Frankenstein - 1970 (1958)

Needing money, the last of the Frankensteins leases his castle out to a film company as he tries to complete his ancestor's gruesome experiments at creating life.

Director:

Howard W. Koch

Writers:

Richard H. Landau (screenplay), Charles A. Moses (story),

Stars:

Boris Karloff, Tom Duggan, Jana Lund

Cast

Cast overview:
Boris Karloff	...	Baron Victor von Frankenstein
Tom Duggan	...	Mike Shaw
Jana Lund	...	Carolyn Hayes
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Douglas Row (as Donald Barry)
Charlotte Austin	...	Judy Stevens
Irwin Berke	...	Inspector Raab
Rudolph Anders	...	Wilhelm Gottfried
Norbert Schiller	...	Shuter
John Dennis	...	Morgan Haley
Mike Lane	...	Hans Himmler / The Monster

Storyline

Baron Victor Von Frankenstein has fallen on hard times; he was tortured at the hands of the Nazis for not cooperating with them during World War II and he is now badly disfigured. As his family's wealth begins to run out, the Baron is forced to allow a TV crew shooting a documentary on his monster-making ancestors to film at his castle in Germany. However, the Baron has some ideas of his own: using the money from the crew's rent he buys an atomic reactor and uses it to create a hulking monster, transplanting his butler's brain into the thing and using it to kill off the crew for more spare parts.

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Plot Keywords:

castle | ancestor | nazi | monster | skull | 

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Taglines:

The One...The Only KING OF MONSTERS as the new demon of the atomic age!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 July 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankenstein 1960

Filming Locations:

Stage 3, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aubrey Schenck Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although her husband Douglas Row (Donald Barry) has apparently lost interest in wife Judy Stevens (Charlotte Austin) in favor of actress Carolyn Hayes (Jana Lund), Lund was actually 3 months older than Austin.

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Goofs

The degree of damage to Karloff's disfigured eye changes from scene to scene.

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Quotes

Baron Victor von Frankenstein: Shuter, yours is not the brain that I would have chosen, but at least you are obedient.

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Connections

Featured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Dracula vs. Frankenstein (2010)

User Reviews

Underrated...simply underrated.

MORD39 RATING: **1/2 (of ****)

As a kid I recall being disappointed when catching FRANKENSTEIN 1970 on TV. I was expecting the 1931 original, and at the age of 8 or 9 I was understandably disappointed. But now as an adult I can appreciate this 1950's monster flick for what it is.

Most fans dismiss this film, but I believe it has much going for it. For one thing, we get Boris Karloff as the Baron. Too many folks have panned his hammy performance, but I think he is deliciously sinister and over-ripe. His character reminds me of the Boris puppet from the MAD MONSTER PARTY film, and I'm surprised that more viewers don't find his performance endearing.

The film boasts a surprise opening and a surprise ending (I won't give them away), and in between that we get to see a gloomy castle filled with an underground secret laboratory and hidden passageways. Boris plays eerie music on his organ, and he's creating a monster that runs around killing people. Is this not what makes a fun horror pic?

True, the monster isn't very convincing...but neither are most fifties creatures, so why all the fuss? Besides, the monster only looks as he does due to the fact that the bandages and head cast have not yet been removed.

With foggy swamps, unexplored corridors, and a mad Karloff, fans could do far worse than FRANKENSTEIN 1970.