"Son of Frankenstein" Review

 

by Daniel White

Happy Birthday Bela Lugosi (October 20, 1882 - August 16, 1956)! What better way to celebrate Mr. Lugosi's birthday than to watch Son of Frankenstein (1939), one of the few movies where Bela got the best of Boris in the acting department.

Neither legend gets top billing. That horror honor is reserved for Basil Rathbone, who plays Dr. Wolf von Frankenstein. Wolf and his wife, Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson), have returned, with their young son, Peter (Donnie Dunagan), to the baronial estate, the site of the first two films. There they encounter hostile villagers led by Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill), who have not forgotten the fiasco that the elder Frankenstein beset upon them a generation before.

Also lurking about is Ygor (Lugosi), a half-mad hunchback who has befriended the near dead monster (Karloff) and wants the good doctor to reanimate him.

The third Frankenstein film, and the first not directed by James Whale, does not have the gallows humor that Whale infused in the previous two. What it does have is great cinematography, an impressive musical score by Frank Skinner, and impeccably ghoulish set designs. And while director Rowland V. Lee may not be the genius that James Whale is, he does a deft job of keeping things moving spookily along.

Poor Boris Karloff doesn't get a lot to do except shuffle along and dispense with pesky villagers. But Bela shines, whether spitting in the eye of one of his enemies ("I cough, bone get stuck in my throat!"), or taking complete control of the monster ("He's mine, he don't belong to you!"), he is given the chance to spark against an underused Karloff. Basil Rathbone does a great job too. He jumps into the macabre proceedings with glee, tackling his role as the Son of Frankenstein adroitly. Along with the worried Inspector Krogh ("One doesn't easily forget, Herr Baron, an arm torn out by the roots"), the three actors carry the movie along to it's inevitable conclusion that includes a raging monster, a helpless child, and a stinky sulphur pit.

Mel Brooks used much of this movie when he lampooned Universal Frankenstein films in his brilliant comedy, Young Frankenstein (1974). If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then parody must be a close second.

A troubled production that went over budget, Universal Pictures chose to resume it's popular horror film franchise after successful reissues of both its Frankenstein and Dracula movies. This movie would also be financially profitable, beginning another cycle of fright films for the studio. However, this would be Karloff's last outing as the monster, and Lugosi would rarely, if ever, get such a juicy part as he does here, playing the shrewd, cunning Ygor.

All concerned take their jobs seriously, and for that, this horror film aficionado thanks them. Happy, happy Birthday Bela, thank YOU for all the chills and thrills you give, and continue to give! You will never be forgotten!

With Emma Dunn and Edgar Norton as the faithful servants, Son of Frankenstein is available on Peacock. Happy Halloween, everybody!