Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writer:

Curt Siodmak (writer)

Release Date:

5 March 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

A Death Fight . . . Between Two Beasts !

Plot:

Larry Talbot chips Frankenstein's monster out of a block of ice. When Talbot changes to the Wolf Man, the two creatures do battle.

Plot Keywords:

Monster | Werewolf | Gypsy | Frankenstein's Monster | Doctor

Cast

Ilona Massey	...	Baroness Elsa Frankenstein
Patric Knowles	...	Dr. Frank Mannering
Lionel Atwill	...	Mayor
Bela Lugosi	...	Monster
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Maleva
Dennis Hoey	...	Inspector Owen
Don Barclay	...	Franzec
Rex Evans	...	Vazec
Dwight Frye	...	Rudi
Harry Stubbs	...	Guno
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Lawrence Stewart Talbot / The Wolf Man (as Lon Chaney)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-11 (2004) | Spain:13 | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #9024) | Sweden:15 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

With Bela Lugosi's dialogue scenes cut, he appears in less than five minutes of the film, with stunt men and doubles appearing in almost two additional minutes.

Goofs:

Factual errors: As Talbot lies in the hospital bed, the moon rises to transform him. Yet the moonlight is shown creeping across the floor towards his bed which is what we would see if the moon were setting. A rising moon would cast its first beams on the wall.

Quotes:

Dr. Frank Mannering: Mr Talbot, if you want us to help you, you must do as we say. Now, please lie down.
Lawrence Talbot: You think I'm insane. You think I don't know what I'm talking about. Well you just look in that grave where Lawrence Talbot is supposed to be buried and see if you find a body in it!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Buenas noches, señor monstruo (1982)

Soundtrack:

Faro-La, Faro-Li

Fun enough, but somewhat lacking

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man may not be the most interesting film that Universal studios made in their horror golden era, but it's worth noting for the fact that it was the first of their films to merge the studio's popular horror characters into one film. There's no Dracula here, and it's actually the least famous of the three major players, the Wolfman, that takes the centre stage. Naturally, Lon Chaney Jr. has returned to play the doomed unfortunate with the curse, and as ever; his performance is good, but not to the same extent that it was in the original Wolfman film. The film was released during the Second World War, and must have been intended as something fun to take people's mind off more important issues; and it at least succeeds on that front. The plot is rather silly, and sees Lawrence Talbot (a.k.a. The Wolfman) being awakened by grave robbers. He doesn't like the fact that he's immortal and feels the need to kill people, so he sets out to find Dr Frankenstein for help. However, the doctor is dead; and Talbot finds only a relative of Frankenstein's, and the Monster...

It has to be said that there's a bit too much going on in this film, and the hour runtime isn't enough to cover it all. Aside from the main plot revolving around the Wolfman and his discovery of Frankenstein's Monster, we've also got threads involving Frankenstein's relatives, a gypsy woman, Talbot's own personal battle and the common angry/frightened villagers theme that Universal horror does so well. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman is never boring, but if the plot line could have been streamlined; the film would have worked better. The film features the only performance from Bela Lugosi as the Monster. Lugosi was, apparently, offered the role of the Monster in James Whale's original film; and I'm glad he didn't take it, as he doesn't bring the same feel to the role as Karloff ended up doing. Series regular Lionel Atwill also makes an appearance, and I was pleased to see Dennis Hoey in the film; an actor most recognised for his performances as the inept Inspector Lestrade in Universal's Sherlock Holmes films. Overall, I have to say that I preferred the later films, House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula; but this one is still worth seeing.