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Son
of Frankenstein
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 Amelia greets Wolf and Elsa von Frankenstein, who have just arrived at the castle. |
 The Baron holds a box of his father's papers. Benson offers to take it. |
 Elsa is introduced to Inspector Krogh. |
 Inspector Krogh warns Baron von Frankenstein of the danger of the monster. |
Next day, Wolf von Frankenstein searches the remains of his father's old, partially destroyed laboratory, which is built on top of a sulphur pit. While there, he meets Ygor, a villainous, half-crazy old shepherd who had cheated death on the gallows, but who had a permanently displaced and broken neck as the result of his experience. Ygor leads young Frankenstein down to the family tomb where to Wolf's absolute amazement lies the "Monster" created by his father. The huge malformed creature now lies in a rigid coma into which a stroke of lightning has thrown him.
Ygor asks Dr. Frankenstein to help revive his friend. Here is the chance Wolf has longed for—to vindicate his father by endeavoring to cure and humanize the giant creature. As a doctor, Frankenstein is fascinated with the monster, calling it wonderful and superhuman. He says, "I, as a man, should destroy him. But as a scientist, I should do everything in my power to bring him back to conscious life, so that the world can study his abnormal functions. That would vindicate my father and his name would be enshrined among the immortals."
"Son of Frankenstein" Great Money Bet The newest Universal has come through on a tough assignment. Where a slap-dash version of "Frankenstein might have sufficed to cash in big at the box office, where even sincerity might have made plenty of mistakes, the happiest thing to record about "Son of Frankenstein" is that it is a production job avoiding the pitfalls and finding new heights. A salute to all concerned. "Class," that almost undefinable word, is the one word that comes closest to a description of "Son of Frankenstein." Class in production guidance and direction by Rowland Lee, class superb in casting, class in writing, class in inspiration and execution of settings, class in skillful subordinated effectiveness of musical background and sound effects. "Class" is the word. If you think that this cynical reviewer is going gushy on the picture, perhaps we had better explain how we approached its preview—then picture makers and picture exhibitors will understand what we mean. We approached "Son of Frankenstein" with fear and trembling. Anybody, with a budget from thirty thousand dollars up, could have produced a chiller and thriller that would make box office money with no more than the title "Frankenstein." But then we reviewers would be using parlor language and telling you the picture would make money, while we pulled our punches on technical achievement. But on the other hand, anybody could have taken that cast and a half million or so of money and made two other pictures that would have been box office without "Frankenstein." So it would seem. It is the combination spelling of that word that worries us—"class"—that the result was achieved which now has us enthusing. Because—to come down to earth suddenly—"Son of Frankenstein" is a picture that the de luxe silken draped first runs can play, and at the same time it is a picture that the bread and butter houses will play. Exhibitors will understand what we are talking about. Rowland Lee built the picture like a bewhiskered master plays a chess game. He first set a legitimate reason for there being another Frankenstein and a resurrected monster. The story tells us that the son of the mad creator of the original monster is retuning to his Teutonic castle. Lee put the part of the son in the hands of Basil Rathbone. The latter, without taking a thing away fro the rest of a marvelous cast, is the keynote of legitimacy that holds the whole together and on a plane of intelligence. It's the best job Rathbone has given the screen, because he was called upon to give so much. Having set his premise, Lee realized that while he had Karloff for the monster, he couldn't top the original Frankenstein in this day and age of Flash Gordons and others with just another monster. So, while we have our monster, we have protection in the presence of Bela Lugosi, real heavy of the picture, turning in the performance that we would expect of that grand trouper. (Ye, gods, we hope this picture industry doesn't proceed to forget Lugosi again, now that he has scored another horror hit.) Lee proceeded with the rest of his cast. Lionel Atwill, who has been stalling around a year or so playing "fellows who wear uniforms," found the waiting justified and went to town with the first acting he has been called upon to do in months. Josephine Hutchison takes that difficult hurdle of a feminine part in a group of males, and measures up in ability to the good writing and direction. Then, for smaller, but nevertheless important roles, there is a "type spotting" job of the sort we usually envy foreign producers. Such players as Edgar Norton, Emma Dunn, Perry Ivins, Lawrence Grant, Lionel Belmore, Michel Mark, Gustav van Seiffertitz, Caroline Johnson, Lorimer Johnson, Tom Ricketts challenge the best that the ultra-ultra foreign worshippers can present. And there is a fine youngster in Donnie Dunagan. Jack Otterson's handling of the art direction gives him equal rating in any list of credits for the whole job, which naturally bring in the proper orchids for George Robinson behind those cameras. We have already bowed to the musical direction for which Frank Skinner's score shares honors with Charles Previn's direction. Ah, yes—all this needed a story and a screenplay behind it. The credits say Willis Cooper. The name is new to credit sheets. But we'll just be one step ahead of the parade in discovering an individual able to combine solidly correct story structure with adultly intelligent dialogue. Pulp paper story strength at its best, dressed in smooth paper treatment. There's a million dollars—for Universal and for exhibitors—in "Son of Frankenstein." Rowland Lee can sit back and catch his breath after a touch assignment completely conquered. —Box Office Digest, January 17, 1939 |
The old laboratory is put into some sort of shape, new apparatus is installed and Wolf, aided by his old butler, Benson, and the crazy shepherd, Ygor, attempts to revive the monster. He believes that he has failed until Peter, his baby son, says that a big giant has visited his nursery. Worried, Wolf then realizes that the "Monster" is at large. Finding the monster in the lab, Wolf feels cold fear when the monster lays a hand on his shoulder. But the monster faithfully obeys Ygor. The villainous shepherd is out for revenge against the members of the jury which sentenced him to death, and it is he who instigates the "Monster" into committing two more savage and brutal murders. Benson, too, mysteriously disappears.
Wolf dare not take anyone else into his confidence, and tries to cover up the fact that the "Monster" is at large again, but Inspector Krogh finds out about the giant's visits to the nursery, and actually discovers Peter playing with Benson's watch. So he too knows. Frankenstein visits the laboratory and Ygor tries to murder him, but is shot. The "Monster" returns to find his only friend dead, and in a moving scene, the monster finds Ygor's body, tenderly picks it up and carries it to a bed. The monster grieves over the death of his friend, then, enraged, he goes berserk, tearing apart the laboratory.
 Castle architecture: Foyer |
 Castle architecture: Dining room |
 Dr. Frankenstein discovers the ruins of the old lab. |
 He meets Ygor while exploring the old lab. |
Up at the castle Inspector Krogh confronts Dr. Frankenstein, accusing him of controlling the monster who has been killing villagers. While they are arguing, the monster invades the castle and takes Frankenstein's young son. Both Frankenstein and Inspector Krogh rush to the laboratory to save the boy. In a climactic conclusion, the monster rips off Krogh's arm, and Frankenstein swings on a huge chain, knocking the monster into the molten sulphur pit.
In the final scene the Baron, having decided to take his family away from the village, gives the deed to the Frankenstein estate to the villagers, to do with as they please so that they may again have peace of mind.
"Son of Frankenstein"
 Chills and thrills are the entertainment substance of "The Son of Frankenstein." The commercial and exploitation merits of these qualities are known. There is horror and terror in the picture, too. But neither carries the same impact of surprise that was inherent in the first presentation dealing with the exploits of the artificially made monster of inhuman humanity conjured in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's imagination. The hysteria that accompanied the showing of the original "Frankenstein" and the publicity that accrued to it as well as to the recent revivals have more or less diluted the element of eerie and awesome surprise. Withal, "Son of Frankenstein" is a shocker. It is made so by the creepy quality of Willis Cooper's screenplay' by Rowland V. Lee's dextrous direction; by the weird effects resulting from backgrounds and production effects created by Jack Otterson and the dramatic style in which they and the players were photographed by George Robinson. But the basic reasons for "Son of Frankenstein" being a screen attraction of more than usual importance are the expert characterizations created by Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, Donnie Dunagan and the members of the supporting cast. Rathbone and his family are unwanted, feared and hated when they return to the ancestral home. The populace remembers too well the terror caused by the monster created by his father. The horror is not long in having its inning. Rathbone finds that the monster instead of being destroyed, is living in suspended animation, cared for by the legally dead by living Lugosi. to prove that his father was a scientist, not a madman, Rathbone revives the monster (Karloff). Under Lugosi's avenging guidance the brute kills two members of the jury that had condemned him to death. Rathbone tries to protect both from the people and from Atwill's police until they threaten his child, Donnie Dunagan. Killing Lugosi, he destroys the monster forever by kicking him into a boiling sulphur pool. G. McC —Motion Picture Daily, January 17, 1939 |
Universal Studios, which had produced some classic horror films including Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), suddenly stopped making horror films. The studio didn't release any horror films in 1937 and 1938.
On April 5, 1938, a theater in Los Angeles presented a triple feature of Frankenstein, Dracula and Son of Kong. It was a resounding success, and soon other theatres across the country featured revivals of Universal's horror films. The box office results were successful and the public was eager for more. Based on the positive feedback, Universal soon decided to make a sequel to Bride of Frankenstein.
Peter Lorre was originally chosen to play the part of Frankenstein's son. There are varied reports of why Lorre didn't end up in the film:
- According to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Lorre turned down the offer.
- Wikipedia says Lorre had to leave the film when he became ill.
- The Seattle Daily Times (Oct. 28, 1938) reported that Universal was unable to borrow Peter Lorre for the film.
- A Turner Classic Movies article states that the director steered Universal away from casting Lorre and lobbied for Basil Rathbone instead.
Whatever the reason, Lorre was out, and Basil Rathbone was cast as Wolf von Frankenstein. Rathbone started work on the film on Monday, October 24, 1938. Shooting was scheduled to be completed in early December, but there were several delays. Director Rowland Lee finally finished shooting the final scenes January 5, 1939. The film was rushed to meet a January 13, 1939 release date.
 Ygor shows Wolf a secret passage in the lab. |
 Ygor leads Wolf to the crypt, where he finds ... |
 the Monster! |
 The monster is alive, but in a coma. |
The budget for Son of Frankenstein was $500,000, but the final production cost was $420,000. Rathbone was paid $5000 per week.
Boris Karloff was again cast as the Monster, and he gives a sympathetic characterization of the menacing, lumbering brute. Karloff's call was for 5:00 a.m. each morning, and when he arrived, make-up artist Jack Pierce worked for four hours to transform the actor into the Monster.
Karloff wore 65 pounds of makeup and padding—12 pounds of makeup, 25 pounds of lead in the shoes, and the balance in the clothes and padding. His face was covered with a mask of gray-green grease paint. Pierce placed putty on each eyelid to give them a heavy, half-closed appearance. The costume made Karloff eight inches taller than his actual height.
Some differences between Son of Frankenstein and previous Frankenstein films include:
- The monster had acquired the ability to speak in Bride of Frankenstein, but in Son of Frankenstein, he could no longer speak. Perhaps this was caused by the lightning strike that put him into a coma.
- In the previous films, the monster's creator was named "Henry Frankenstein"; he had no "von" in his name and he wasn't a Baron.
- The tomb in Son of Frankenstein shows Henry's name as Heinrich.
- The village that is called Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein was called Ingolstadt in previous films.
- The castle looks very different, yet it is supposed to be the same castle where the monster was created.
Son of Frankenstein Typical chiller developed on regulation formula, 'Son of Frankenstein' will attract substantial business in those houses where audiences like their melodrama strong and weird. Rather strong material for the top keys, picture still will garner plenty of booking s in the secondary first runs along the main stem. Value of latest Frankenstein feature has recently been enhanced through reissues of former pictures in the series. Boris Karloff's man-made monster is revived in the castle of Frankenstein to provide material for another adventure of the ogre. Basil Rathbone, son of the scientist-creator, returns from America to the family estate, becomes intrigued with the dormant ogre and revives him with idea of changing the brute nature within. But before experiments can be accomplished, monster terrifies everyone, and is eventually tossed into the boiling sulphur pit for apparent lasting destruction. Most of the surprise elements necessary for a shocker are utilized to build audience suspense. There are secret passages and panels; surprise opening of doors and well-timed sound effects to further create tense interest. Photography is held at low key lighting, employing several shadow effects to further spooky and weird reactions. For offering of its type, picture is well mounted, nicely directed, and includes cast of capable artists. Karloff has his monster in former groove as the big and powerful brute who crushes and smashes victims. Basil Rathbone carries the title spot; Bela Lugosi is the mad cripple who guides the monster on murder forays. Lionel Atwill is prominent as village inspector of police, in on the final destruction of the monster. Universal has given 'A' production layout to the thriller in all departments. Story is slow and draggy in getting under way prior to first appearance of Karloff, but from that point on, sustains interest at high pitch. —Variety, January 18, 1939 |
Bela Lugosi's role of Ygor was not in the original script at all. Director Rowland Lee added the part of the broken-necked grave robber. Lugosi proved himself a very capable actor and gave a vivid characterization of the Monster's friend. He spoke in a raspy, almost whispered voice that makes the spine tingle. Director Rowland Lee described Lugosi's interpretation of Ygor as "unique, imaginative, and totally unexpected ... he played Ygor as a rogue, but one that evoked sympathy. There was warmth in his voice and a twinkle in his eye that made him almost lovable." Ygor was Lugosi's most celebrated portrayal since Count Dracula (1931).
 Ygor: "Make him vell, Frankenstein!" |
 Determined to restore his father's reputation, Frankenstein changes "Maker of Monsters" to "Maker of Men" on his father's tomb. |
 Wolf tells Ygor that he needs Benson's assistance. |
 Wolf measures the monster's blood pressure. |
Art Director Jack Otterson described the sets as "psychological sets." His task was to create settings that would arouse a reaction of impending danger and mystery in the eyes of the beholder. The sets had to be in keeping with the mood of the picture. Otterson solved this problem by departing from any known style of architecture, and without indulging in over-stressed cubistic or surrealistic designs. In a press release, Otterson explained, "The sets were rather an orderly array of planes and masses which, at the first glance, resembled a castle interior. But the angles and masses were calculated to force an impression of a weird locale, and without intruding too strongly into the consciousness of the spectator." Otterson counted on the normal characters to emphasize the abnormality of the sets, and the sets to emphasize the abnormality of the Monster.
"Son of Frankenstein" Very good. Universal has a worthy successor in this to the first "Frankenstein" picture, for, though less horrific, it is as exciting as the other. The production, acting, and direction are of a superior quality. As in the first picture, there are situations that hold one in tense suspense, sending chills down one's spine, and others that tend to touch one's emotions. The eeriness of the settings, both indoor and outdoor, adds considerably to the excitement:— Basil Rathbone, son of the scientist who had created the monster, arrives at the town of Frankenstein, there to live with his wife (Josephine Hutchinson), child (Donnie Dunagan), and servants in the castle he had inherited from his father. Being a scientist like his father, Rathbone is thrilled when he reads his father's notes on his creation of the monster. The townsfolk refuse to have anything to do with Rathbone, whose father had brought them so much misery and unhappiness; but he disregards them, refusing to listen to the warnings of Lionel Atwill, the police inspector, who had cautioned him against trying anything in his father's field. Rathbone is thrilled when he learns, through Bela Lugosi, a deformed, murderous looter of graves, that the monster sill lived, although he was too ill to move. Rathbone brings the monster back to life; the fact that it commits murders, again terrorizing the neighborhood, does not stop him from his work. In a quarrel with Lugosi, Rathbone is forced to kill him in self defense. The monster is grief-stricken, for Lugosi had been the only person who had had control over him. In his grief, he goes after Rathbone's child; it is then that Rathbone awakens to the wrong he had done. Together with Atwill he rushes to save his child; Atwill grabs the child and Rathbone disposes of the monster by pushing it into a boiling natural sulphur pool. Rathbone turns over the castle to the town, to do with as they pleased; he and his family leave the country. Willis Cooper wrote the screen play, and Rowland V. Lee produced and directed it. In the cast are Emma Dunn, Edgar Norton, Lawrence Grant, and others. It may frighten children. Suitable mostly for adults. Class B. —Harrison's Reports, January 28, 1939 |
"Basil Rathbone is such a good actor that he could play mad scientists in his sleep, and he does a reasonably good job on this film, treating the whole business with the same disdain he probably felt for the film. His acting ranges from uninterested to over the top, and both actually suit the film surprisingly well." Janne Wass, "Son of Frankenstein," scifist 2.0, https://scifist.net/2019/09/01/son-of-frankenstein/
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 Frankenstein discovers that there are bullets in the monster's heart. He's amazed that the monster still lives. |
 The monster's blood has amazing properties. |
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"Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Basil Rathbone work together with such an awesome effect of terror it is almost unbearable. ... Prepare for nightmares." —Photoplay, April 1939
"Rathbone plays the heir with a clipped, compelling authority that is both convincing yet sympathetic." —John Howard Reid, Science Fiction and Fantasy Cinema: Classic Films of Horror, Sci-fi and the Supernatural
"Son of Frankenstein" Streamlined horror, 1939-model, stalks before the cameras at Universal studios. It is "Son of Frankenstein," presenting three of the world's master horror personalities—Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The thrilliest, chilliest, most terrorising cinema conception ever to spring from the brain of a scenarist is a sequel to the two former Universal shockers, which since their first presentation have been revived again and again with ever increasing success, "Frankenstein," made in 1931, and "The Bride of Frankenstein," which came to the screen in 1935. The whole "Frankenstein" business first started in 1816. Lord Byron, Polidori, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his wife, Mary Shelley, agreed that each should try to write a ghost-story. They were spending the summer as neighbours in Switzerland and certain volumes of that class of literature, translated from the French and German, had fallen into their hands. Byron began a tale, a fragment of which was afterwards printed at the end of his "Mazeppa," and Shelley began one founded on his early life. Polidori's also, was never completed. Mrs. Shelley's endeavour alone saw the light, and in a shape that bids fair to live as one of the weirdest conceptions in our language. "Frankenstein" proved fertile material for the screen. James Whale directed the film version with a cast which included Colin Clive, as the original Dr. Frankenstein, Mae Clark as his wife, Boris Karloff in his famous make-up as the Monster and John Boles in an important supporting role. James Whale also directed the successor, "The Bride of Frankenstein" with Colin Clive again as Henry Frankenstein and Boris Karloff once more spreading death, destruction and terror through the picture. Valerie Hobson had the role of Frankenstein's wife, and Elsa Lanchester played one of her most famous roles in the film as the bride of the monster. The new "Son of Frankenstein" cast boasts, in addition to Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi such well-known screen personalities as Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, Donnie Dunagan, Edgar Norton and Emma Dunne in its principal roles. the locale is Hungary, and the time the present. Every art of the modern cinema has been used to create weird and wonderful horror effects never before seen on any screen. For instance, the sets are an integral part of the dramatic element of the story. Created by Jack Otterson, they are designed for their psychological effect upon the observer. Following no recognised architectural scheme, they present an array of 'planes and masses, disproportionate and eery, contributing to the ominous air which hangs over the locale, the ancient castle of the Frankensteins. Lighting and photography will take advantage of every angle of these sets. Long and ghostly shadows will stalk across walls and floors and menace from high positions on the walls. Lightning will flash, thunder roar, and flesh-tingling screams will echo through cavernous halls and down tortuous underground passages. The busiest man on the set is Jack Pierce, head make-up man of Universal studios. He is is whose imagination and artistry produced the original monster. He gets to the studio at 5 a.m., and for the ensuing four hours is busy applying the make-up to Boris Karloff—and he needs another hour in the evening to take the make-up off the monster-man. But it is Boris Karloff who bears the brunt, for the completed make-up and costume weighs him down with sixty-four unwieldly pounds. —Boy's Cinema, February 11, 1939 |
The Universal studio bosses worried about how much money the production delays might cost them. They need not have worried, though. Son of Frankenstein was a huge hit. A few short weeks after the film's release, Universal was reporting that it was doing the biggest box office business in the history of horror pictures in its key city openings, with holdovers being chalked up on every play date. The film continues to be popular among horror fans today.
Watch the trailer for Son of Frankenstein:
More pictures and reviews on Page Two.
Go to Page Three for pictures of posters and lobby cards.
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Son of Frankenstein is available on DVD
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Images on this page and pages 2 and 3 are from the film "Son of Frankenstein," copyright Universal Pictures.
