Frankenstein's Daughter (1958)

Dr. Frankenstein's insane grandson attempts to create horrible monsters in modern day L.A.

Director:

Richard E. Cunha (as Richard Cunha)

Writer:

H.E. Barrie (screenplay)

Stars:

John Ashley, Sandra Knight, Donald Murphy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Ashley	...	Johnny Bruder
Sandra Knight	...	Trudy Morton
Donald Murphy	...	Oliver Frank / Frankenstein
Sally Todd	...	Suzie Lawler
Harold Lloyd Jr.	...	Don
Felix Locher	...	Prof. Carter Morton
Wolfe Barzell	...	Elsu
John Zaremba	...	Police Lt. Boyle
Robert Dix	...	Police Det. Bill Dillon
Harry Wilson	...	The Monster
Voltaire Perkins	...	Mr. Rockwell - Chemist
Charlotte Portney	...	Frightened Housewife
Bill Coontz	...	First Victim - Warehouseman
George Barrows	...	Mack
Page Cavanaugh	...	Page Cavanaugh

Storyline

Dr. Frankenstein's insane grandson attempts to create horrible monsters in modern day L.A.

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Plot Keywords:

scream | monster | burning body | dream | song | 

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Taglines:

MORE Terrifying! MORE Destructive!

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Genres:

Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 December 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

She Monster of the Night

Filming Locations:

Screencraft Studios, 8470 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Layton Film Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Make-up artist Harry Thomas has said that when he was given the assignment to make a mask for the "monster", he was not told that the monster was to be a female, so he made the mask to be a male. By the time he was notified that the monster was to be a female, the mask had already been done, and there was no money in the make-up budget left to do another one. Thomas claims that director Richard E. Cunha's alleged statement giving Paul Stanhope credit for the make-up is false, as Thomas was the film's only make-up man. Thomas also discredits Cunha's claim that he wanted Jack P. Pierce to do the make-up, as Pierce was notorious for taking a long time to apply his creations. Thomas claims the gender problem of the monster would never have occurred if the filmmakers had bothered to give him a $2 copy of the script.

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Goofs

During the scene when Sandra Knight as Trudy Morton opens the door and faints because she is frightened by the monster, she falls to the floor. After she is supposedly unconscious she very obviously lifts her arm and places it on her hip. Then once the camera moves off her and returns she is in a completely different position than she was previously (she was originally on her left side with her back to the camera, and she's now shown on her back)!

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Quotes

Elsu: Your father and grandfather never used a female brain.
Oliver Frank aka Frankenstein: No. The way the female's brain is conditioned to a man's world. Therefore it takes orders where the other one's didn't.

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Connections

Featured in Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991)

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Soundtracks

Special Date
by Page Cavanaugh and Jack Smalley
Performed by Page Cavanaugh and His Trio

User Reviews

Vastly Entertaining!

Well, words are hard to come up with to describe this routine premised monster film of the 50's. A descendant of the late Victor Frankenstein, his son Oliver to be exact, is hiding his identity and working as a lab assistant for a kindly scientist. The scientist is working on something beneficial to mankind, whilst his assistant secretly works his own experiments on his benefactor's niece. These experiments hideously disfigure her face and cause her to walk the streets scaring people at night. But soon we see that all this is really secondary to Oliver's real plans of recreating life...keeping the family tradition alive so to speak. With the aid of a disgruntled gardener related to Igor(or someone like that), Ollie and friend end up killing people and fusing dead body parts with the end result being the creation of a barely woman-like played by man being. Ollie is not just worried about creating life, however. He is a randy sort of chap who has the hots for the delectable niece and then her also delicious friend, played by playmate Sally Todd.

The rest of the film is how he is discovered by the niece and her boyfriend, with some implausible and disgusting music sequences thrown in. The acting is decidedly over the top by most concerned. Donald Murphy terrifically hams it up as Ollie. John Ashley is painful to watch as the boyfriend. Saying he has limited acting ability would be an understatement! Notwithstanding the complicated, highly ridiculous plot, the hammy performances, the cheap sets, the bizarre make-up, this is a fun one to watch. It grabs you early, has some fun sequences, and some lovely, lovely heavenly bodies to feast your eager eyes on.