The Ghost of Frankenstein *** (1942, Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers) – Classic Movie Review 2,776

The 1942 horror movie The Ghost of Frankenstein is the fourth in the Universal Studios series, and stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Dr Frankenstein’s son Ludwig, who sets out to swap the mad brain of the Monster (Lon Chaney Jr) with a benign one.

Director Erle C Kenton’s 1942 American black and white horror movie The Ghost of Frankenstein is the fourth in the series of films produced by Universal Pictures studios based on characters in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. It stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Dr Frankenstein’s second son Ludwig, who sets out to swap the demented, criminal brain of the Monster (played this time by Lon Chaney Jr) with a benign, intelligent one.

Soon, of course, the big, ugly, scary guy is on the rampage once again, in this follow-up to Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein that is enjoyable enough but lacks their budget, style and finesse.

However, Bela Lugosi, as the equally demented shepherd Ygor who resurrects the Monster, leads a rousing support cast who keep the fast-moving B-movie from sinking from the heavy weight of the over-familiar story by Eric Taylor and plodding screenplay by W Scott Darling.

It also stars Lionel Atwill as Doctor Theodore Bohmer, Ralph Bellamy as Erik Ernst and Evelyn Ankers as Elsa Frankenstein.

Chaney Jr takes over as the Monster from Boris Karloff , who played him in the first three films of the series – Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. It is the final appearance of the Monster in a solo capacity in the Universal Monsters series.

It is Lugosi’s second appearance as Ygor after having been apparently killed at the end of Son of Frankenstein. But Ygor is now revealed to have been only maimed by the bullets shot into him by Wolf Frankenstein.

There was no mention of a second son of the original Dr Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein, in which Basil Rathbone stars as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein. Eric Taylor wrote early versions of the script, which had included the return of Basil Rathbone’s character.

It had been hoped that Boris Karloff would return as Frankenstein’s Monster but he had had enough and was on the Broadway stage with his hit play Arsenic and Old Lace.

The Monster is played this time by Lon Chaney Jr.

Also in the cast are Janet Ann Gallow, Barton Yarborough, Doris Lloyd, Leyland Hodgson, Olaf Hytten, Holmes Herbert, Dwight Frye, Harry Cording, Otto Hoffman, Brandon Hurst, Julius Tannen, George Eldredge, Lionel Belmore, Lawrence Grant, Michael Mark, Richard Alexander, Jimmy Phillips, William Smith, Ernie Stanton, Harry Tenbrook and Glen Walters.

To cover the title, Dr Henry Frankenstein, creator of The Monster in Frankenstein, appears as a ghostly apparition (played by Hardwicke) to advise Ludwig.

Next sequel: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, in which Lugosi plays the Monster, with Chaney Jr switching to his Wolf Man character.

It was shot from 14 December 1941 to early January 1942, and released on 13 March 1942.

Chaney had a severe allergic reaction to Jack Pierce’s Monster makeup and was forced to miss several days of shooting.

Running time: 67 minutes.

The cast

The cast are Lon Chaney Jr as the Monster, Cedric Hardwicke as Dr Ludwig Frankenstein, Ralph Bellamy as Erik Ernst, Lionel Atwill as Dr Theodore Bohmer, Bela Lugosi as Ygor, Evelyn Ankers as Elsa Frankenstein, Janet Ann Gallow as Cloestine Hussman, Barton Yarborough as Dr Kettering, Olaf Hytten as Hussman, Doris Lloyd as Martha, Leyland Hodgson as Chief Constable, Holmes Herbert as Magistrate, Lawrence Grant as Mayor, Otto Hoffman as Villager, Dwight Frye as Villager, Harry Cording as Frone, Ernie Stanton as Constable, Harry Tenbrook as Villager, Brandon Hurst, Julius Tannen, George Eldredge, Lionel Belmore, Michael Mark, Richard Alexander, Jimmy Phillips, William Smith, Ernie Stanton, and Glen Walters.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,776

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It also stars Lionel Atwill as Doctor Theodore Bohmer.