Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Director:

Rowland V. Lee

Writers:

Mary Shelley (suggested by the story written in 1816)
Wyllis Cooper (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 January 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror | Drama

Tagline:

The black shadows of the past bred this half-man . . . half-demon ! . . . creating a new and terrible juggernaut of destruction !

Plot:

Wolf Frankenstein, son of Henry Frankenstein, returns with his wife, to his fathers estate to claim his inheritance...

Plot Keywords:

Laboratory | Inspector | Storm | Frankenstein's Monster | Scientist

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Boris Karloff	...	The Monster
Bela Lugosi	...	Ygor
Lionel Atwill	...	Krogh
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Elsa von Frankenstein
Donnie Dunagan	...	Peter von Frankenstein
Emma Dunn	...	Amelia
Edgar Norton	...	Benson
Perry Ivins	...	Fritz
Lawrence Grant	...	Burgomaster
Lionel Belmore	...	Lang
Michael Mark	...	Ewald Neumüller
Caroline Frances Cooke	...	Mrs. Neumüller (as Caroline Cooke)
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	Burgher
Lorimer Johnston	...	Burgher (as Lorimer Johnson)

Also Known As:

El hijo de Frankenstein (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Frankensteins Sohn (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Frankensteinin poika (Finland) [fi]
Frankensteins son (Sweden) [sv]
Il figlio di Frankenstein (Italy) [it]
La sombra de Frankenstein (Spain) [es]
Le fils de Frankenstein (France) [fr]
O gios tou Frankenstein (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 (2004) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:(Banned) (1955) | Spain:13 | South Korea:12 | Norway:16 (cut) | Norway:16 (1955) | Finland:(Banned) (1939) | USA:Approved (PCA #4987) | Sweden:7

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The name of the town where the action takes place is "Goldstadt" in the first two films in the series, Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Here it is called "Frankenstein." In the two subsequent films, the stories would take place in another fictional town, "Vasaria" (or "Visaria").

Goofs:

Continuity: Although the setting is clearly Germanic, Police Inspector Krogh refers to his men as "gendarmes" - which is French.

Quotes:

Baron Wolf von Frankenstein: I should turn you over to Inspector Krogh!
Ygor: No! Krogh no want dead man, Ygor is dead!
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein: What are you talking about?
Ygor: They hanged me once, Frankenstein... they broke my neck.
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein: Hanged you... well, why did they hang you?
Ygor: Because I stole bodies... they said...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La orgía de los muertos (1973)

Soundtrack:

Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main

Memorable

A strong cast (including Boris Karloff in his last screen appearance as the Monster) makes the second sequel to Frankenstein memorable. This time Henry Frankenstein's son, Wolf (Basil Rathbone) revives the dormant monster with the help of Ygor (Bela Lugosi, in his most underrated performance). This is an impressive, intelligent production that scores highly in all departments. 9/10