FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN-1943-Two
grave robbers attempt to rob the grave of the deceased Lawrence
Talbot. When they open the grave they find Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is
alive and he grabs one of the robbers. Later Talbot is found on the
streets of a town with a head wound. He's taken to a hospital run by
Dr. Mannering (Patrick Knowles) but he's suspected of being an
impostor when the police inspector (Dennis Hoey) discovers Lawrence
Talbot died years ago. At night with the rise of the full moon, Larry
becomes a werewolf and kills a policeman. Next day when he confesses
to the crime, no one believes him. They think he's deluded.
Later
Larry escapes the hospital and finds the gypsy Maleva (Maria
Ouspenskaya) also the mother of Bela, the wolfman who bite Larry
originally. They go to Vasaria to find Dr. Frankenstein but he's
dead. After the wolfman kills a woman, the town's people (including
Dwight Frye) go after him/it. Seeking refugee in some old ruins he
stumbles upon the frozen body of the infamous Frankenstein monster
(Bela Lugosi). Larry thaws him out and the monster shows him where
his creator kept his diary but alas it's not there. Desperate, Larry
contacts Ilsa, The Baroness Frankenstein but she says she doesn't
have the diary either. Never the less, the burgomaster (Lionel
Atwill) invites the Baroness and Larry to “The Festival of the New
Wine”. Larry freaks out when he hears a singer do a song about life
being short. Dr. Mannering finds him and says he needs psychiatric
care. Just then the monster invades the square but Larry helps him
escape and they hide out at the ruined castle.
Later Mannering, the
baroness and Maleva go to the ruins and the baroness shows Larry
where the diary is hidden. Unfortunately Mannering forgets all about
helping Talbot and becomes obsessed with reviving the monster and
wants to see it at “it's full power”. He botches things up
completely when Ilsa tries to stop him. Talbot changes into the
wolfman and the monster escapes and menaces Ilsa for a bit then the
two monsters fight. During the tussle (in which Mannering and Ilsa
escape) rotund bartender Vazec (Ray Evans) blows up the dam, flooding
the castle and interrupting thefight. The end. Maleva is forgotten
about.
The story behind FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE
WOLFMAN is that originally Universal wanted Chaney to play both
monster roles. When that was scrapped Lugosi was hired to play the
monster. His portrayal is often criticized heavily but once again
there's a more to it. In the original story the monster had the
ability to talk. However when the movie was finished nobody liked the
dialogue. Some said it was laughable. It was re-cut with all of the
monster's speaking parts taken out. Also the monster was blind but in
the re-editing this was also taken out. They didn't shoot any
additional scenes to explain any of it which left Lugosi's monster
kind of looking like an arm waving buffoon at times. Although
Franky's evil grin as he's being revived is the highlight scene.
There's also stories of several stuntmen subbing for Lugosi. One
scene of the monster in ice is definitely Eddie Parker.
Of course
back in the day, the studio wanted Lugosi to play the monster in the
original FRANKENSTEIN. He fought against it and Boris Karloff got the
role.
FMTW is a sequel to both TTHE GHOST OF
FRANKENSTEIN and THE WOLFMAN. It was directed by Roy William Neil who
was already into the work he would arguably best known for: the
Universal Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel
Bruce. Since it's edited down it's hard to judge. The direction and
acting are good but there's really not that much of the monster and
when he does finally clash with the wolfman it's a brief duel ended
prematurely. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak has said that he originally
came up with the title as a joke.
Thanks for reading!
(imdb)
