but to meet Abbott and Costello. What really makes this one memorable is the atmosphere provided by the great and unheralded Roy William Neill, then taking a break from the studio's Sherlock Holmes series. This film has a wonderful look that helps make it the best of the later Frankenstein films produced by the studio (although everything after 1939's "Son of Frankenstein" represented a steady and steep decline for the series).