I don’t think any Universal Studios fan denies that the
sequels after “Son of Frankenstein” (1939) started to really wane in quality. I
mean the flaws in the “plot code” were quite obvious when you think about how
Ygor (Lugosi) is
still alive despite
every reason to be dead in “The Ghost of Frankenstein” (1942), after a broken
neck (from a hanging) and bullets fired into him established in
Son. And yet I really enjoy Lugosi so
much in the role of Ygor, I don’t care about how he’s basically walking around
a miracle. He’s a devious, cunning fiend, as another Frankenstein, Ludwig
(Cedric Hardwicke), soon recognizes when his peaceful village, Visaria, is
another tragic consequence of his father’s creation. “The Ghost of Frankenstein”
follows
Son in the running theme of
the name of Frankenstein being a curse, a bad taste on the lips, his mad
science considered a stain that has left the nearby village enduring
psychological and (to them) economical/agricultural suffering. Before Visaria,
Ygor remained in the Castle Frankenstein until the township decided it was time
to dynamite the accursed structure and be done with it once and for all. Of
course, the ruins of the castle would still be of use to further sequels. But
for
Ghost, a new location was at
least refreshing even if the film results in the Monster buried under a burning
mansion’s rubble/pillars. Chaney had the chance to add the Frankenstein’s
Monster to his gallery of Universal monster roles, even though I felt all the
good work Karloff provided to it was undermined by this stiff, emotionless
brute portrayal. Ygor did the heavy heel lifting…and for me, this ranks as near
the best characters of his career. Before his career decline, Lugosi really was
at the peak of his villainy. He had already added some low budget film villains
to his own gallery of heels outside of the Universal Studios projects, but Ygor
seemed to really pull from Lugosi the wonderfully loathsome and conniving
qualities that can be found throughout his memorable career. There never is a
moment he isn’t up to no good. Ygor wants the Monster to have “life flowing through
his veins” again with plans to later have his brain in the head of it. Atwill’s
Dr. Bohmer will be Ygor’s patsy, preying on his jealousy of Ludwig Frankenstein
for successful brain transplant surgery…Bohmer “paved the way” but was met with
“tragic consequences” when his patient died on the table. If only “Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man” (1943) had capitalized on Lugosi as the Monster…
While I have my problems with the film—how does Ygor know
Ludwig and why would Bohmer ever agree to transplant Ygor’s brain into the
Monster knowing he’s untrustworthy?—such as Hardwicke’s portraying the ghost of
his Ludwig’s father (the loss of Clive is felt, for sure) and Ludwig just not
going to the police when Ygor and the Monster invade his home and lab. But it
is all about the mistakes of the father visited on his sons and how only
tragedy and “exile” (it is noted by Ludwig that Rathbone’s Wolf went away due
to his birthright) seem to follow any Frankenstein. Hardwicke’s disappointment
and frustration in Ludwig further illustrates that he just can’t get away from
the curse of his father. Through Ygor, this time, was the curse transported
from village to another. Villagers die, Ludwig and his colleagues also
impacted, Ludwig’s daughter endangered.
Despite being of smaller budget, the Universal Studios
polish still gives Ghost a nice look
and feel, the pros in the system never failing to provide enough atmosphere
with the impressive sets (Ludwig’s hospital has secrets passages to hidden
cells and rooms, including surgical rooms) to keep us fans returning despite
the flawed writing. When you are tasked with churning out sequels following
films that seem to truly kill “monsters” that must return despite that, with
new stories featuring them, creative license stretched to the extreme, how
could there not be flaws in the plot code? When the castle of Frankenstein
explodes, with Ygor and the Monster inside and later looking on from a
distance, it is really neat. That village wanted the castle, too dark a
reminder of bad history, to be a distant memory. And Ludwig’s massive
mansion/hospital going up in flames as the local police, Erik (Bellamy) and
Ludwig’s daughter, Elsa (Ankers) view the disaster from a safe distance as the
sun rose over the horizon is quite an adieu. The use of a little girl and some
music accompanying her “bond” with the Monster didn’t work for me, but I
recognize the callback to “Frankenstein” (1931)…if Chaney’s frowning Monster
gave us any reason to like it I guess the relationship might have worked.
“While it lives, no one is safe.”
Comments
Post a Comment