Son of Frankenstein (1939)

The Story: Doctor Henry Frankenstein's son returns to the family estate to claim his inheritance, only to discover that his father's famous creature is still alive.

As The Son Of Frankenstein opens, the infamous Frankenstein's son, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) and his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and young son Peter (Donnie Dunagan) show up in his father's hometown to claim his legacy. The locals, who are still horrified and hateful over the events of "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein," give them a very cold reception. Of course, it's always a dark and stormy night in these films, with the requisite thunder and lightning setting a deliciously sinister mood.

Soon, while exploring the estate, Frankenstein encounters Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a hairy lunatic with a twisted neck. Ygor explains to Frankenstein that he was hanged some years ago ("For stealing bodies... they said") and, believed to be dead, thrown into the ruins of the elder Frankenstein's laboratory. He has been living in the laboratory and its hidden corridors ever since. Ygor shows Frankenstein the monster, lying asleep on a table. "He's my friend," Ygor says, "He... does... things for me." The monster has been sleeping for quite some time and is unable to wake. Ygor quickly manages to persuade young Frankenstein crank up the old lab equipment to cure his flat-headed buddy and the fun and games begin anew...

It seems that six of the people responsible for Ygor's hanging have died in suspicious accidents that have been blamed on the "ghost" of the elderFrankenstein's creature. We witness another tragic "accident," and the town is once again up in arms against a Frankenstein and his pet. Will the pit of boiling sulfur in the basement of the old laboratory's ruins figure into the climax? You already know the answer of course, but how smoothly all the pieces fall together and how much suspense is wrung out of the inevitable climax is what is important. The film succeeds on these points and does it with great style and wit. This is the most fun of all the Frankenstein films, and at times the funniest as well.

This is again a triumph in classic horror from the days when it seemed that Universal Studios could do no wrong. The sets are, if anything, even more beautiful than the previous two entries in the series. This time, theinteriors have minimalist, starkly angular designs much like a more three-dimensional version of Doctor Caligari's sets. The lighting is sharpand everything and everyone casts eerie, surreal shadows. The camerawork and score are brilliant and the performances of the leads are all very fine, with none of the florid, mannered overacting that Colin Clive and others brought to the earlier Frankenstein films.

Boris Karloff doesn't do anything new with his role as the monster in this movie, but he certainly does the same old thing with the same power and depth he brought to his two previous performances. This was to be his last time in this particular role though it was not to be his last Frankenstein film. Speaking of acting, Bela Lugosi's gravel-voiced Ygor is the high point of this movie and in fact is perhaps the finest, creepiest role of his entire career. Some (me, for instance) would go so far as to claim that it even eclipses his role as Dracula, so fully does he lose himself in the character of this insane little creep and so complete is the transformation performed by makeup wizard Jack Pierce.

The negatives: Not many, as this film is nearly as fine as Bride of Frankenstein and some (me again) would claim it is even better than the first film of the series. The ending is once again quite abrupt but is still fairly satisfying and amusing. Though the performances are for the most part wonderful, the little boy that plays Frankenstein's son is an annoying little twit with a grating accent straight out of The Little Rascals. This would have been a nearly perfect film if he had been thrown in the sulfur pit at the beginning of the movie. Outside of those minor quibbles, and the fact that Karloff's monster has been reduced almost to a supporting role, this film is a worthy successor to the first two Universal Frankenstein films and the last of the undeniably great films featuring cinema's favorite patchwork man. Son of Frankenstein may not keep you up all night with bad dreams, but it is a wonderfully entertaining film and another fine artistic achievement from the golden age of monster movies.

Don't miss it.