The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Director:

Erle C. Kenton

Writers:

Scott Darling (screenplay)
Eric Taylor (story)

Release Date:

13 March 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Stark Terror! Added Thrills! in a Spine-Tingling Experience !

Plot:

Ygor resurrects Frankenstein's monster and brings him to the original doctor's son, Ludwig, for help...

Plot Keywords:

Brain | Villager | Frankenstein's Monster | Sequel | Battering Ram

Cast

Cedric Hardwicke	...	Ludwig Frankenstein (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Ralph Bellamy	...	Erik
Lionel Atwill	...	Doctor Bohmer
Bela Lugosi	...	Ygor
Evelyn Ankers	...	Elsa Frankenstein
Janet Ann Gallow	...	Cloestine
Barton Yarborough	...	Dr. Kettering
Doris Lloyd	...	Martha
Leyland Hodgson	...	Chief Constable
Olaf Hytten	...	Hussman
Holmes Herbert	...	Magistrate
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	The Monster (as Lon Chaney)

Also Known As:

Frankenstein kehrt wieder (Austria) (Germany) (DVD box title) [de]
Duch Frankensteina (Poland) [pl]
El fantasma de Frankenstein (Spain) [es]
Fantasma de Frankenstein (Brazil) [pt]
Frankensteins vålnad (Sweden) [sv]
Il terrore di Frankenstein (Italy) [it]
Le spectre de Frankenstein (France) [fr]
To fantasma tou Frankenstein (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

67 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) | Spain:13 | USA:Approved (PCA #8125) | Sweden:15 | Sweden:7 (re-rating) | Germany:12 | Finland:(Banned) (1948)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Ygor and the Monster weren't the only characters who came back from the dead. Michael Mark and Lionel Belmore, who play the two council members murdered in the previous film (Son of Frankenstein) are back as council members in this one, seemingly none the worse for wear.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the monster appears outside Elsa's window, it casts a nearly full-body shadow on the library wall, with one arm fully visible, but in the close-ups of the monster the arm in question is obscured behind the window frame. Later in the same sequence, Ygor pops up over the monster's shoulder, yet the shadow cast seconds later shows only the monster.

Quotes:

[the monster is struck by lightning]
Ygor: The lightning. It is good for you! Your father was Frankenstein, but your mother was the lightning!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) (#1.62)" (1980)

It still lives on.

The townsfolk who live near Frankenstein's castle decide to finally finish the job and blow it to the ground. Ygor who lives in the rubbles manages to escape and in doing so discovers the Monster in a sulphur pit. So Ygor and the monster head to the town of Vasaria to see if Ludwig Frankenstein (the son of Henry Frankenstein and brother of Baron Wolf Frankenstein) will help them out and cure the monster. This means finding him a new brain, and Ygor wants the doctor to put his brain into the monster.

Even a weak "Frankenstein" sequel is a diverting, and highly amusing offering. No matter how much they re-use the old-hat formula, the imaginative and crisp look of the film's set designs (not up to par with earlier films though) and effects always seems to win out for me. And how can I forget the iconic monster itself! This time we have Lon Chaney Jr. taking over Boris Karloff's mantle, and there's a splendid cast on hand featuring Ralph Bellamy, Lionel Atwill, Cedric Hardwicke and a scene chewing Bela Lugosi as the enthusiastically sly Igor. Lugosi is the burning flair, and while Lon Chaney does a resourceful job. He's no Karloff. The material is not as deep and thoughtful as it's highly regarded predecessors, but the patchwork script ends up turning into b-grade shenanigans shooting at the straight and narrow. At least the nippy pace makes sure it never truly flags about, and there are some effective set-pieces laid out by Earl C. Kenton's able direction. The music score on the other hand, can fall into the overkill category and tries to hard to leave a mark in every possible sequence. There's no harm to the legacy, but neither is it an impressive addition. But otherwise I've always enjoyed these Universal monster features, no matter what the quality is.