I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)

Director:

Herbert L. Strock

Writers:

Herman Cohen (writer)
Aben Kandel (writer)

Release Date:

23 November 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Body of a boy! Mind of a monster! Soul of an unearthly thing!

Plot:

Professor Frankenstein, a university lecturer with an alligator pit under his house, steals body parts...

Plot Keywords:

Alligator | Body Part | Laboratory | Teen | Doctor Frankenstein

Cast

Whit Bissell	...	Prof. Frankenstein
Phyllis Coates	...	Margaret
Robert Burton	...	Dr. Karlton
Gary Conway	...	Bob / Teenage Monster
George Lynn	...	Sgt. Burns
John Cliff	...	Sgt. McAffee
Marshall Bradford	...	Dr. Randolph
Claudia Bryar	...	Arlene's Mother
Angela Blake	...	First Victim
Russ Whiteman	...	Dr. Elwood
Charles Seel	...	Mr. Sexton, the jeweler
Paul Keast	...	Man at Crash
Gretchen Thomas	...	Woman in Corridor
Patrick Miller	...	Police Officer (as Pat Miller)
Joy Stoner	...	Arlene

Also Known As:

Teenage Frankenstein (UK)

Runtime:

74 min | UK:68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1958) | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | Sweden:(Banned)

Company:

Santa Rosa Productions

Trivia:

American International Pictures released this film to many drive-in theaters on a double bill with Blood of Dracula (1957) with the tag line: "Warning! Can You Take It? Fiendish! Frenzied! Frightening! It Will Haunt You For Days Afterwards!"

Quotes:

Frankenstein: Speak. I know you have a civil tongue in your head because I sewed it back myself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

Better than you think

For years I avoided this film solely from the title and critic' comments about it. It was easy to label it as a bad film with the title it has, and it constantly appears on bad films lists. Recently I decided to watch as many Frankenstein films made by companies other than Universal as I could, and finally got around to this one. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this film, and how unfairly it had been judged by critics. It has a lot going for it, and my opinion was made by one scene in particular. The Monster had been kept in a cold, utilitarian lab under Dr. Frankenstein's plush opulent mansion, little seeing or knowing of the outside world. One night the lab door was accidentally left unlocked and he hesitantly ventures upstairs to the empty house. He enters Dr. Frankenstein's living room, in awe at all the splendor, his senses reeling at a world he never dreamed existed. Sitting down in a large stuffed chair, his body reacts to the soft cushions, experiencing comfort as never had before and almost melts into it. It is these moments of discovery that we get to know the Monster as a person, and not just a killing machine. Many films featuring a Frankenstein Monster use him as just a mindless brute with no personality or motivation. Teen-age Frankenstein, for faults in other areas, is one of the few to allow the Monster a goal: he expresses his loneliness and desire for companionship.

So for everyone who hasn't seen this film yet because of volumes of "Best of..." books, give it a try. You may not become a fan, but at least you'll see it for what it truly is.