Frankenstein’s Ghost

It’s always interesting to see where a franchise goes after the first movie, and the original Frankenstein series is no exception, as it was mostly a matter of finding new situations for the monster to lurch into. 1942’s The Ghost of Frankenstein seems as if it would break new ground for the character, and while it at least puts him in a new village, there’s still a lot of familiar territory.

The movie opens where the third movie, Son of Frankenstein leaves off, with torches and villagers, and the general sense is that Frankenstein’s monster (Lon Chaney) is bad luck. The monster in question appears to have died in a sulfur pit, but the ever-faithful Ygor (Bela Lugosi) has other ideas, and finds the monster buried in mud under the castle. Ygor chips the monster out from the mess, the monster gets struck by lightning, and they flee the castle just as it completely goes to pieces. Ygor decides to take the monster to Visaria, where Dr. Frankenstein’s son, Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) lives with his daughter, Elsa (Evelyn Ankers).

Yeah, this movie probably makes a lot more sense after seeing The Son of Frankenstein. I guess I’ll have to fill in the blanks sometime. Anyway…

The monster isn’t himself, if he ever is, not to mention that being stuck by lightning is a dicey turn of events to say the least. When the monster and Ygor hide out in a cave for the night the monster goes out and basically howls at the moon and Ygor has to wrestle him back inside.

When Ygor and the monster reach Visaria, the monster helps a little girl, Cloestein Hussman (Janet Ann Gallow) retrieve her ball from the top of a roof. The villagers are aghast, of course, Cloestein’s dad, Herr Hussman (Olaf Hytten) in particular, especially once the monster knocks a few villagers down the stairs. Once they see what’s going on, everyone relaxes just slightly, but the monster only comes down after the villagers promise not to hurt him.

Well, they don’t hurt him, but that doesn’t stop them from arresting him and hauling him down to the courthouse for a hearing, presided over by the local bail bondsman, Erik Ernst (Ralph Bellamy), Elsa’s fiancee. Ygor hightails it to Ludwig’s house, where he begs Ludwig to fix the monster by giving him a new brain.

Ludwig, of course, has a thriving research lab and doesn’t want anything to do with the monster or Ygor, but Ygor won’t be put off. If Ludwig doesn’t help the monster, Ygor will tell the village that Ludwig reanimates cadavers just like his dad used to.

Long story short, the monster, who ran away from the hearing, ends up at Ludwig’s house, where he freaks out Elsa and kills Dr. Kettering, one of Ludwig’s assistants. Ludwig still doesn’t want to help the monster, but an appearance by Henry, well, more like a vision or a flashback, convinces him to help.

But whose brain to use? Ludwig’s leaning towards Dr. Kettering’s brain. The monster wants Cloestein’s brain. Ygor thinks his brain would suffice. Who will win out, and how will the monster emerge from the big switch?

There’s also the question of the villagers still being angry at the monster for disrupting their lives. Herr Hussman is especially put out because the monster accidentally burned his house down when he stole Cloestein from her bedroom two weeks previously. Why it’s taken the man two weeks to start searching for his daughter is an odd turn, but pacing. Either way, it’s only a matter of time before the villagers grab their torches and pay Ludwig’s house a visit.

The Ghost of Frankenstein was the first time Lon Chaney Jr. would join the franchise, Boris Karloff having to bow out to play Jonathan in Arsenic and Old Lace. Chaney wore the same makeup as Karloff, however, because it was thought that the public wouldn’t like it if the monster looked any different.

Yep, The Ghost of Frankenstein definitely feels like a retread. We’ve got torches and villagers. We’ve got a little girl befriending the monster. We have the angry villagers misjudging the monster. We’ve got the closeted mad scientist who’s also called Dr. Frankenstein. We’ve got burning buildings. We have the daughter of the mad scientist and her sane-to-a-fault boyfriend or fiance who get caught in the middle and blow the lid off of the mad scientist’s secret, respectively.

It’s not a bad movie. In fact, it’s got a strong story and a terrific performance by Bela Lugosi, who steals every scene he’s in. Dwight Frye has a tiny role as a villager, which is also fun. It all flies by. Is it memorable in the long term? Not really, but no one’s expecting Citizen Kane when they watch a Frankenstein movie. Ghost is a lot of fun.

I do feel a wee bit gypped, though. Even though this thing is called The Ghost of Frankenstein, we don’t see any ghosts. Clips of Colin Clive yelling, “IT’S ALIVE!” don’t count.

The reviews had nothing bad to say about the film either, calling it “first-rate chiller-diller” and “a quality production,” suggesting that theater owners post Lon Chaney’s face on the marquee to help with audience draw.

One French publication, La Cinematographie Franςaîse, wasn’t quite as impressed:

All the paraphernalia of the Frankenstein genre has been a new successful focus: castle in flames, complicated devices powered by lightning, enormous chains with which the Monster plays, etc… A more fertile imagination would have achieved their goal more completely.

Thanks to the makeup artist, Lon Chaney does a very good imitation of the character created by the famous Boris Karloff. Bêla Lugosi seconds him with forceful giggles. Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays with his customary authority. Evelyn Ankers and Ralph Bellamy brilliantly form the young and friendly couple of the film.

Speaking of young and friendly, those who worked on the film had good memories. Janet Ann Gallow, who played Cloestein, remembered Lon Chaney being a lovely man and fun to talk to. He even bought ice cream for the kids on the set during breaks. Just like Karloff, though, Chaney had a hard time with the makeup, finding it extremely heavy and uncomfortable, particularly the headpiece.

The next Frankenstein film, however, would be a bit different, as the monster would now share the screen with his fellow creatures in House of Frankenstein. Ghost of Frankenstein seemed like a fitting coda to the early era of the franchise.

Taking a wee break until the blogathon on Friday. Have a good one, all, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you in a few days…

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The Ghost of Frankenstein is available on DVD from Amazon.

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