I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

Plot synopsis:
The movie starts with title and credits running over a background of gray boxes.The opening shot is the edifice of a University Building. Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell) is guest lecturing to colleagues. His topic is transplantation. Dr. Randolph (Marshall Bradford) interrupts the lecture to ask, "Professor Frankenstein, how can you ask us to believe such a preposterous theory?" Frankenstein's assistant, Dr. Karlton (Robert Burton) upbraids Randolph for his criticism and rudeness, "I think you're being disrespectful."Back in Frankenstein's basement lab, Karlton is working on an experiment. Frankenstein decides to prove his theory and tells Karlton, "I plan to assemble a human being using parts and organs from different cadavers." He proposes to do this on his own in his lab. His goal is perfection of the human race. Karlton expresses reluctance and adds he is not an MD, his doctorate is in Physics. But Frankenstein explains that specialty is what he needs to complete his work. They hear a car crash outside. They rush out to investigate. Two cars have collided and are on fire. A bystander (Paul Keast) tells Frankenstein that one young man was thrown clear of the collision. At Frankenstein's direction, Karlton carries the body back to the house wrapped in a blanket and takes him to the basement lab. Karlton asks how Frankenstein plans to get away with stealing a body. Frankenstein tells him the fire will burn up any evidence there ever was one. Karlton asks why it is so cold, and Frankenstein explains he keeps the lab at 36 degrees, like a morgue. He asks Karlton to describe the body. He is squeamish, but finally notes that the skull is crushed and the face beyond recognition. They store the body in a pull out drawer. Karlton gets cold feet and asks his colleague to find another assistant as he doesn't have the stomach for this kind of work. Frankenstein alludes to an earlier experiment, and threatens Karlton by adding, "That made you my ally, of course I could use another and uglier word, accomplice, but I won't." Blackmailing Karlton completed, they change for a party upstairs. Sitting quietly in a corner is his nurse and soon to be fiancée, Margaret (Phyllis Coates). Frankenstein joins Margaret and tells her he needs her help. She is to join him at the house as an assistant and watchdog. He intimates more. She reads marriage into it. She must give up her nursing position at the University Hospital.Doctors Frankenstein and Karlton examine the body acquired in the auto collision. Dr. Karlton suggests the hands and right leg be amputated as a result of crushing injury. Frankenstein orders Karlton to wire him up so he can feel pain, so when it is alleviated he will know gratitude. To blackmailer, add sadist to Frankenstein's character traits. Karlton again expresses his reluctance. Margaret has moved in and answers the phone. Her job is to handle the mail, answer the phone, and keep any distractions away from the pair working downstairs. After the leg is sawn off, Karlton asks how the parts are to be disposed. Frankenstein tells him he's provided for this also. He wraps the parts in a surgical sheet and directing Karlton over to the wall he opens a door behind an electrical panel. Below the lab is pit with an alligator that quickly consumes the parts. He closes the door.The next morning at breakfast, Frankenstein is perusing the Huntington Park News. He comments on the headline, "Mass Funeral for Teenage Victims." He reads sections aloud to Dr. Karlton. A track team died in a plane crash. They will be interred today. Frankenstein expresses sadness that healthy young men died too soon. But he has an idea. The pair of scientists enter the funeral home that night to collect the hands and leg they need. Frankenstein is pleased to have added the hands of a wrestler and the leg of a football player to his creature. That evening they join Margaret for dinner. Karlton excuses himself, which allows Margaret to speak freely. She complains about a lack of attention from her fiancé. To assuage his guilt, he takes her out for a drive that evening. They decide to park and look at the view. They've chosen a teenage lover's lane.The next morning in the lab, Frankenstein demands his creation speak. The Monster (Gary Conway) is on a gurney and finally says, "Good Morning." It complains that it is dark. Later, up in the study, Margaret meets with her betrothed and seeks his input on wedding plans. She finally asks, "By the way, dear, what is your experiment?" He responds, "Until I'm successful, it's a deep secret." Frankenstein visibly blanches when she kiddingly chides, "Well if you won't tell me I might have ways of finding out for myself." He confronts her angrily. He then slaps her across the face. She apologizes and they reconcile, but the seed of doubt and suspicion is planted. He tells her he needs seventy-two hours of uninterrupted work. Frankenstein and Karlton drive off. Margaret goes down to the basement and takes a wax impression of the lock. She has a key made by a locksmith in town who comments on how old and European the lock must be. She returns home and walks down to the basement, tries the key and lets herself into the darkened lab. She turns on the lights and looks around. She tries to open the cold storage body vaults, but each one she tries is locked. One is not locked, and she opens it. The monster sits up and she screams. She exits the lab.Frankenstein works with the monster on diction and strength exercises. The next day the monster does his exercises with weights. It tells Frankenstein, "You're happy, but I am not." He resents being stuck in the basement and isolated. Frankenstein cuts off the bandages on his head to show him why he can't go out amongst people. It reveals a horrible visage. His face is a mass of scar tissue. He has one protruding eye and an empty socket for the other. Frankenstein threatens to leave him like that unless he cooperates. The doctor storms off leaving the door to the lab open. The monster exits the lab and wanders around in the house. He enters the living room and sits for a while in the chair. He leaves the house and walks down the street. He peers into the window of a beautiful blond woman (Angela Blake) brushing her hair. She sees him in the mirror and screams. He breaks in to silence her, and not knowing his own strength, kills her. The police show up later to take a report from the other tenants who witnessed the crime. The newspaper covers the story. The next days headlines are, "Crazed Man Kills Young Woman." Frankenstein is furious. He enters the lab through the open door and confronts his creation, "Then it was you." He threatens to do away with dangerous evidence, namely his creation. Frankenstein leaves and locks the door.The doorbell rings. Sgt. Burns (George Lynn) and Sgt. McAffee (John Cliff) identify themselves and tell Frankenstein about the fiend in the neighborhood. They talk and leave thinking Frankenstein was cooperative. In the living room, Margaret picks a ring from a display. She invited a jeweler, Mr. Sexton (Charles Seel), over. Frankenstein enters the room, furious, and demands an explanation. Margaret tries to explain, but Frankenstein is very rude and demands to know why he is in the house against strict instructions. He throws the man out. Margaret asks, "Are you hiding something?" That gets a reaction. She tells him, "I saw your great scientific experiment. I saw your monster in the vault in the cellar." She volunteers that she had a key made. She rationalizes that as a future wife she had a right to know. He lies and tells her he's pleased she now knows and can help him. He lets her keep the key to the lab. The plan is underway. Frankenstein tells his monster that he will begin to work on his face tomorrow. He confides that a woman has threatened his security and as a result he will never have a new face. He will use the monster to eliminate his fiancée. Karlton is out of town for a few days, so Frankenstein asks Margaret to help. He invites her downstairs to feed his creation. He tells her to use her own key. He directs Margaret to inject the monster with the nutrient solution. Frankenstein leaves under the pretext of getting some supplementary vitamins. The monster tells Margaret that she wants to see him dead. He jumps up and attacks her. Dr. Frankenstein locks the door trapping her inside. He listens intently as she screams repeatedly and then gasps for air. Next we see the alligator finishing his meal. Dr. Frankenstein says, "Poor Margaret. You've done your work well. You've earned your reward." He tells his creation he can pick his own face. They drive that evening trolling for a body. They spot a couple in a car necking. Dr. Frankenstein asks the monster if the young man's face he saw meets with his approval. The monster approaches Bob (Gary Conway) and Arlene (Joy Stoner) in the car. Arlene screams and the monster attacks both.The police, Burns and McAffee, question Arlene's mother (Claudia Bryar) the next day. Arlene was not physically injured, but she was very traumatized. Bob on the other hand is missing. The mother tells the police what her daughter told her. The creature had no face and only one eye. When she came to, Bob was gone. She drove herself home.Frankenstein finishes putting Bob's face on his creation. He announces him quite handsome. After cutting off the bandages he hands him a mirror. Dr. Karlton returns with the equipment. Per instructions, he purchased from the list discreetly in four different cities. They reward themselves with a glass of sherry. Dr. Karlton asks about the housekeeper, Mrs. Detrich. "Oh, I let her go," he tells Karlton. She had an offer from a wealthy invalid. Karlton also asks about Margaret. Dr. Frankenstein continues the lie, tells him, she's gone, disappeared. "Perfidy thy name is woman," he quotes. He changes the subject back to their creation, for Karlton doesn't know about the new face. When he asks about where it came from, he is told not to burden himself with unnecessary details. Bob is sitting and admiring himself in his mirror. Karlton examines his face and pronounces, "Amazing, absolutely amazing." Frankenstein is concerned that Bob will be recognized. He proposes to take him to England for the launch. Karlton reminds his colleague that he will need a passport, identity, and a name. There is also customs, immigration, and other issues to be considered. Frankenstein has been thinking about this for some time and tells Karlton he will cut up the body and pack it in the crates marked electrical apparatus. For you see, each case has a false bottom. He will reconstruct him in London. Frankenstein orders Karlton to inject their creation with Sodium Pentathal after he straps him to the table. He will employ the ruse that he is going to remove the stitches from his face. Bob gets on the table and they strap him down. As Karlton prepares the injection, Bob reacts violently. He suspects something and breaks free. He chokes Frankenstein, allowing Karlton to run from the lab for help. Bob opens the panel and throws Frankenstein to the alligator. Karlton brings two police officers back to the lab. The police order Bob to surrender. He refuses and backs into an electrical grid on the wall. [Note: the movie switches from Black & White to Color] Bob is electrocuted. He slides down the wall to the floor. He is dead. We close with Dr. Karlton telling the two police officers, "I'll never forget his face after the accident, never." We zoom in on the Monster's face before Bob's replaced it, and the alligator chomping on a lab coat.

Tags: murder

Review:
Teen-age Frankenstein, for faults in other areas, is one of the few to allow the Monster a goal: he expresses his loneliness and desire for companionship.So for everyone who hasn't seen this film yet because of volumes of "Best of..." books, give it a try.
This is top of the line 1950's B movie schlock.And it is wonderful.Countless tv viewings and a recent VHS viewing confirms this.Prof Frankenstein(Whit Bissel)is visiting from England on a lecture tour.He wants to create a perfect body from a youth.As it so happens there is a terrible auto accident outside which allows him to grab a corpse.Of course there is the hesitant assistant to deal with.
So our boy kills her and she is dumped in the alligator pit(I'm not making this up).The pit is used to dispose of spare parts by the way.The boy needs a nice face(does he ever)so he and the doctor go out in search of one.Happily they locate one and it is grafted on.Everybody is all smiles now.The doctor and his assistant prepare to go to England.
The boy has no passport so they plan to dissect him for easier international travel.The rousing finish is in color.Whit Bissel gives a great performance as the cracked to the max mad doctor.He has a heck of a realtor that can set him up in temporary lodgings with a lab & an alligator pit in the basement.Wonder where he got the alligator.If you can overlook or poke fun at the plot holes you can really enjoy this flick.See it if you can!.
"I Was a Teenage"...You've got the premise of constructing a teenage marvel(Gary Conway on his way to stardom) out of spare cadaver parts; the mad doctor(played by the articulate Whit Bissell and his memorable "witty" remarks; his assistant (the somewhat embarrassed looking Robert Burton; and his faithful/curious fiancé (the lovely Phyllis "Lois Lane" Coates); all doing the best they could possibly do under the circumstances!
Now how about scenes like the surgical bone saw cutting through the leg(it could have used some splattered blood on their faces for the total effect!), the convenient alligator disposal unit under the laboratory/morgue, hearing the sound of the beautiful blonde victim being choaked to death by the sex craved monster, Phyllis and Whit necking in Lover's Lane(oh,my!), Gary's head being carried off in a bird cage, and hello!...the final, and for no good reason, the color sequence showing you the classic monster make up creation in glorious Pathe color!(you've got to see this in its totally restored color version, on the big screen.)...you can't get any better than this!
Hey movie goers, make sure you watch the complete unedited version, somehow, somewhere; not the edited British version, "Teenage Frankenstein", which was sold on video some ten years ago.
Boris emoted in Cinemascope in FRANKENSTEIN 1970, Donald Murphy built monsters in a wine cellar in FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER and Whit Bissel created a teenage monster in the movie I am about to discuss.As if most teenagers were not monsters already in their own right Whit decides to build an artificial man out of parts from young healthy teen athletes.
The monster (Gary Conway) has the body of a muscleman but a face that, well, looks like it was sculpted out of clay (which it was!) and when he talks he sounds like someone who is, well, talking through a mask!Okay, this has already been discussed in detail by other reviewers on this board but everyone seems to have ignored one very obvious gaffe.
Oh well, this is still a fun movie, especially now that the colour ending has been restored.Points of interest: Gary Conway's real name is Gareth Carmody.
Everything you see in 'the Craft,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' and of course the ubiquitous 'Twilight' movies is a re-hash of Teenage Werewolf and Teenage Frankenstein.Wereas Teenage Werewolf focuses on the personality and emotions of the Michael Landon character, thus structurally grafting the point of view of 'Rebel Without a Cause' to the horror genre, Teenage Frankenstein is more pre-occupied with Whit Bissel's portrayal of a Dr. Frankenstein living in the era drive-in movies.
As such, Teenage Frankenstein follows more traditional monster movie conventions than Werewolf.Nonetheless, teenagers are featured heavily, and teen actor Gary Conway as the eponymous monster is a major presence, so it is indeed appropriate to study this film in the context of the Teen Horror genre.This film is an excellent example of the aesthetics of low-budget 1950's monster film-making.
It moves quickly and delivers just what the intended audience expected and needed: cheap and harmless thrills.One of my favorite sequences involves the monster's search for a suitable head for himself at a nightime lovers' lane with teens parked in their cars.
While this movie is fun and better than the title would suggest, it does lack the original psychic/emotional center that characterizes the classic horror pictures.
As another "modern" descendant of the Frankenstein family, Whit Bissell takes the body of a hideously disfigured teen from a car wreck and assembles a muscular young man with a head that looks like it passed through a garbage disposal.
Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane from TV's ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN) plays his snooping fiancé with a bad habit of putting her nose where it doesn't belong.Not as remarkable as TEENAGE WEREWOLF, with a tendency to feel kind of claustrophobic in its indoor environment.
Seen him in many movies,convincing performer,just learned his name-Whit Bissell.This is another 1950's horror film that that does it's main purpose-entertain.Whit can almost make the viewer believe anything is possible,he seems to always know what he's talking about,doesn't come across as the mad scientist type.A nice addition is Phyllis Coates,just wish her hair would of been dark like on the superman show.One scene I found amusing was when the doc states the monster should be talking like a politician giving a filibuster then tells him "watch my lips".Talk about that extra special home, his not only has a crocodile pool underneath it but it has a morgue too,when put on the market those kind are grabbed up fast.In one scene an elderly lady is being questioned by the police about her daughter....comments that she went out on her first date with a quiet boy.Seeing the boy and girl parked in lovers lane it's obvious they got over their shyness real fast..
It's got a mad scientist, a laboratory full of sparking equipment, a reluctant assistant, an alligator filled pit and of course a full fledged pug ugly monster.
Like many people I saw this on tv as a child and now always think of it anytime someone mentions 50's monster movies..
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein has a great exploitation title and a few taboo-breaking gore scenes but little else than unwitting camp and curio value to recommend it.
Reliable actors Whit Bissell (as Dr. Frankenstein) and Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane of Superman fame) struggle valiantly with the schlocky material but are unable to get any fun out of the poor script.
The 'Man of Steel' was already off the air when this flick hit the drive-ins.Gary Conway's all-American chiseled good looks would later play well as Gene Barry's sidekick for two years in BURKE'S LAW.
In the title role of this picture,it certainly provided for Gary an element of cult classic cache and something to show off to the grandkids.As I said, I watched this movie in a serious frame of mind.
I thought teenage frankenstein was a great flick.It had it all,ugly monster,murder,excitement and great screams from phyllis coates.you can,t get no better than that.
Loved the way they disposed of the bodies.Whit Bissel was the kind of villian you could like,hate and fear all at the same time.The monster was dumb in the fact that if he believed his creator and phyllis coates did indeed want the monster destroyed,why would she bother to help feed him?
I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN is the story of Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell), and his experiments involving dead tissue re-animation.
Using teenagers killed in drag racing (wear those seatbelts and don't race kids!) a scientist creates a horrible looking (the make up is pretty cheap and showed up in pictures in Famous Monsters a lot) of course, as created monsters will, it goes on a killing spree.
After the success of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, producer Herman Cohen followed that up with this one in which the shrink from the previous one-Whit Bissell-ended up playing a descendant of the original Frankenstein doctor from the Boris Karloff classic (at least, I think that's what Cohen wants us to think).
Whit Bissell is the new doctor walking in the footsteps of his more infamous ancestor and determined to create a new human being who won't be a monster like the one the Baron created but 'a youth' that he can teach.
It's terrible, of course, though the appalling acting and unintentionally hilarious dialogue make it perfect midnight movie fare while poor Gary Conway had the misfortune of launching a not very illustrious career playing 'the creature'..
I lived my whole life thinking there was only one movie that started in black and white and ended in color.That number has tripled in the last two days.Just like in How To Make A Monster, the way they made the change was cool but it just leaves you wishing the whole movie had been in color.So Dr. Frankenstein assembles a monster from the bodies of various dead teens and then it has all the regular teen issues.He had planned on being hailed as a scientific genius but just ends up having the monster kill people for him.The only bad thing about this movie is that there is too much time where nothing happens.It's another seventy minute movie that could have been thirty minutes with nothing missing.Not bad for a sixty year old b-movie..
I will admit the Teenage Frankenstein's monster is a very angry creature along with mad man Dr. Frankenstein - unlike the original Frankenstein films where the tempers were much milder and less violent.While this is not the greatest "Frankenstein" film it is a fun watch.
I was a Teenage Frankenstein easily surpasses its werewolf predecessor as a fun and imaginative horror film.
The story is about a descendant of Frankenstein(played by Whit Bissell)who continues following in his family's footsteps with experimentation with bodies and death in order to create life.
It stars the oddly cast Whit Bissell...odd because he's supposed to be British and sounds about as British as Elvis or Urkel!When the story begins, Professor Frankenstein is lecturing about transplants...something very new back in 1957 and which hadn't yet been successfully done for most organs.
So, like the classic story, he assembles a monster out of body parts.
And, to control the monster, the Doctor promises to give his creation a new face IF it does his evil bidding...such as murder!This Dr. Frankenstein is much more of an evil sociopath than you would expect.
All I could remember was that horrible looking face of Conway's character after the car crash.These old American Internationl pictures where they used color towards the end of the film for emphasis was another old 50's gimmick.It's funny when you grow older and watch it again it becomes laughable and you wonder what you were scared about in the 1st place.That's the way our minds mature during our lifetime.I remember always wanting that mask of Conway's for Halloween trick or treating.Was usually paired with "I was a Teenage Werewolf" for Saturday afternoon kids matinées back then....s.m..
Whit Bissell is great as the mad professor Frankenstein and Phillys Coates gives the performance of her life as the professor's mistress, who is savagely killed by the monster after she discovers Frankenstein's secret.
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) ** (out of 4) Fair horror film has Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissill) taking a teenage body from an automobile wreck and bringing it back to life.
The American International Pictures' movies are so great that it's ridiculous to compare them to Hammer.
But anyway, I Was A Teenage Frankenstein is the best American International Picture I've ever seen.
The film has a great story and great acting by Whit Bissel and Gary Conway.
Especially Gary Conway as the teenage monster.
There is also an alligator pit in the movie used for disposing of body parts.
Professor Frankenstein (Whit Bissell--chewing the scenery) pulls a dead, young and handsome athlete (Gary Conway) from an auto accident.
Here, Whit Bissell once again plays a mad doctor, a descendant of Baron Frankenstein(though not part of the classic Universal series!) who builds a monster from the body parts of dead teenagers, which is finished with the arrival of unfortunate auto-accident victim Bob(played by Gary Conway) who proceeds to go on a murder spree of course...
Bissell Bears Up. Modern day descendant of the mad doctor creates his own monster, a teenage one.What can you say about a drive-in special where the special effects appear assembled from a garbage can.
But what the heck— no teenager of the time cared as long as there was a place in the dark to park.On the other side of the coin, there's something to be said for the great Whit Bissell as the mad doctor.
This film never builds up any steam; instead we get alot of hot air from Whit Bissell, reprising his mad doctor persona from "I was a teenage werewolf." Here he schemes and pontificates about his plans even more, over and over, while there's nary a teenager in sight.
The title is very inaccurate: the "Frankenstein" of this movie is actually middle-aged, and it's the "monster" who is a teenager.
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein followed I Was a Teenage Werewolf and these sort of drive-in movies were very popular at this time.
Most of these movies came from American International.In this one, two mad scientists, one of them Professor Frankenstein decide to build up a human made up from different body parts.
Frankenstein's lover is fed to the alligator when she finds out about his nasty experiment and he himself is also thrown to the alligator by his own creation, who is then electrocuted.The final sequence of this movie bursts into colour all of a sudden when the creature is electrocuted.The cast includes several sci-fi B-movie regulars: Whit Bissell (The Lost Continent, Creature From the Black Lagoon, I Was a Teenage Werewolf) as Frankenstein, Phyllis Coates (The Incredible Petrified World, The Adventures of Superman) as his lover, Gary Conway (Land of the Giants, How To Make a Monster) as the creature and Robert Burton (The Slime People).I Was a Teenage Frankensten is worth checking out, a must for all fans of this type of movie.Rating: 3 stars out of 5..
But after the monster commits several murders, the good professor decides to kill the creature and start all over.COMMENT: A box-office follow-up to producer Cohen's 1957 offering, I Was a Teenage Werewolf.VIEWER'S GUIDE: Despite its "X" certificate, the British version (which deletes all five or six minutes of the horror) is okay for all.
m. has been produced on such a minuscule budget, enacted by such a second-rate cast, and directed in so stiff and stilted, plodding and pedestrian style.In his only starring role, minor character actor Whit Bissell does tediously little with Dr Frankenstein.
****SPOILERS*** Obviously made for laughs the follow up to the very successful "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" is about a teenage Frankenstein Monster with the crazed and off the charts Whit Bissel, who was in the werewolf flick, now back by popular demand as Prof.
It's when Frank's finance Margaret, Phyllis Coates who was Louis Lane in the Superman TV series, starts to snoop around in his laboratory and is in danger of exposing his secret experiments he sets Gary on her, like an attack dog, who after murdering Margaret has her body dumped into a watery pit to be devoured by his pet alligator.****SPOILERS**** Finally providing Gary with a new face from his latest victim, also played by Gary Conway, Frank then plans to disassemble him and ship him back to Britain where Frank can preform feather experiments on the poor boy.
Indeed this is probably the most fun of the AIP monster-on-the-loose flicks of the late '50s, as it's pitched exactly right, midway between full-blooded coldly scientific horror and exploitation.Whit Bissell once again stars as the deranged scientist, obviously having enjoyed himself in I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF.
Quite a few set-ups in this are playfully borrowed from Hammer's Curse Of Frankenstein, and the result, thanks to Whit Bissell's sharp performance as Frankenstein and breezy direction from Herbert Strock, make this a camp and watchable monster movie.
Just compare this to the Ed Wood embarrassments or any grade-Z horror flick of the time to be convinced.Bissell plays a descendant of the original Baron Frankenstein: travelling from England to give a series of lectures in the US, he secretly plans to build a monster from teenage cadavers, figuring that youth, athleticism and strength are the key to the future.
Whit Bissell is a descendant of the original Baron Frankenstein who decides to construct a body from the parts of athletic teenagers.
Frankenstein, a British doctor visiting the U.S., and who has pretty far-out theories on "reactivation" of human tissue.When Bissell's theories are greeted with guffaws and derision by other doctors, he and his assistant (Robert Burton) steal the body of a teenage accident victim (Gary Conway).
End of story.Bissell hams it up so shamelessly that the other three main actors (Coates, Burton, and Conway) seem to fade into the background, but given the campiness of the movie, all are very good.
There's ridiculous dialogue to spare (most of it from Bissell) and lots of action, so this film should keep you entertained if you don't think about it too much.
The story is mostly lifted from 1957's "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" (also with Bissell).