page_title: Son of Frankenstein
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Son of Frankenstein / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Cropped and edited lobby card for the 1939 film Son of Frankenstein, featuring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Lobby card produced in 1953 for the release of Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. This image is assumed to be in the public domain, as no copyright notice is in evidence.
context_page_description: Son of Frankenstein is a 1939 American horror film directed by Rowland V. Lee, and is the third entry in Universal Studios' Frankenstein series and the last to feature Boris Karloff as the Monster. It is also the first to feature Bela Lugosi as Ygor. The film is the sequel to James Whale's film Bride of Frankenstein, and stars top-billed Basil Rathbone, Karloff, Lugosi and Lionel Atwill.
  The film was a reaction to the successful re-release of Universal's earliest sound horror films, Dracula with Lugosi and Frankenstein with Karloff as a double-feature in 1938. Universal's declining horror output was revitalized with the enormously successful Son of Frankenstein, in which the studio cast both stars.
context_section_description: After the ousting of the Laemmles from Universal and the British embargo on American horror films in 1936, Karloff and Lugosi found themselves in a career slump.  For two years, horror films were out of favor at Universal Studios. On April 5, 1938, a nearly bankrupt theater in Los Angeles staged a desperate stunt by showing Frankenstein, Dracula and King Kong as a triple feature. The impressive box office results led to similarly successful revivals nationwide. Universal soon decided to make a big-budget Frankenstein sequel.
  As director James Whale was similarly in a slump and did not wish to make any more horror films, Universal selected Rowland V. Lee to direct Son of Frankenstein. Lee's film explores dramatic themes: family, security, isolation, responsibility and father-son relationships.
  Son of Frankenstein marks changes in the Monster's character from Bride of Frankenstein. The Monster is duller and no longer speaks, explained by being injured by a lightning strike. The monster also wore a giant fur vest, not seen in the first two Frankenstein films, perhaps to add color to his appearance when the film was planned to be shot in color. He is fond of Ygor and obeys his orders. The Monster shows humanity in three scenes: first when he is disturbed by his image in a mirror, especially when compared to the Baron. Next, when he discovers Ygor's body, letting out a powerful scream, and later when he contemplates killing Peter but changes his mind. While the first two films were clearly set in the 1900s, this film appears to take place in the 1930s, judging by the appearance of a modern automobile.
  Peter Lorre was originally cast as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, but he had to leave the production when he became ill. Replacing Lorre was Basil Rathbone, who had scored a major triumph as Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood, released the previous year.
  According to the documentary Universal Horror (1998), the film was intended to be shot in color and some Technicolor test footage was filmed, but for artistic or budgetary reasons the plan was abandoned. No color test footage is known to survive, but a clip from a Kodachrome color home movie filmed at the studio and showing Boris Karloff in the green monster makeup, clowning around with makeup artist Jack Pierce, is included in the same documentary.
caption: Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, and Bela Lugosi in a climactic scene from the movie.
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