ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Number five in the Frankenstein series is a popular favorite with younger fans because it promises a big fight between two classic monsters. Unfortunately the fight doesn't come until the very end, it doesn't last very long, and . . . it isn't worth the wait.

After being killed in "The Wolf Man", Lon Chaney, Jr.'s body is dug up by jewelry-seeking grave robbers one night during a full moon. Chaney comes back to life and kills one of the grave robbers while the other one flees in terror.

In an effort to be cured-or-killed, Chaney goes to the old gypsy woman from the original film for help.

Chaney discovers the comatose Frankenstein monster (Bela Lugosi), which doctor/scientist Patric Knowles wants to revive. The big battle takes place at the climax of the film, terminated all too soon by a flood when the local villagers blow up a nearby dam

The casting of Lugosi as the monster was ironically appropriate, because the brain of Ygor (played by Lugosi) was surgically implanted into the monster at the end of "Ghost of Frankenstein". The monster goes blind because Ygor's blood type is wrong for the monster's body.

Curt Siodmak's original script for "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" retained this physical handicap from the previous story. But before the film was released, Universal studios edited out all dialogue referring to the monster's blindness.

As a result, Lugosi's performance appears oddly stilted and wooden; he walks around with his arms are outstretched in zombie fashion. This was simply Lugosi's way of portraying a blind, groping monster.

Unfortunately, this behavior became the traditional posture for the Frankenstein creation, a set of misunderstood mannerisms that are now the accepted cliche' for anyone imitating this famous character.

Fine direction is provided by Roy William Neill. Also starring Lionel Atwill, Rex Evans, Dwight Frye, Dennis Hoey, and Ilona Massey. Followed by a sequel: "House of Frankenstein".

Thought For The Day: Lon Chaney, Jr. originally became the Wolf Man because he was bitten by a werewolf. It would be logical, therefore, to assume that the Frankenstein monster suffered this fate after his fight with the Wolf Man. Therefore, the sequel to the above film should have been called "Frankenstein IS the Wolf Man!"

Now, that would have been a scary monster!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Big, big fan of FMTWM.

The opening scene where the grave robbers are in the graveyard at night with the wind swirling leaves all around is quite eerie.

Yes, the fight is too brief & comes at the finale of the movie but its still a humdinger.

Universal was pleased at the success of this film, so their next project was to be Dracula Meets The Wolf Man. They thought it'd be clever (aka cheaper) to have Lon play both roles of the count & Talbot.

Then someone pointed out that it would be odd, as well as confusing, to have both Dracula & Talbot look so much alike.

[Rocky Jones]

This is one of the best of the classic original monster series, all right. Just Lugosi playing the monster makes the film a great trivia question. I think I actually liked Glenn Strange's version better than his, though.

This thread's title and the above movie poster in the top post demonstrate an odd naming conflict that's been prevalent in referring to these film for a very long time. The film's title was "Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man", with "Wolf" and "Man" as separate words. However the same poster names the character "Wolfman" — one word. The 1941 film with Lon Chaney Jr. was titled "The Wolf Man", but the 2010 remake was titled "The Wolfman".

I'd have to say I prefer "Wolf Man" since "Wolfman" sort of sounds like a not altogether uncommon surname like "Bob Wolfman". I can't blame those who vary the use of it, though, considering this film even varied it on the same poster.

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]

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It's Friday the 13th, a great day to watch Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Enjoy the trailer.

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__Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man Official Trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Brent Gair]

A reminder that this movie is available on Blu-ray in both the Frankenstein and Wolf Man Legacy sets recently released by Universal. The audio/video quality is very highly rated.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Frankenstein-Meets-the-Wolf-Man-Blu-ray/159995/#Review

[scotpens]

[Pow]

I agree that the battle between the Wolf Man & the monster is all too brief & kept from the audience until the finale of this film, Bud.

However, they do have some grand moments.

The scene where the Wolf Man is on top of a huge piece of laboratory equipment & the monster hurls it across the room is an incredible sequence.

It really shows the fantastic strength of the monster like no other scene in any of the Universal movies had ever shown before.

[Bud Brewster]

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Enjoy these trivia items from IMDB!
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The dialogue spoken by the Monster in the film was edited out before the film's release. His dialogue in the film spoke of his desire to control the world but Universal executives feared that World War II audiences would find it too close to Adolf Hitler's own rhetoric.

Note from me: Hmmm. The idea that The Monster had plans to become a global dictator just doesn't fit with his traditional character: non-violet unless provoked, somewhat erratic, and not overly intelligent.

Originally, Lon Chaney Jr. was to play both the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein Monster, but the producers decided the make-up demands and schedule wouldn't permit this. Late in life Chaney stated in an interview that he did, however, play both monsters in the film. He may well have been referring, correctly, to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) where he briefly doubled Glenn Strange after Strange broke an ankle throwing a woman through the laboratory skylight near the end of the film. You can actually see Strange stumble but keep upright after the throw.

Note from me: In the thread for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein I mentioned that since the Wolf Man probably bit The Monster during the fight, he should have turned into a werewolf during the full moon. The next movie could have been Frankenstein IS the Wolf Man.

Isn't it ironic that the studio considered having Chaney play both roles? If my whimsical suggestion had actually become a movie, Chaney could have played the FrankenWolf Monster in the sequel without ever having to be both characters in the same scene — which would have certainly been the case during the fight in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man!

But this next item explains why Chaney didn't even play the Wolf Man in the fight scenes.

Stuntman Gil Perkins doubled for Bela Lugosi in the action scenes, as well as the scene of the Monster being released from the ice. In the climactic fight scene, Eddie Parker doubled Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man, while Gil Perkins took over as the Monster. Based on interviews given years later, Perkins may have also doubled Chaney's Wolf Man in the chase scene through the woods into the castle ruins. Some film scholars insist Eddie Parker appears as the Monster in a handful of shots in the climax.

Note from me: The bad thing about playing a monster like the Wolf Man is that actors like Chaney must spend hours having the make-up applied.

The good thing about playing a monster like the Wolf Man is that somebody else can wear the make-up and the audience never knows the difference.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Rick]

[Bud Brewster]

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The Retro channel showed this movie recently, and the first scene with Talbot and the old gypsy included a line by Talbot that refutes my suggestion that the Frankenstein monster would turn into a werewolf after the fight with the Wolf Man.

Talbot said that the gypsy woman's son bit him just before Talbot killed him with the silver wolf's head cane. Doing this caused the werewolf curse to be passed on to poor Talbot.

Therefore the Frankenstein monster wouldn't turn into a werewolf just be being bitten by the Wolf Man. He'd have to kill the Wolf Man afterwards in one of the traditional ways in order to be "cursed" like Talbot was.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[The Spike]

I only want to die. That's why I'm here. If I ever find peace I'll find it here.

In an effort to revitalise their monster franchise at the box offices, Universal hit on the idea of of featuring more than one monster in a movie. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was to be the first of many such ventures.

Lon Chaney Jr is back as Larry Talbot/The Wolf Man, who after being awoken by unsuspecting grave robbers, is once again tortured by his curse and desperately wants an end to his misery. Seeking out the Gypsy woman Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya), the pair of them head off to find Dr. Frankenstein in the hope of finding a solution. He's dead, though, but there's another scientist on hand for help and as the villagers once again take unkindly to someone rekindling old nightmares, all while the Frankenstein Monster (Bela Lugosi) is found preserved in ice...

It's in effect a sequel to both The Wolf Man and The Ghost of Frankenstein, though as would become the norm, Monster Frank is a bit part player in a film bearing his name. The film is delightfully brisk and with Chaney doing good work as the tortured Talbot - with the relationship between Maleva and himself quite touching - the story carries emotional weight. However, Lugosi doesn't look right for the role of the monster, Patrick Knowles' switcharoo to a mad scientist is ill thought out, while the big smack down finale is sadly all too brief.

Nobody in the film, except maybe Chaney, was done any favours in the editing and writing rooms, but it's still a whole bunch of fun for fans of the Universal Monsters series. 6/10
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The quality of mercy is not strnen.

[Bud Brewster]

[scotpens]

[Pow]

Just watched this terrific film last night (on Halloween & a real full moon to boot) on MeTV's Svengoolie.

The movie was such a tremendous box office smash that it saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy.

I did chuckle at one scene in the film where Lawrence Talbot discovers the monster frozen beneath the Frankenstein Castle's ruins.

As Larry frantically begins to break the ice encasing the monster to free him all I could think was, Hmm, knowing the destructive story behind the monster's life, how did Talbot really think that freeing the monster was gonna be a GOOD idea and end well?

In the classic finale where the monster battles the Wolf Man just what was the motivation for the Wolf Man to attack the monster do you think?

A case of just one natural predator going after another?

Was there still some trace of humanity within the Wolf Man of Talbot so that he was attempting to rescue Elsa?

What would have been the outcome of the monster vs Wolf Man brawl if they hadn't been interrupted by the rushing water?

I'm a fan of both the Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man, but Wolfie is my favorite.

It looked like the Wolf Man was outmatched in this struggle and that the monster was clearly more powerful physically.

Seemed as if the conclusion of the film was a tad abrupt as they go from the crashing downpour of the water to The End wording on screen.

I'd have liked to see some final moments and dialogue with Elsa, Dr. Mannering, and Maleva whom I believe all survived the deluge. Maybe a scene with them and the villagers?

Just something to wrap it all up.

Many felt that Lugosi was not suited for the role of the monster in this movie, but I thought that he did a decent job.

People seem to forget that this was not intended to be the same monster persona as created by Boris Karloff in the three films that he performed in as the monster.

This time around the monster's personality was really supposed to be Igor because that was Igor's brain inside the monster this time.

Bela had played Igor in a previous films, so that was who he brought to the monster, which made perfect sense for this film's interior logic.

I know that Universal Pictures planned a "Dracula Meets the Wolf Man" film after this movie. I just don't think that it would have been as good as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

Anyways, we did get a Dracula Meets the Wolf Man with "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" film. Now within the context of that movie, seeing Drac and Wolfie confront one another was fantastic!

I really don't see any other Frankenstein Meets some other monster truly working all that well.

The Mummy? The Invisible Man? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

Nah, just don't find those encounters nearly as interesting as Frankie & Wolfie.

I did think that perhaps Lawrence Talbot Meets Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde might be compelling.

You'd have two men who must both transform into their respective monsters; a shared commonality between them.