The Ghost of Frankenstein
| The Ghost of Frankenstein | |
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The Ghost of Frankenstein movie poster
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| Directed by | Erle C. Kenton |
| Produced by | George Waggner |
| Written by |
Scott Darling Eric Taylor |
| Starring |
Lon Chaney Jr. Cedric Hardwicke Ralph Bellamy Lionel Atwill Béla Lugosi Evelyn Ankers |
| Music by |
Hans J. Salter Library music from The Wolf Man |
| Cinematography |
Woody Bredell Milton R. Krasner |
| Edited by | Ted Kent |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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67 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Ghost of Frankenstein is an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie is the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Monster, taking over from Boris Karloff, who played the role in the first three films of the series, and Béla Lugosi in his second and final appearance as the demented Ygor. The supporting cast features Lionel Atwill, Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Bellamy and Evelyn Ankers.
The residents of the village of Frankenstein feel they are under a curse and blame all their troubles on Frankenstein's monster. Rumors circulate about Ygor who is still alive and supposedly trying to revive the monster. The villagers pressure the Mayor into allowing them to destroy Frankenstein's castle. Ygor (Béla Lugosi) attempts to put up some resistance, but the villagers rush the gates and begin to destroy the castle. Ygor, fleeing through the catacombs, finds the monster released from his sulfuric tomb by the explosions. The exposure to the sulfur weakened the monster but also preserved him. Unseen by the villagers, Ygor and the monster flee the castle to the surrounding countryside; there they encounter a powerful thunderstorm. The monster is struck by a bolt of lightning, but instead of being harmed by it, he seems to be rejuvenated. Ygor decides to find Ludwig, the second son of the original Frankenstein, to help the monster.
Ludwig Frankenstein (Cedric Hardwicke) is a doctor who, along with his assistants Dr. Kettering (Barton Yarborough) and Dr. Theodore Bohmer (Lionel Atwill), has a successful practice in Visaria. They have just completed a breakthrough treatment for mental illness whereby a damaged brain has been removed from the body, surgically altered, then successfully reintroduced into the patient's skull. Bohmer was formerly Frankenstein's teacher but made a tragic surgical mistake and now is relegated to being Frankenstein's envious assistant. Ygor and the monster arrive in Vasaria and discover that Ludwig lives in a chateau at the end of town. As they arrive, the monster hears children playing. A little girl is playing with her ball when a young boy (William Smith) kicks the girl's ball onto the roof. The monster quickly befriends the young girl, Cloestine Hussman (Janet Ann Gallow). The monster scoops the little girl up in his arms and carries her onto a nearby roof to retrieve her ball, killing two villagers in the process who attempted to intervene. After Cloestine asks the monster to take her to daddy, the monster returns the girl to her father Herr Hussman (Olaf Hytten) and is immediately captured by the entire police force.
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