Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man - Production

Production

Immediately following his success in Dracula, Lugosi had been the first choice to play the Monster in Universal's original Frankenstein film, but Lugosi famously turned down the non-speaking part; the virtually unknown Boris Karloff then was cast in his star-making role. (Florey later wrote that "the Hungarian actor didn't show himself very enthusiastic for the role and didn't want to play it.") Eight years later, Lugosi joined the franchise as the Monster's twisted companion Ygor in Son of Frankenstein. He returned to the role in the sequel, The Ghost of Frankenstein, in which Ygor's brain is implanted into the Monster (now Chaney), causing the creature to take on Lugosi/Ygor's voice. After plans for Chaney to play both the Monster and the Wolf Man in the next film fell through for logistical reasons, the natural next step was for Lugosi, who turned sixty during the film's production, to take on the part that he once was slated to originate.

That next film was Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, which as originally written served as a sequel both to The Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. The original script — and indeed the movie as originally filmed — had the Monster performing dialogue throughout the film, including references to the events of Ghost and indicating that the Monster is now nearly blind (a side-effect of the transplant as revealed at the end of the previous film, and the reason for the iconic stiff-armed "Frankenstein Walk"). According to screenwriter Curt Siodmak, a studio screening audience reacted negatively to this, finding the idea of the Monster speaking with a Hungarian accent unintentionally funny (although the Monster spoke with Lugosi's voice at the end of Ghost of Frankenstein, the audiences had been carefully prepared for it by the plot of the film). Though it cannot be confirmed through any other sources, this has been generally accepted as the reason virtually all scenes in which Lugosi speaks were deleted (though two brief scenes remain in the film that show Lugosi's mouth moving without sound). Consequently, Lugosi is onscreen literally for only a few minutes, leaving the Wolf Man as the film's primary focus.

Lugosi suffered exhaustion at some point during the filming, and his absence from the set, combined with his physical limitations at age sixty, required the liberal use of stand-ins. Stuntman Gil Perkins allegedly portrayed the Monster in the character's first scene (thirty-five minutes into the film) and during much of the monsters' fight (conclusive documentation needed). Although a still exists of Lugosi in the ice, when viewers see the Monster for the first time (including closeups), it is actually a stunt double. Stuntman Eddie Parker is usually credited as Lugosi's sole double, but his primary stunt role was thought to be that of the Wolf Man. However, he does appear as the Monster in at least one shot, and yet a possible third stuntman also stands in for Lugosi in two brief sequences. The edited result unfairly suggests that Lugosi had to be doubled even in non-strenuous scenes, and the multiple use of alternating stuntmen in both closeups and medium shots damages the continuity of Lugosi's characterization. As an example, the doubles in the fight scene stiffen their arms, even though that was a cautious habit of the previously-blind Monster; for instance, a medium shot shows Lugosi pulling down a cabinet with his arms naturally bent at the elbows, but the next shot is of a double completing the task with straightened arms.

This would be the final Universal horror film in which the Monster played a major role; in the subsequent films House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula, the Monster, now played by Glenn Strange, comes to life only in the final scenes. In the 1948 Universal comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (the second and only other film in which Lugosi plays Dracula), Strange has a larger role and the creature once again speaks, albeit very limited dialogue, twice muttering, "Yes, master".