The Universal Years 1943 -1944
Ilona Massey, Lon Chaney Jr., and Bela Lugosi star in the first of the Universal cross overs. Although it seems odd today, Ilona Massey (Baroness Elsa Frankenstein) received top billing along with Patric Knowles (Dr. Frank Mannering). She was discovered and hired by Louis B. Mayer and left the MGM after just two years as the result of a sex scandal. Her notoriety led to a singing career and soon on to the New York Broadway stage and then back into movies. Considered box office gold, she did bring something special to the proceedings as she cut a sensual path through this meeting of two of Universal’s most famous monsters.
As the film begins and the liquid is poured from the test tube into the beaker and the smoke forms the title and the credits and Hans Salters’ suspenseful score rises, we know we’re in for something very special. It is more of a B picture then the films that preceded it, but it still holds an interest due to the myriad talents that went into the production.
Once again, Lionel Atwill and Lon Chaney Jr. are back. Atwill as the sensible Mayor of the Village, and Chaney in the role for which he is best known, the guilt ridden Laurence Talbot/Wolf Man. This time, Bela Lugosi is the Monster and although he puts more effort into the role than Chaney did in Ghost, he still isn’t Karloff. His growling Frankenstein is only effective because he’s attacked by the Wolf Man. Ilona Massey (Elsa) fulfills her duty as a scream queen as Dr. Mannering is knocked to the floor and she is snatched up by the Monster. The finale is the fight between the two beasts as the Wolf Man saves The Baroness and the people of the village blow up the bridge and the castle. The Wolf Man and the Monster are left in the collapsing structure to await their next awakening in The House of Frankenstein.