The Ghost of Frankenstein
Tags: gothic

Plot synopsis:
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.
The town prosecutor, Erik Ernst (Ralph Bellamy), comes to Ludwig Frankenstein and asks him to examine the giant they have captured. Frankenstein says he will comply after he finishes some work. Soon, Ygor pays Frankenstein a visit informing him that the giant at the police station is the monster. Ygor implores the Doctor to heal the monster's sick body and brain. Frankenstein refuses, not wanting the monster to ruin his life as it did for his father and brother. Ygor threatens to reveal Ludwig's ancestry to the villagers and forces him to give in.
At the police station, the monster is restrained with chains as a hearing is conducted to investigate the murder of the two villagers. The monster does not respond to any questions. Ludwig Frankenstein then arrives and the monster shows signs of recognizing him. When Ludwig Frankenstein denies knowing him, the monster goes berserk and breaks free. Ygor leads the monster away.
While alone in her father's study, Elsa (Evelyn Ankers), Frankenstein's daughter, finds the Frankenstein journals and reads them, learning the story of the monster. She then sees the monster and Ygor in the window and screams. Then, Ygor and the monster break into Frankenstein's laboratory and the monster kills Dr. Kettering. The monster grabs Elsa, but Ludwig Frankenstein is able to subdue him with knockout gas. When Elsa revives, Ludwig tells her of Kettering's death and promises her that he will not let this curse from the past separate them.
Ludwig Frankenstein is examining his father's creation when the monster revives and tries to kill him. Ludwig is able to tranquilize the monster and then tries to enlist Bohmer's aid in dissecting the monster. Bohmer refuses claiming it would be murder but Ludwig is determined to destroy the Monster, even if he must do it alone. While studying his family's journals, Ludwig is visited by the ghost of his father Henry Frankenstein (also portrayed by Hardwicke). The spirit implores him to perfect his creation rather than to destroy it by giving the creature a good brain.
Ludwig Frankenstein calls in Bohmer and Ygor and tells them that he plans to put Dr. Kettering's brain into the monster's skull. Ygor protests and asks Ludwig to use his brain instead as Ygor's broken body reflects the multiple attempts to kill him, including Ludwig's older brother. Ludwig refuses insisting "that would be a monster indeed". Ludwig then charges the Monster to give him strength for the operation. Elsa protests to her father telling him to stop his experiments, but he refuses, choosing to operate on the patient as soon as possible. Ygor later explains to the monster that he will receive a new brain. Ygor also taunts Bohmer, telling him that he shouldn't be subordinate to Frankenstein. Ygor promises to help the disgraced doctor if he agrees to put Ygor's brain into the monster. Bohmer ponders the possibilities.
The police soon arrive at Frankenstein's house, searching for the Monster. They find the secret room, but Ygor and the monster have fled. The monster abducts Cloestine, his young friend, and returns with her in his arms to Frankenstein's chateau. The monster's reason for abducting her soon becomes clear... he wants the girls' brain in his head. When Ygor protests, the Monster violently pushes him aside injuring Ygor's spine. Cloestine does not want to lose her brain and the monster reluctantly gives her to Elsa. Ludwig Frankenstein then performs the surgery believing he is putting Kettering's brain in the monster. Bohmer however has substituted Ygor's brain for that of Kettering's.
In the village, Herr Hussman rouses his neighbors by telling them his daughter has been captured by the Monster and that Ludwig Frankenstein is harboring the creature. They race to the chateau but Erik Ernst convinces the group to give him five minutes to convince Ludwig Frankenstein to give up the monster. Ludwig admits he has the monster and agrees to show him to Erik thinking Kettering's brain is in his skull. Upon Ludwig and Erik arriving in the room, The monster rises and Frankenstein is shocked to hear Ygor's voice come from the monster's mouth.
The villagers now storm the chateau and the Ygor-Monster decides to have Bohmer fill the house with gas to kill them. Frankenstein tries to stop him, but the Ygor-Monster repels the attack and mortally wounds Ludwig. The villagers find the Hussman girl and run from the building, fleeing the deadly gas. The Ygor-Monster suddenly goes blind and calls for Bohmer. The wounded Ludwig states, "Your dream of power is over, Bohmer. You didn't realize his blood is the same type as Kettering's but not the same as Ygor's. It will not feed the sensory nerves." The Ygor-Monster accuses Bohmer of tricking him and asks "What good is there a brain without eyes to see?" The Ygor-Monster then throws Bohmer onto the apparatus, electrocuting him, and then inadvertently sets fire to the chateau. This brings about his own demise as he is unable to get out of the chateau while Erik and Elsa walk off toward the sunrise together.

Review: The dignified Cedric Hardwicke plays the more reserved, second son of the original Frankenstein, who is visited by the ever-sinister Ygor (Bela Lugosi, reprising one of his greatest roles that originated in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN), who now urges that the scientist restore strength to his misshapen friend, The Monster (newly played by Lon Chaney).
Working with the dubious help of a spurned medical assistant (the always delightful Lionel Atwill), Frankenstein hopes to right the wrongs of his father by transplanting an educated brain into the monster's head.After having played the definitive version of Frankenstein's Creation three times already, Boris Karloff vowed not to continue with the series at this point.
It must have been a formidable task for Lon Chaney to take over the part for THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, but while he doesn't make as compassionate a monster as Karloff did, Lon does manage to endow the character with an awesome display of brute strength with his otherwise stone-faced performance.This also features the lovely Evelyn Ankers as Frankenstein's daughter, and Ralph Bellamy as her heroic fiancé.
I can only imagine that Lon Chaney Jr. must have felt the same sort of pressure when he was signed to take over the role of Frankenstein's Monster from the great Boris Karloff.Ghost of Frankenstein is, for some reason, one of the more obscure of the Frankenstein series -- I guess in the same way Lazenby's On Her Majesty's Secret Service is considered one of the lesser known Bond films.
Anyone who thinks Lugosi was a one-note ham actor capable of only variations on Dracula should check out this film and Son of Frankenstein for a revelation.As the Monster, Lon Chaney isn't bad.
There are several moments where he manages to evoke the types of emotion Karloff was capable of showing under the flat-top -- including a rather puzzling moment where the Monster recognizes Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein, the son of the original Dr. Frankenstein (maybe there's some backstory that we are unaware of?).Cedric Hardwicke as Ludwig Frankenstein tries hard but is unable to produce the same sort of near-madness that his predecessors Colin Clive and Basil Rathbone exhibited, while Lionel Atwill (playing a different role than the policeman from Son of Frankenstein) has a fairly thankless and somewhat confusingly written role to play in the eventual fate of The Monster.Universal was not known for its inter-film continuity, and although Ghost manages to tie in quite successfully with Son (if not the earlier films) there are still a few jarring continuity gaffes, the most notable being the use of a different actor for the scene when the original Dr. Frankenstein pays a ghostly visit to his son (hence the source of the title in case you're wondering) -- even though Colin Clive, the original (but by the time this film was made, sadly deceased) actor is clearly shown in a flashback sequence.Ghost of Frankenstein is far from being the best of Universal's Frankenstein series, but as a middle-of-the-pack entry, it's quite worthwhile.
By the fourth film in the series, `Ghost of Frankenstein,' the transformation is complete: the Monster is now a supporting character in his own movie.The real star of the movie is Bela Lugosi as Ygor, continuing his role from `Son of Frankenstein.'  Miraculously recovered from death by gunshot wounds, he finds the Monster (now played by Lon Chaney Jr) and sets off the restore his friend to full power.
This time around, the crazy doctor of the title is Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), the brother of Basil Rathbone's character in Son of and the (other) son of Colin Clive's original Dr. Frankenstein in the original and Bride of movies.A generation or so has passed since the villagers last destroyed the Monster in a sulphur pit.
(There appears to be some brain damage for the big guy; he can't speak, as he could - haltingly - in previous films, and simple logic isn't his forte.) Ygor, he of the broken neck from being ineptly hanged, wants his own brain to be placed in the creature's cranium.The setting is as eerie and stark as in other Universal monster movies.
Lon Chaney, Jr., by the way, grunts his way around a macabre set as the Monster itself.For a movie that's the fourth in a series, Ghost of Frankenstein (so named, perhaps, because the ghost of the original Doctor appears) is competently acted, directed, and shot.
The main plot idea is basically the same as Son of Frankenstein, in that it sees a descendant of the original doctor trying to heal his father's monster at the request of the sinister Ygor.Watching this film, it's obvious where Hammer Horror got a lot of their ideas for the continued story of Frankenstein from.
Lugosi is on hand for some more Ygor mischief, Cedric Hardwicke and Lionel Atwill as scientists with opposite ideals are reassuring presences, while Evelyn Ankers is sexy and costumed with a great eye for detail.At just 67 minutes in length the film thankfully doesn't have time to be boring, though action is in short supply, so hooray for castle destruction and fire unbound!
The story picks up as "Son of Frankenstein" ends, with your standard Angry Villagers Bearing Torches laying siege to Castle Frankenstein and destroying it; however, sinister Ygor (Bela Lugosi reprises the role with great relish) and the Monster survive.
(A *very* young William Smith, eventually to become a tough guy B movie icon, is one of the village children as well.) In fact, it's the actors who help to really sell this sequel, although the story isn't bad and comes up with some amusing twists, such as the differing opinions on just whose brain should end up inside the Monster.
The fourth Universal monster epic opens with the touch of having darkened trees & swirling fog serving as background for the opening credits, ala 'The Wolf Man' and gets rocking right away as the ever present mob of villagers in the town of Frankenstein badger the mayor into letting them destroy the castle where the monster & his friend Ygor reside, a means that will supposedly erase the curse of Frankenstein.As he did in the previous "Son Of..." movie, Lugosi steals the show as the malevolent Ygor (and he seems to be having a lot of fun doing it).
>:] Of course, there is that one big plot-twist in the movie, that at this point in time, the Universal executives had no apparent trouble with until 1943 for some odd reason:(SPOILERS) The ending with Ygor's brain being put in the monster's body and the latter's regaining the ability of speech, albeit with Lugosi's voice..
i rather enjoyed this one,, Lon Chaney Jr. plays the monster this time,, it was said that Boris Karloff didn't wanna be the monster no more,, because he felt that the series was getting to campy so to speak,, Bela Lugosi is also back as Ygor again,, boy you just can't seem to kill Ygor either,, hang em,, shoot him,, he just seems to come back for more.
Frankenstein and Ygor in this one seek out the good dr's second son, to see if they can switch brains in this one,, and have the monster wind up with Ygor 's brain,, now folks that's a scary thought,, again the monster speaks in this one,, which i think is very very good,, this one should have a higher rating overall,, it's n ot a bad film at all,, and Lugosi,, and Chaney Jr. did a great job in it..
this time the second son of Frankenstein(sir Cedric hardwicke)who is a mental health physician picks up where his brother left off.the monster(Lon Chaney Jr)and ygor(Bela Lugosi)seek him out for help.but the good doctors assistant(Lionel atwill)has other ideas.the beautiful Evelyn ankers plays Dr Frankenstein's daughter.Ralph Bellamy as her boyfriend.
The fourth Universal Frankenstein movie has Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, the usual angry villagers, and scream queen Evelyn Ankers, but it's notable more for what it doesn't have: Boris Karloff.Boris hung up the deadbolts and the platform shoes after making the previous Frankenstein movie, "Son Of Frankenstein".
What's left is an entertaining if hectic creature-feature made on the cheap that gives old zipperneck another lap around Frankenstein Castle for cheap thrills.The best thing in the film is Lugosi's Ygor, the hunchbacked horn-playing malcontent from "Son" who is back despite his apparent death in the earlier film.
For the benefit to those who haven't seen the third installment, "The Son of Frankenstein" (1939), it's briefly explained by one of the villagers that Wolf, the son of Frankenstein (played by Basil Rathbone) has brought back to life his late father's creation (Boris Karloff), only to have it terrorize the town once more, with the help of a crazed shepherd named Ygor (Bela Lugosi), who used the monster to carry out his evil deeds and kill off those jurors who found him guilty and sentenced to be hanged.
Ygor thus takes his friend, the Monster, away and to another village, where lives Ludwig (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), the second son of Frankenstein, now a surgeon who practices on the diseases of the brain, with Doctor Theodor Boumer (Lionel Atwill), as one of his assistants.
The local villagers burn Frankenstrin's home down at the end, but his daughter and her lover are safe.As often in these sort of movies, we get a thunderstorm and foggy atmospheres to make it creepy.The cast is made of the usual stars in these movies: Lon Chaney Jr as the monster, Bela Lugosi as Igor, Cedric Hardwicke as Dr Frankenstein's son, Lionel Atwill (The Vampire Bat), Evelyn Ankers (Son of Dracula) and Ralph Bellamy (The Wolf Man).
Alot of people say lon chaney's monster is not as good as  boris karloff's which maybe true.But at this point I think this movie is 100 times better than son of frankenstein.Bela lugosi does a good job playing igor and the set they used is especially spooky.The only dissapointment is that in one scene the monster speaks but other than that it's the best in the frankenstein series..
In his place was the noticeably shorter and chunkier Lon Chaney, Jr. who does a decent job of grunting and killing people--but a far cry from the wonderful performance of Karloff in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.Back from the last film is the evil Ygor, played with gusto by Bela Lugosi.
The cast, as always, is first-rate although the performances aren't: Cedric Hardwicke clearly wishes he was elsewhere (it was unfortunate as well that when the titular ghost appears, it does so in Hardwicke's persona and unmistakable voice!); Ralph Bellamy and Evelyn Ankers are no great shakes as the romantic leads; Bela Lugosi (who returns as evil shepherd Ygor), fails to repeat the character's essential repulsiveness since here he has no opponent to equal Basil Rathbone in SON; Lon Chaney Jr., in his sole stint as the monster, is only fair (he's best at demonstrating the creature's strength - controlled by Ygor - but his scenes with the little girl, intended to bring its emotive powers to the fore, aren't as interesting and result only in being sappy); also, for those who know about his fate, I can't help feeling that Lionel Atwill as the once-great doctor brought down by a scandal and reduced to the level of assistant - albeit a duplicitous one - to his former student (Frankenstein) is basically playing himself here!
Well, Lon Chaney does a decent job with the script he's got, and by the time of this fourth film the monster has been blown up so many times that he's bound to be a little lethargic.Bela Lugosi gets a chance to reprise his flawless "Ygor" character again, as he revives the creature and takes him to the second son of Frankenstein for an upgrade.
The doctor decides to civilize the monster by giving him a new and intelligent brain, but Ygor has plans of his own...Chaney manages to show the brute strength and force of the monster, even if he lacks the depth as an actor to make the scenes with the little girl work as touchingly as Karloff might have.This movie has a terrific musical score by Hans Salter, as well as a sufficient amount of atmosphere and scenery that makes these old chestnuts so wonderful and special in our hearts.
It was made immediately after "The Wolf Man" and contains many of the cast members from that film: Bela Lugosi, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, and of course Lon Chaney, Jr. The story is nutty and really fools with the continuity of the series.
This was likely done in an effort to mask the fact that the character was not portrayed by Karloff and eventually just became a trademark of the Monster look that we know today."The Ghost of Frankenstein" is a decent addition to the Universal monster library and was a movie viewed many times during my childhood on Saturday Night Creature Features.
That being said, it is still a classic Universal Monsters film and has all of the earmarks of such from the music to the beautiful black and white, to the cast which includes the likes of such Universal monster mainstays as Lon Chaney Jr, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Ralph Bellamy, Evelyn Ankers, and Cedric Hardwicke.
Ygor and the Monster died at the end of "Son of Frankenstein." But not so fast: "The Ghost of Frankenstein," the fourth entry in this Universal Horror series, reveals they survived.
The creature, now played by Lon Chaney Jr. follows Ygor in his new plan: to force the other son of Frankenstein to help the damaged creature.Wonderful Cedric Hardwicke plays Ludwig Frankenstein, as a surgeon who has mastered a technique to transplant brains.
The movie focuses on Ygor and his relationship with the monster, but forgets of exploring the Monster' side of the team.Hardwicke, Lugosi and Atwill give an outstanding performance considering the script they had to work with, and Chaney Jr. manages to be as impressive as Karloff, although not as expressive.The movie is a mediocre but still enjoyable chapter in the saga, and set the events to the next one in "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman".
The real star here is Bela Lugosi; his portrayal as the revived Ygor (supposedly shot dead at the end of the previous film, 'Son of Frankenstein') is arguably one of his best, most delicious roles.
If you like Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, the classic Universal Monsters, great black and white movies, and horror films then I strongly recommend that you check out this film today!.
Great Fun. Ghost of Frankenstein, The (1942) **** (out of 4) Sequel to Son of Frankenstein has the monster (now played by Lon Chaney, Jr.) and Ygor (Bela Lugosi) escaping their deaths and heading off to another village to another Dr. Frankenstein (Cedric Hardwicke).
Kenton directed this entry, that sees the monster(now played by Lon Chaney Jr.) being dug out of the dried-out sulfur pit by Ygor(played again by Bela Lugosi) who somehow survived his gunshot wounds(!) and takes the monster to Henry Frankenstein's older son Ludwig(played by Cedric Hardwicke) to be cured of his chronic sickness.
***SPOILERS*** The 4th of the Frankenstein series from Universal Studios has the monster played by Lon Chaney Jr instead of it's creator the great Boris Karloff who by then had much better things to do.The movie "The Ghost of Frankenstein" is a lot like a street corner "Three Card Monte" game with everyone involved Ygor, Bela Lugosi, the mentally deranged broken neck, from unnecessarily being hung, flute playing psychotic to Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein, Cedric Hardwick, and the Doc's assistant the disbarred Dr. Bohmer, Lionel Atwill, trying to fit a new brain into the criminal minder Monster's skull.
Together Ygor and the creature pay a visit to the second son of Frankenstein, Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke), an eminent brain surgeon, to try to convince him to replace the monster's damaged brain with a good one.At first, Ludwig is convinced that the best mode of action is to dissect the monster, destroying it for good, but after a visitation from the ghost of his father, he decides to go ahead with the brain transplant operation, unaware that Ygor plans to have HIS brain transplanted into the creature, with a little help from Ludwig's bitter assistant Doctor Theodore Bohmer (Lionel Atwill).By now, the Frankenstein series was starting to get pretty silly, with plot contrivances and ridiculous developments aplenty.
Lon Chaney Jr is terrible he wastes his time trying to be like Karloff and instead transforms the sympathetic monster into nothing more than a hulking brutish moron who likes stupid children instead being human the makeup is horrible jack pierce was great at makeup in the 30's thats when he puts it on the right actor but you cant put the Frankenstein makeup on Chaney without making it look as horrible as CRAP and the music is cheap and corny as cheese it does not have the mood of the first three films although by the third the characters were already becoming lousy and unoriginal except Igor and the monster but in this movie their characters become dumb and cheesy Bela Lugosi did better in son of Frankenstein....
Everyone Admits that the Universal "Frankenstein" Horror Show Heyday was the 1930's and the Movies after "Son" were Fun and Interesting but Lacked the Artistic Depth, Scope, and Budget of the Original Trilogy.Bela Lugosi Returns as "Ygor" and again Plays a Significant Role and the Ending is Something to Behold.
Ygor searches out a second son of Frankenstein, played by Cedric Hardwicke, to have his brain inserted in the skull of the monster in this third sequel to 1931's "Frankenstein." With this film, the first without Boris Karloff as the monster, the Frankenstein series slides into the realm of the B-programmer.
Ygor(Bela Lugosi who easily steals this film), with his distorted and broken body, secretly plans to use the body of Frankenstein's creation(Lon Chaney, Jr, taking over for Karloff)to house his own brain when he is able to manipulate the monster to follow him to Baron's ancestor, great brain surgeon Dr. Ludwig Frankenstein(Cedric Hardwicke, well cast)in a nearby village where the doctor works as head of a mental hospital and institution.