Le fils de Frankenstein

Series note: I strongly recommend that you watch the Frankenstein films to this point in order. Each builds on the events of the previous entry and will have much more meaning and significance if watched in order. The first film is Frankenstein (1931), and the second is Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The third film in Universal's Frankenstein series, Son of Frankenstein is set after the first two film's Henry Frankenstein has passed away. Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), Henry's son, is on his way to claim his inheritance from his father, and receives a not-too-warm welcome from the small German town that has been frightened out of its wits by Henry's doings with monsters. While staying at the family castle, Wolf opens a box containing his father's research records and a note from his father encouraging him to follow in the same footsteps. He initially believes he's not worthy of such encouragement, but becoming a "mad doctor" may be easier than he thinks.

In both the overall tone of the film and in the tone of Boris Karloff's last turn as "The Monster", Son of Frankenstein is much more closely allied with James Whale's first Frankenstein film, rather than the camp-fest that was Bride of Frankenstein. New series director Rowland V. Lee has everything played various seriously, even Bela Lugosi's Ygor, which could have easily become funny, intentionally so or not.

Adding to the atmosphere are the sets, which are just as grand in their own way as anything in either of Whale's two Frankenstein films. This time around the expressionist influence is at its strongest, but it is combined with a prescient minimalism. While the first two films had strong surrealist visual touches combined with their expressionism, Son of Frankenstein dispenses altogether with any concerns of approaching realism or naturalism. The idea here instead is to create starkness and shadows, often with a maximum of intentional artificiality. It's an appropriate approach that both pays homage to the earlier films and reflects the plot of the present film--shadows are an offspring of their parent objects, and the monster is an artificial man. The production and set design of the film is even more remarkable when one realizes that art directors of the era routinely worked on many films at once. Son of Frankenstein's Art Director Jack Otterson, for example, worked on over 50 films in 1942 alone!

It's a rare treat to have three genre icons the caliber of Rathbone, Karloff and Lugosi together in one film. They mesh exquisitely, managing to enhance each other's performances with no one upstaging anyone else. Lionel Atwill, as Inspector Krogh, easily holds his own with the trio (although any fan of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (1974) is sure to laugh at occasional moments involving Krogh, since he is so perfectly spoofed in Brooks' film), as does the beautiful Josephine Hutchinson as Frankenstein's wife Elsa (named after the woman who played The Bride in the previous film, Elsa Lanchester) and Donnie Dunagan as their son Peter.

Lugosi's Ygor was supposedly improvised then written into the film--Lugosi was originally slated to play a policeman. This is remarkable in that his shepherd character and relationship to The Monster are so well integrated. The Monster symbolically wears a heavy woolen vest/smock, and has a deeply symbiotic relationship with Ygor that is the core of the film. Ygor is also "undead" in his own way.

While Son of Frankenstein is not nearly as epic as the first two films, it should not be. Its aim is to unfold more like a stage play, with highly abstract, symbolic sets and finely integrated performances from a skilled cast. As such, it is every bit as good as the first two films in the series.

Usually the third film in a series shows signs of decline either in quality or inventiveness. Even the third 'Godfather' was significantly less than its predecessors. Universal's 'Frankenstein' series that began in the early 1930's was no exception and showed some wear by the end of the decade when 'Son of Frankenstein' was released. Under the sensitive direction of James Whale, the original 'Frankenstein' was a classic, and, in the first sequel, 'Bride of Frankenstein,' Whale even managed to better it. However, while Whale was not involved with 'Son,' the third installment turned out to be a surprisingly good movie even if it failed to match the two preceding films. Perhaps the major reason for the success of 'Son' was the casting of Basil Rathbone as Wolf Frankenstein, the original Baron's son. Rathbone is a fine strong actor, and his characterization certainly exceeds Colin Clive's somewhat colorless portrayal of his father in the preceding films. Rathbone holds the viewer's attention throughout as he becomes immersed in the legacy of his father and fails to comprehend the consequences of what he is doing. Boris Karloff returns for a third time as the monster. Although he does a fine job, there is less opportunity for the actor to show the range of emotion in this film that he displayed in 'Bride.' Another aspect of 'Son' that raises it above the ordinary is the set and lighting design, which owes a debt to German expressionism. The sets have bold diagonals in their construction, and the cameraman has lit them to cast equally bold shadows against bare walls and create abstract patterns that often recall 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.' The lighting and design of one particular section of a cave under the Frankenstein laboratory could have been blown up and framed as an expressionist photograph. Although it does not reach the heights of the Whale films, 'Son of Frankenstein' is a worthy successor and an engrossing film in its own right.

"Son of Frankenstein" (Universal, 1939), directed by Rowland V. Lee, marked a new beginning to the second cycle of Universal horror: a lavish, stylish, stagy production as well as the longest (94 minutes) movie in the FRANKENSTEIN series. Boris Karloff returns for the third and final time as The Monster, but unfortunately, after such a grand performance in "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), in which Karloff got star billing, The Monster in this production is of secondary importance, coming late into the story and spending more than half the film lying in an unconscious state on an operating table inside the lab. Star billing goes to Basil Rathbone as Baron Wolf Von Frankenstein, the son of the scientist who brought nothing but misery in the German town, but the scene stealer in this production happens to be Bela Lugosi, almost unrecognizable as the bearded character of Ygor, possibly his best performance in his latter day career. It features Lugosi in a performance unlike anything he has done thus far, and he virtually helps the story along especially during its numerous slow spots. This also marked his fourth teaming opposite Karloff, but this time, Lugosi outshines Karloff's performance. Then there is Lionel Atwill, another horror film veteran, making his debut in the series, playing a one armed police inspector, another interesting presence to the story.

The story, set in a Gothic German village, finds Wolf Von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) returning by train to the town where his parents once lived. He is accompanied by his charming wife, Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson), and their little boy, Peter (Donnie Donegan). Wolf hopes to make amends to the villagers from what his late father had done (creating a Monster who terrorized their village years ago) and become their good neighbors, but with the Frankenstein name, the family is cursed, and nobody wants anything to do with them. The Frankensteins are first met by Inspector Krough (Atwill), a police official with an artificial arm, claiming to have lost his real arm when he was a young boy when the Monster ripped from his body by the roots, but in spite of all this, Krough is on duty to aide the Frankensteins in case trouble amongst the villagers prevails. Also in the castle where the Frankensteins are staying are Aunt Amelia (Emma Dunn), and Thomas Benson, the butler (Edgar Norton).

While the movie starts off rather slowly, it then comes to life when Wolf encounters Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a crazed bearded shepherd who was once or twice sentenced and hanged for grave robbing, and still lives. Ygor is also the master of the Monster (Karloff), who "does things for him." His coma condition happens to be a result of an aftereffect of being struck by lightning, and Ygor calls on Wolf to help revive the monster.

"Son of Frankenstein" is more of a science fiction nature than horror, since the movie spends a great deal of footage in the laboratory having Frankenstein examining his father's creation and how this physical being has survived such ordeals after finding his heart containing two bullets, etc. But after Karloff's monster is revived, he manages to present himself with some key scenes, such as looking at himself in the mirror and pulling Wolf along side him as a comparison; and the Monster's fondness of children, especially Wolf's little boy who fears him not.

The storyline, however, contradicts what had been said and done in previous movies, such as letting the Monster, who had learned to talk in "The Bride of ...," resorting back to only grunts. It even fails to explain how the Monster had survived his demise from the earlier film. And what's the deal with the woolly garment he is wearing? In spite of these drastic changes, the movie itself is full of characters, ranging from Lionel Bellmore, the Burgomaster in 1931's "Frankenstein," now playing Emile Lang, along with Gustav Von Seyffertitz (the villainous Grimes in the 1926 silent classic, "Sparrows") as one of the jurors. While Colin Clive's Frankenstein character allowed himself to become hysterical in the first two entries, viewers expect and accept this, but when Rathbone's character calls for him to do the same, especially during the dart playing sequence with Krough, this somewhat becomes embarrassing to sit through, in spite that Rathbone is a very capable actor who seldom overacts as he does here.

While not on the same scale as James Whale's earlier carnations of the Frankenstein films, "Son of Frankenstein" is still watchable, mainly because of its Universal staff players, and added sound effects of thunder and lightning, as well as very moody setting made to the comforts of home for the Frankenstein family. The underscoring by Frank Skinner introduced here would be heard time and time again in other Universal horror films of the 1940s. This movie played on numerous cable channels, including the Sci-Fi Channel, American Movie Classics (1991, and again from 2000 to 2002, 2006), and finally on Turner Classic Movies where it premiered in January 2003. It can also be found as a video/DVD purchase or rental. (***)

Definitely the most underrated of the three "Karloff-as-Monster" films. To my mind, it's the one that plays best today. Bela Legosi gives his finest, most understated performance as Ygor. The cinematography is spectacular. Lionel Atwill's performance is my favorite of his (and one of the few times he didn't play a villain). I could go on and on ad infinitum, but I don't see the reason to. The film speaks for itself. It gets one of my highest recommendations.

When Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) arrives to take over his father's estate, the locals immediately begin to fear for the worst. Wolf's father created a monster that terrorized the community and the townsfolk want no more of that. Wolf assures everyone that he has no intentions of creating a monster. But when Wolf finds Ygor (Bela Lugosi) living in the ruins of his father's laboratory, he is soon headed down the same path of destruction that claimed his father.

Over the years, there have been volumes written on the Universal classic horror movies. Realizing that it would be foolish of me to attempt to improve or add much to the writings of these scholars, I'll instead focus on a couple of areas that make Son of Frankenstein so special to me.

1. The Acting. Son of Frankenstein features a Who's Who of the best of the classic horror actors. Joining Rathbone and Lugosi in the cast are Boris Karloff and Lionel Atwill. While each gives a noteworthy performance in their own right, Lugosi's performance is generally held up as the best of his career. And while I agree, Rathbone makes Son of Frankenstein a joy for me to watch. There are very few actors that I can think of who could have played Wolf with the same type of intelligent energy that Rathbone exhibits. He's wonderful. As for Karloff, I'm glad he decided to make Son of Frankenstein his last as the monster. By the time of the second sequel, Karloff's monster became little more that a prop for Lugosi, Rathbone, and Atwill to fight over.

2. The Sets. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the sets in Son of Frankenstein are among the best I've ever seen. The sets are amazing with their bizarre angles and shadows. Two that immediately come to mind are the dining table set and the staircase set at the beginning of the movie. They are in a class of their own.

Every fan of horror, or just good classic movies in general, owes it to themselves to see Son of Frankenstein. It may not be as well known among the casual fan as either Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein, but it many ways it's the equal of those two films (if not better).