October 9, 2016/House of Frankenstein

===Transcript===
Intro
Hi, I’m Ben Mankiewicz. Welcome to TCM. We could continue our Monster of the Month horror movie salute tonight with one monster, but we’re not gonna do that. We could proceed with two monsters, but that, to be honest, just wouldn’t be enough. So up next, we bring you three monsters. Our next picture is a crossover extravaganza that execs at Universal were certain would make a killing at the box office. It is the sixth film in the Frankenstein series and the third film in the Wolf Man series. From 1944, House of Frankenstein, featuring Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and Dracula, together at last. If you thought Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man was confusing, well then, this movie will give you a tension headache like Ed Harris in Apollo 13. The story has only a flimsy connection to the other movies in the Universal series. The monsters are introduced at various points in the story and rarely get a chance to interact and the camp factor looms large. As one critic put it, “House of Frankenstein garners as many chuckles as it does chills.” The laughs were really a harbinger for the series, because the Abbott and Costello crossover movies were right around the corner. As for the cast, Boris Karloff finally returns to the series, but not as the monster. Instead, Karloff plays the mad scientist Dr. Gustav, with the monster falling to a newcomer, Glenn Strange. And Bela Lugosi is gone entirely, leaving John Carradine to assume the role of Dracula. As for the Wolf Man, he is still played by Lon Chaney Jr., one of the few things in the film that seems to make sense. But that’s okay, movies this much fun don’t need to make too much sense. From 1944, directed by Erle C. Kenton, here’s House of Frankenstein.
Outro
In House of Frankenstein, John Carradine assumed the role of Dracula for the first time. He would go on to do so again the following year in the sequel, you guessed it, House of Dracula. Despite appearing as the Count in only these two relatively minor Universal monster movies, many committed horror fans have called attention to Carradine’s gaunt portrayal of Dracula, correctly maintaining it’s more in keeping with Bram Stoker’s original novel than Bela Lugosi’s famous performance in the original 1931 film. In many horror movies circles, the debate as to who played the better Dracula, Carradine or Lugosi, still lingers to this day. I don’t know what that was. Up next, this week’s Silent Sunday Night selection, one of the earliest screen adaptations of Robert Louis Stevenson’s story about a kind doctor with a split personality.
Category:Movie Capsules