Love for the Frank man...

Well, I am on a Universal Horror binge again... realized I hadn't watched past Bride of Frankenstein when I got the Legacy Collection last Halloween. Watched Frank, then Bride to get everything fresh, then moved on to Son of Frank and Ghost of Frank... now working on Frank meets Wolf Man.


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Some little tidbits that came to mind during my watchings...

Funny for how the monster was so feared during the first movie, yet his kill count was only 2 people... Fritz and Maria (the little girl he introduces to the lake). It originally was 3... Henry Frankenstein was supposed to have died after being hurled from the top of the windmill. They redid it to give it a happy ending, so they added the short scene at the end of him recuperating back at the manor. I quote The Pirate King "... a HAPPY ending !?!" (in disgust)

The monster makes up for it in quick fashion though. He racks up two kills during the first 5 minutes of Bride.

A sign of the times- the two big things they quickly censored. 1) actually seeing Maria getting the heave ho into the lake and 2) one line of dialogue- "Now I know what it's like to be God!" Guess which was restored last? The God line... back in 1999.

Colin Clive (Henry) appears in both films, although there was some initial hesitation to bring him back... apparently he was a chronic alcoholic. But since they had to recast some of the supporting roles already, plus the great job he did as the mad scientist, they went with him at the end. Sadly, Colin died 2 years later at only 37 years old.

Because of my love of Weird Science, I can't help but recall the two clips they used during the night they created Lisa... "Crazy, am I? We'll see whether I'm crazy or not." from Frank... and "She's alive! ALIVE!" from Bride.

Role playing and irony- Lugosi is the Drac man for one movie. Karloff overtakes Lugosi for Frank, then gets Mummy too. Lugosi gets a contract, but becomes the mad scientist/ villain. Karloff takes over for most of the 30s, with Lugosi playing those characters as 2nd billing. Enter the 40s, and Chaney Jr gets Wolf Man, and takes over the 40s, now with Lugosi relegated to the henchman role. I had no idea that he was the Ygor character in the later Frank pics, and also the gypsy/ werewolf that puts the bite on Talbot to get things started. And coming full circle, he gets to play Frank in Frank v Wolf Man, and finally gets to reprise as Dracula in Abbott and Costello meet Frank at the end of the Universal horror era.

Speaking of another sighting... who knew that ol Randolph Duke (that's right, from Duke and Duke in Trading Places) plays a town prosecutor in Ghost of Frank, and the constable in Wolf Man.

So Henry ends up having two kids, both end up being doctors, and both get sucked into the same power trip dad did, even though what happened with Henry and the Monster is public knowledge. It's also amazing how Henry's research always ends up being passed along to the next son. You would think after the first repeat performance the law would seize all the research and destroy it... or heaven forbid you have a moral heir that says- nope, don't even want to go there and destroys it himself as soon as he gets it.

There is some stupidity there too. When Ygor convinces the Monster to get a brain transplant, the current heir is opposed to the idea, but is blackmailed by them (they kidnap a relative of his). Why oppose it? Give them what they want... the Monster will be out like a light on the operating table... helpless... he goes under, you take a bone saw to his neck. Problem solved.


Ive seen Frank v Wolf Man before... so that leaves only one more Frank movie after that to finish the Universal series (I dont count the Abbot and Costello ones).

That was pretty rad man, didn't know most of that. When it comes to Frank though, I never really watched them that much except for the First which is a classic movie, and Bride.

Same as DC, the rest has got me jonesin' to watch the others.