“Frankenstein” Monster And “Dracula” Vampire

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 96, 26 April 1939, Page 11

“Frankenstein” Monster And “Dracula” Vampire

KARLOFF, LUGOSI, RATHBONE AND ATWILL (Regent: Screening Friday 10.30 p.m.). When the “Frankenstein” monster and the “Dracula” vampire got together at the behest of Universal studios for a new assault on the vulnerable nerves of film audiences, the result was bound to be the most spirn-tingling production ever to reach the screen. The new, streamlined shocker, “Son of Frankenstein,” starring Basil Ratlibone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, proves that. Following the example of the studio’s earlier entries in the Frankenstein series, the latest thrill provider presents Rathbone as the new possessor to his j family’s bloody heritage, the man-kill-ing, man-made monster. Ivarlolf again takes up the monster’s hideous guise, and Lugosi portrays an unforgettable figure as the crazed, broken-necked shepherd who befriends the monster and helps him in his nefarious marauding.

Lionel Atwill, Josephine Hutchinson, Emma Dunn, Donnie Dunagan and Edgar Norton have other roles.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley created one of the most famous of the Frankenstein Monster. For 120 years since her authorship of “Frankenstein’’ the Frankenstein Monster has been held up as one of the most startling creations of fiction. The character was seen on the screen in “Frankenstein” in 1931, and in “The Bride of Frankenstein’’ in 1935, and is once more again stalking the screens in Universal’s new production, “The Son of Frankenstein.” Included in the supporting programme is an Universal Scenic feature, entitled “Old English Homesteads.”