Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

After being awakened, Larry Talbot chips Frankenstein's Monster out of a block of ice. When Talbot changes to the Wolf Man, the two creatures battle each other.

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writer:

Curt Siodmak (original screenplay)

Stars:

Ilona Massey, Patric Knowles, Lionel Atwill

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ilona Massey	...	Baroness Elsa Frankenstein
Patric Knowles	...	Dr. Frank Mannering
Lionel Atwill	...	Mayor
Bela Lugosi	...	Monster
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Maleva
Dennis Hoey	...	Inspector Owen
Don Barclay	...	Franzec
Rex Evans	...	Vazec
Dwight Frye	...	Rudi
Harry Stubbs	...	Guno
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	The Wolf Man - Lawrence Talbot (as Lon Chaney)

Storyline

Larry Talbot finds himself in an asylum, recovering from an operation performed by the kindly Dr. Mannering. Inspector Owen finds him there, too, wanting to question him about a recent spate of murders. Talbot escapes and finds Maleva, the old gypsy woman who knows his secret: when the moon is full, he changes to a werewolf. She travels with him to locate the one man who can help him to die - Dr. Frankenstein. The brilliant doctor proves to be dead himself, but they do find Frankenstein's daughter. Talbot begs her for her father's papers containing the secrets of life and death. She doesn't have them, so he goes to the ruins of the Frankenstein castle to find them himself. There he finds the Monster, whom he chips out of a block of ice. Dr. Mannering catches up with him only to become tempted to monomania while using Frankenstein's old equipment.

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Plot Keywords:

monster | doctor | crossover | sequel | blindness | 

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Taglines:

FROZEN EVIL meets FIERY HATE (original ad - mostly caps)

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Frankenstein Monster, played by Bela Lugosi, is mute in this film, even though Boris Karloff's monster spoke in the earlier Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Interestingly, Lugosi had refused the role in the original Frankenstein (1931) because he would have had no lines. When Lugosi accepted the part in this film, the original script contained dialogue for the Monster, which was later edited out.

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Goofs

In the long shot of Frankenstein's monster carrying Elsa up the stairs, her long flowing gown hangs down to his feet; to avoid stepping on it, he clearly has to take wide strides up the steps. Then there is a cut to the monster as he reaches the top of the stairs, and here Elsa's gown is completely wrapped around her body.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Freddy Jolly - Graverobber: [reading from a headstone] 'Lawrence Stewart Talbot, who died at the youthful age of thirty one. R.I.P.' That's it. Give me the chisel.
Graverobber: Suppose they didn't bury him with the money on him.
Freddy Jolly - Graverobber: Everybody in the village knows about it - his gold watch and ring and money in his pockets.
Graverobber: It's a sin to bury good money when it could help people.
[both chuckle]

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Crazy Credits

A scientist's hand is shown pouring a chemical into a flask, which bubbles over in vapor that coalesces into the film's title and cast names.

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Alternate Versions

Original preview prints of the film included Lugosi speaking dialog as the Monster. Apparently, preview audiences found Lugosi's Hungarian accent hilarious coming from the Monster's mouth, so Lugosi's voice was deleted.

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Connections

Referenced in Universal Munsters: un studio monstre (2016)

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Soundtracks

Faro-La, Faro-Li
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Curt Siodmak
Music by Hans J. Salter
Sung by Adia Kuznetzoff

User Reviews

The Underrated One

Of all of the later Frankenstein movies made by Universal, this one seems to be overlooked when compared to the previous "Ghost of Frankenstein" or the campy fun of "House of Frankenstein". Nevertheless, "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" is probably the best of the bunch.

A direct sequel to both "The Wolf Man" and "Ghost of Frankenstein", the plot follows Larry Talbot (played again by Lon Chaney Jr.), the werewolf, who realizes that he can't die. In order to find inner peace he is on a quest for death, and Maleva, the gypsy, takes him to Vasaria, in order to fin Dr. Frankenstein. When they realize that Frankenstein is dead, Talbot finds the Creature (Bela Lugosi), now with Ygor's brain but severely damaged. When a doctor teams up with Talbot in order to help him, the Wolf Man won't be happy to discover the doctor's true intentions.

This movie is carried by Chaney Jr. who is totally inside the character of the Wolf Man. It is probably Chaney's best performance as beast, and he steals every scene he is in. As Talbot, he shows the horrible trauma of being an unwilling murderer, giving the character a greater presence that fills the screen with charm.

Bela Lugosi, as the creature, has more troubles to be satisfying, but it is important to note that most of his scenes were changed as the previous subplot of Ygor's brain was abandoned. Bad choice since the first scenes with the monster show him confused and blind without giving any explanation. The poor editing is responsible of Lugosi's apparent bad performance.

The rest of the cast is surprisingly good, with old friends like Lionel Atwill and Dwight Frye in small supporting roles. Beautiful Ilona Massey plays Elsa Frankenstein who in an odd change appears as a cold smart businesswoman vastly different from the character's traits in "Ghost of Frankenstein". Nevertheless, Massey plays the role with grace and her beauty shines in the screen.

Director Roy William Neill, known for his Sherlock Holmes movies, does a superior work than predecessor Erle C. Kenton and makes the most of his actors. Depsite the plot holes of the story and the awful changes the studio made to the original script, the movie flows with a good pace.

The whole atmosphere is an improvement that while it never reaches the levels of "Bride" or "Son", works very well and give the film a distinctive look.

Overall, a worthy addition to the Frankenstein saga, that even when it certainly could have been better, it is an enjoyable underrated movie. 7/10