Son of Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein (United Artists) (1939)

2 COL SCENE MAT 2-A 'SON OF FRANKENSTEIN" CREDITS Realart Pictures presents BASIL RATHBONE BORIS KARLOFF BELA LUGOSI “SON OF FRANKENSTEIN” With LIONEL ATWILL, JOSE¬ PHINE HUTCHINSON, Emma Dunn Donnie Dunagan, Edgar Norton. Original Screenplay by Willis Cooper Cameraman .George Robinson Produced and Directed by... .Rowland V. Lee A Rowland V. Lee Production Released by Film Classics, Inc. CAST Baron Wolf von Frankenstein .Basil Rathbone The Monster . Boris Karloff Ygor .Bela Lugosi Krogh ,.Lionel Atwill Elsa von Frankenstein . .. Josephine Hutchinson Amelia .Emma Dunn Peter von Frankenstein .Donnie Dtmagan Benson .Edgar Norton SYNOPSIS (Not for publication) Twenty-five years after his fa ther’s death, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (BASIL RATH¬ BONE), his wife, Elsa (JOSE¬ PHINE HUTCHINSON) and his son, Peter (DONNIE DUNAGAN), occupy the family’s ancestral cas¬ tle. Investigating his father’s old laboratory, however, Frankenstein meets Ygor (BELA LUGOSI), crazed, broken-necked shepherd who leads him to the Frankenstein family crypt, where lies the Mon¬ ster, in a coma as the result of a lightning stroke. With scientific fervor, Franken¬ stein, aided by his servant, Benson (EDGAR NORTON), attempts to revive the Monster but believes he has failed until Peter tells him that a huge giant has visited his bedroom. Horrified, Frankenstein learns from Ygor that the Monster is at large. "BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN" The Cast The Monster .KARLOFF Henry Frankenstein ...Colin Clive Elizabeth --Valerie Hobson The Mate .Elsa Lanchester Mary Shelley.Elsa Lanchester The Hermit..—.O.P. Heggie Dr. Pretorious ...Ernest Thesiger Karl........Dwight Frye Burgomaster .E.E. Clive Minnie ----Una O’Connor Shepherdess ..Anne Darling Percy Shelley Douglas Walton Lord Byron .Gavin Gordon Rudy ...Neil Fitzgerald Hans ..Reginald Barlow His Wife .Mary Gorden Uncle Glutz --Gunnis Davis Aunti Glutz.Tempe Piggott Ludwig .....Ted Billings Butler ..Lucien Prival The Story THE story opens where the or- I- iginal Frankenstein ended— Hans, the father of the little girl killed by the Monster, is poking around in the ashes where the monster was supposedly burned to death. He falls into a great pit and finds himself almost in the arms of the hideous creature, who has escaped death by falling into the same well. The monster im¬ mediately lives up to his repu¬ tation by drowning Hans and his wife. While Dr. Frankenstein, in¬ jured in his fight with the Mon¬ ster, is convalescing, he is visit¬ ed by Dr. Pretorius, who first gave Frankenstein the ideas for creation of life and who now de¬ mands that he join him in further experiments. Frankenstein visits the laboratory of Pretorius and is amazed to find several tiny hu¬ man beings created by Pretorius living in glass bottles. Receiving evidence The Monster is still a- live, the two decide to create a bride for him. The Monster is captured by a hunter and taken to the village jail, from which he escapes, kill¬ ing several persons. He flees to the mountains and becomes the companion of a blind hermit who does not realize who he is. The hermit is gradually teaching him to speak. Eluding pursuing hunt¬ ers again, the Monster f inds shelter in a great vault in an old cemetery. MONSTER SHOW A HIT! (Review) Famed distributor of the screen's most notable all-time shockers, Film Classics, Inc., assumes the position as leader in the field of spine- tingling dramas with "Son of Frankenstein," powerful production which makes the flesh creep and at the same time emerges as a dramatic triumph. Judging from reactions of yesterday’s opening-day audiences at the . Theatre, “Son of Frankenstein” surpasses all other efforts at blood-curdling film fare. It combines the stars of the original “Frankenstein” and the equally shuddery “Dracula,” Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Unite “Dracula” “Frankenstein” In Same Film Triumph for Rathbone Basil Rathbone assumes the mantle of Baron Wolf von Frank¬ enstein, possessor of the dread heritage of the family, a destruc¬ tive monster. In one of his most difficult roles, that of a doctor torn between love of his wife and daugh¬ ter and scientific fervor for his sinister experiments, Rathbone wins new laurels. The story, penned by Willis Cooper, opens when the new Frankenstein figure returns to his ancestral castle twenty-five years after his father’s death, as stipu¬ lated by the elder Frankenstein’s will. He stumbles upon his fath¬ er’s grim creation, the hair-raising Monster of destruction, played by Karloff. Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchin¬ son, Emma Dunn, four-year-old Donnie Dunagan, and Edgar Norton are outstanding in supporting roles, Atwill as a police inspector whose arm has been torn off by the Monster and Miss Hutchinson as Frankenstein’s wife. Production and direction are credited to Rowland V. Lee. The massive striking sets were de¬ signed by Jack Otterson, and eerie lighting and camera effects are due to ingenious photography by George Robinson. ( Current) Bela Lugosi didn’t know what he was talking about—yet he won acclaim from New York’s leading critics as “the greatest actor ever to come to America.” Which goes to show that if you desire to do a thing intensely enough, the mere detail of being unable to speak the language 01 the country is not too great a han¬ dicap. Striking Personality Lugosi, who appears with Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff in Film Classics' sensational new "Son of Frankenstein,” now at the . . Theatre, was born in Lugos, Hungary. Fol¬ lowing the war and the political revolution in Hungary, he came to New York and organized a Hun¬ garian dramatic company of which he was the producer, director and star. He shortly appeared in an English speaking play, “The Red Poppy,” and although his vocabu¬ lary was limited to a few words of English, he played the role of a Spanish Apache and learned his lines euphoniously but so well that Alan Dale, veteran New York crit¬ ic, acclaimed him as “a great actor.” 1 COL SCENE MAT 1-B Lugosi had gained theatrical ex¬ perience in his native country, playing Shakespearian repertoire, Ibsen and other classics. In America, following his role in “The Red Poppy,” he appeared in the leading role of “Arabesque,” which was followed by “Open House,” “The Devil in the Cheese,” and as Count Dracula in “Dracula,” his greatest success, and which, after a three-year run, led to his engagement by a Hollywood motion picture studio. His first picture was “Dracula.” Karloff Had a Double of Iron for Role in “Frankenstein” Sequel (Advance Story) I T is cheaper to build a double for Karloff than to hire one. In Hollywood where everyone looks like somebody else there are at least fifty extras who resemble the sombre star. They are never used as doubles or “stand-ins” in his pictures because Karloff nev¬ er looks like himself. For in¬ stance olaviner his famous mon¬ ster role in Film Classics' “The Bride of Frankenstein” which comes ...to the .theatre, he wears 62 pounds of makeup. His face is covered with a mask of gray-green grease paint, one sixteenth of an inch thick. To make up an actor as a stand-in for Karloff would have taken eight hours every day, just as it did for the star. Consequently a permanent double was made for Karloff out of half-inch iron piping. It moved on rubber tired wheels. The body was merely an upright pole. At the top of this pole,seven feet a bove the floor, was fixed a plaster mask. This mask was an exact likeness of Karloff as the mon¬ ster. It was covered with the same shade of grease paint and a scar was made on the right cheek. There >vere the same sort and number of big metal clamps in the false skull of this mask as are used to fasten the sections of ■the monster’s head on Karloff Influenced Career “That typed me as a ‘horror man’,” says Lugosi, with Just a trace of bitterness. “Casting di¬ rectors would not take into con¬ sideration that I had played a wide variety of roles on the stage. 1 was always cast as a monster of some sort!” Rathbone Demands Accurate Costumes Clothes may not make the man, but correct wardrobe is imperative to the realism of an actor’s per¬ formance on the screen. Basil Rathbone, a stickler for authenticity of film costumes, sub¬ scribes heartily to that policy. A search through every Holly¬ wood costume house failed to dis¬ close a Bavarian cape required for Rathbone’s portrayal of the title role in "Son of Frankenstein," Film Classjcs' new spine-chilling drama coming ;. to the Theatre, with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Rathbone himself sent cables to friends in Europe but found that the cape would not arrive before production started. Finally he tele¬ phoned a friend in New York, Ju¬ lius Paul Meyer, former president of a leading steamship line. Next day a genuine Bavarian cape loaned to Rathbone for the duration of the film, arrived in Hollywood via air mail from Meyer. T Review T HE motion pictures’ strangest drama was unfolded yester¬ day on the screen of the- theatre, where the hair-raising Film Classics' "The Bride of Frankenstein,” opened an engage¬ ment of - days. It is strong fare, but a thrilling, ac¬ tion-filled picture which fires the imagination as few films have done, and without question sets a new high mark in the realm of the so-called “horror picture.” The present picture i s a se¬ quel to the original “Franken¬ stein” of three years ago, telling of the creating by a half-mad scientist of a “Monster” in human form, built up from parts of dead bodies. This grotesque creature embarked on a wild career of murderous destruction, with Ids crimes mainly prompted by be¬ wilderment and fear. In “The Bride of Frankenstein” he learns to talk, and becomes part of a vast excitement when a woman is similarly created at the height of a wild storm. Then follows a crashing climax which will leave any audience well-nigh breath¬ less. As before, Karloff is starred as “the Monster,” and gives a truly remarkable characterization o f the menacing, lumbering brute, savage and yet filled with mis¬ understood kindness. In spite of his ruthless crimes, he is at all times an object of sympathy and pity. The picture is a triumph for this fine actor, and his terri¬ fying makeup is by long odds the screen’s most horribly fascinating example of the cosmetic art. Karloff’s supporting cast includes many such talented players as Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, O. P. Heggie, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester, Una O’Connor, Dwight Frye and E.E. Clive. “The Bride of Frankenstein” is the first of the independent pro¬ ductions o f Carl Laemmle, Jr., and the picture has been produc¬ ed on a lavish scale, with an ex¬ ceptional array of highly artistic settings filled with sombre beau¬ ty. Advance Notes During his long climb to star¬ dom. Karloff turned in lean per¬ iods between theatrical engage¬ ments to various odd jobs, such as working with pick and shovel in Vancouver, B.C.., clearing land i n British Columbia, loading freight cars in Vallejo, Cal., and driving a truck in Los Angeles. Karloff comes to t h e- theatre on-as the star of the Film Classics' drama, “The Bride of Frankenstein,” in which he is again seen in his or¬ iginal role of “the Monster.” * * * Elsa Lanchester, famous Eng¬ lish actress, is an enthusiastic photographer and makes many pictures^ of her noted actor-hus¬ band, Charles Laughton, which she finds much in demand by English magazines. Miss Lan¬ chester is appearing as the “Fe¬ male Monster" in the Film Classics' drama, "The Bride of Frankenstein,” starring Karloff as “the Monster.” Coming- -to the -Theatre 1 COL. SCENE MAT 1-A GOOD PICTURES LIKE GOOD BOOKS NEVER GROW OLD