Capra Fights the Good Fight

On Dec 7, 1941 the United States was catapulted into the escalating war with the Axis Powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.  The event that changed what had been previously viewed by Americans as a European War and not worthy of changing the national non-interventionist status was the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.  Prior to that the Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidency had done everything in it's power short of actually declaring war to help the Allied Powers in their ongoing struggle, including the Lend-Lease program, which basically gave aid without actually deploying soldiers to help. Pearl Harbor changed all that.  The U.S. declared war in retaliation and the war was on for the US, both on European and Asian soil as well as on the home front.

Frank Capra joined the fight 4 days later, becoming a major in the United States Army.  At age 44, he was a little too old to be fighting, but he became a prolific help in the battle on the home front.  His major role in said effort was to film a seven part series of films, a sort of counter-effort to the propaganda films that Nazi Germany and the Japanese were creating for their own efforts.  Primarily Capra wanted to counteract the Nazi/Leni Riefenstahl propaganda film Triumph of the Will. The Why We Fight films were initially made to educate members of the Armed Forces for the need to fight the "good fight".

But the films were so well made and viewed by the brass as so important that they were released into theaters.  And not just in the US.  Winston Churchill, England's Prime minister, thought they were essentially enough that he decreed they be shown in theaters in the UK.  And the first in the series Prelude to War was honored with an Academy Award for Best Documentary (which it shared with three other films, but still...)

Prelude to War: was the first in the series.  It delved into the rise of the three "slave" worlds of Germany, Italy and Japan and made an effort to compare them to the free world (primarily the US, but also those nations that were fellow fighters in the struggle.) A quote, which was added before it's release to the public, by Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War at the time, sums it up pretty well:

"The purpose of these films is to give factual information as to the causes, the events leading up to our entry into the war and the principles for which we are fighting.”  

 Ultimately the first film focuses mainly on Italian and Japanese aggression, reserving the bulk of Nazi Germany's role in the war for the next film.

The Nazis Strike: The second film in the series and delves into the duplicitous nature of Adolph Hitler, as well as his and Nazi Germany's use of fifth columnists (Traitors inside the countries he sought to conquer.  It reveals the many treaties of non-aggression that Hitler signed with various nations only to tear up those treaties and invade anyway when the time was ripe. There are some inaccuracies within the film, primarily concerning the Soviet and German relations within Poland.  This was primarily because, at the time, the Soviets were allies in the struggle and it was probably a good idea not to make an enemy of a "friend", but to some historians it does have some inconsistencies. 

Divide and Conquer:  Continuing after the fall of Poland from the second film, we are continuing to see that any pact or statement made by Hitler is only just so much bull as he invades other countries with whom he had agreed to leave alone.  This hearkens back to the Heartland Theory, covered in the second film, which basically reveals that the ultimate goal of the Nazis was to conquer the entire world.  As Hitler continues his drive to be a world dictator, he invades the northern countries of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium.  France is next.

The Battle of Britain:  After the fall of France, Britain is left almost solely to fight the war herself.  An early effort by the Nazis to take out military installations and ports is resisted wholeheartedly, so Hitler tries a different tactic; attacking civilians, bombing the city of London.  But this blitzkrieg is also resisted by the determination of the British citizenry.  As Churchill says "never[...] has so much been owed by so many to so few".

The Battle of Russia: represents how hard the Soviet allies have struggled against invasion, not only against the current enemy of Germany, but down through history.  Here again the Soviets are cast in a positive light as the good guys because of their association with the Allies, not mentioning certain factors that would have shed a negative light on them if they had been portrayed; such as the Soviet role in the invasion of it's neighbors prior to the conflict.

The Battle of China:  The series moves east and focuses on Japan's aggressive nature, specifically with it's attempts to conquer China.  

War Comes to America: The final film of the series, and by far in the opinion of your humble reviewer, the best.  It gives a brief history of the United States up to the early part of the 30's, when the aggressive Axis powers started extending greedy fingers into other countries.  It then shows how the US gradually changed from a staunch non-interventionist society, in 1936 being an overwhelming majority of staying out of the conflict.  But as the tides started to turn in Europe and the East, views, as they will, changed.  The short history of how the US approached relationships with both sides of the war changed as much of the public opinion changed from staying out of the conflict, to helping what seemed to be the correct side.  The true nature of the propaganda portion of the film concludes with the following revealing statements:

German conquest of Europe and Africa would bring all their raw materials, plus their entire industrial development, under one control. Of the 2 billion people in the world, the Nazis would rule roughly one quarter, the 500 million people of Europe and Africa, forced into slavery to labor for Germany. German conquest of Russia would add the vast raw materials and the production facilities of another of the world's industrial areas, and of the world's people, another 200 million would be added to the Nazi labor pile.

Japanese conquest of the Orient would pour into their factory the almost unlimited resources of that area, and of the peoples of the earth, a thousand million would come under their rule, slaves for their industrial machine. Altogether, the German, Italian and Japanese aggressors would undertake a catalystic crisis, one that would enslave most of the world's population and liquidate about 90% of cultural life on Earth.

We in North and South America would be left with the raw materials of three-tenths of the earth's surface, against the Axis with the resources of seven-tenths. We would have one industrial region against their three industrial regions. We would have one-eighth of the world's population against their seven-eighths. If we together, along with the other nations of North and South America, could mobilize 30 million fully equipped men, the Axis could mobilize 200 million.

Thus, an Axis victory in Europe and Asia would leave us alone and virtually surrounded facing enemies ten times stronger than ourselves.

If you are as avid devotee of history as I am, I think you will find this series extremely riveting.  Even if you only watch it to gain a perspective of the times, it will certainly open your mind.  And you can watch Casablanca, the next time in a whole new light.

Quiggy

A Ladd and His Gun

I've been promising a fellow blogger,  Rachel (Hamlette), for months that I was going to get around to doing this double feature, but I kept putting it off, due to time and commitments to various blogathons.  She is a big Alan Ladd fan, and, I might add, a fellow enthusiast for film noir, of which both of these movies are under that double umbrella. I, too, am a big fan of film noir.  Personally, however, I can take or leave Alan Ladd.  I've seen a number of movies he was in, and he is a great actor, but as I've stated before, with the exception of John Wayne, I don't actively seek out movies just because a certain actor or actress is in it.  (Of course, the opposite is not true... I have also stated elsewhere that I dislike Kevin Costner and Tom Cruise, and it would take an extraordinary movie indeed for me to sit through one with either of those two guys...)  But Alan Ladd is not one of those, so I will watch movies in which he is the star without complaint.

Alan Ladd was on the scene for many years before he got his big start as a headliner.  And this was news to me because I thought, pretty much, based on the impression that I got, that he just popped up out of nowhere to be cast as the star of This Gun for Hire.  He had actually been a veteran as an extra on some 40 features and shorts since 1932.  But the noir classic WAS his first starring role, and he never had to look back.

A bit of history about Ladd; he was born in Arkansas.  After his father died, his mother remarried, and eventually the three ended up in California, where Ladd was "discovered" while performing in a high school production of The Mikado.  He was signed to a Hollywood contract, but was eventually let go.  Not because his acting was sub-par, however; he was dismissed because he was "too short".  He was only 5½' or so (height measurements vary) and leading men just weren't shorter than their leading ladies in those days.

After various "working stiff" jobs, Ladd found work in radio, where his voice was the only factor, and his height didn't matter.  His voice impressed an agent named Sue Carol who signed him and began promoting him, both for radio and film.  He got several walk on roles over the next few years, but his height was still a hindrance.  Then Paramount called.  They were looking for the right person to play the role of a hitman in a production of Graham Greene's novel, A Gun for Sale, which eventually was titled This Gun for Hire.  And not only was Ladd an excellent choice for the role, the added bonus was that Veronica Lake, the woman who would be the the leading lady, was shorter than Ladd.

He never had to look back.  His acting brought him the roles that exhibited his great acting, and on more than one occasion, studios even took to filming him on ramps and with special filming styles that de-emphasized his height.  After a very brief career in the Army (he was initially classified as 4-F, but did serve for most of 1943 before he was discharged due to medical reasons), Ladd returned to Hollywood where he worked for another 20 years, until his death by accidental overdose in 1964.

As stated before, the initial role that kicked off his career was as the hitman "Raven" in This Gun for Hire.  It was followed by The Glass Key, both of which featured Veronica Lake as his leading lady.

(An interesting side note: Among the actors who were considered for the role of "Raven" in This Gun for Hire was DeForest Kelley.  Yes, the same actor who became more famous for playing Dr. Leonard McCoy on Star Trek.  As he had played mostly villains in the films he made prior to Star Trek, doing the job fairly well, I might add, it's not inconceivable that he could have pulled off the role.  Check out Warlock for a great example.  Kelley's career was put on hold just after losing out to Ladd because he was drafted into service for WWII, and would not be a film star until after the war was over.)

This Gun for Hire (1942)

This film starts out in San Francisco, with a bang.  Raven (Alan Ladd) shows us what we are in for when he slaps around the house maid, Annie (Pamela Blake), for swatting a stray cat that Raven has been feeding.  See, we are supposed to find the character at least a wee bit sympathetic because he likes cats.  (We later learn that he likes cats because he thinks they bring him good luck.)

Raven goes to do the job for which he was hired, that of killing a blackmailer by the name of Albert Baker ( Frank Ferguson).  (A side note:  If you have ever seen the Steve Martin classic film noir parody Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, you've seen the scenes where Alan Ladd appears and shoots his man, with Martin subbing for Ferguson in the scene).

Raven then goes to meet the man who hired him, Willard Gates (Laird Creagar).  Gates is a wimp, and somewhat of a weasel,  with an affinity for peppermints.  He pays off Raven, but unbeknownst to Raven, Gates has another agenda on his mind, that of getting rid of Raven as a confidante in his scheme, and he pays off Raven in bills that have been reported as part of a stolen payroll.

Raven is tripped up in this regard when he uses one of the stolen bills to buy a dress to replace the one he ripped when he slapped around Annie.  Enter Michael Crane (Robert Preston), a police detective on the trail of the stolen money.  He shows up at the boarding house looking for Raven, but Raven escapes through a bit of subterfuge.  Preston is the most annoying beau to ever come down the pike, if you ask me.  He's a little too exuberant, which was OK when he played such roles as "Toddy" Todd in Victor/Victoria, but grated on my nerves in a film noir characterization.

Raven, having discovered he has been duped by Gates, goes on the trail looking for him, and boards a train.  On the same train is Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), a nightclub singer who has recently been hired to sing in Gates' nightclub in LA.  By coincidence, she has also been induced to spy on Gates for the government, because Gates is suspected of dealing with enemy agents, it being wartime that this movie takes place.  They don't actually come down and name the enemy, but hints are it is the Japanese, which makes it even more treasonous in the eyes of the viewer at the time of this movie, since it had only been ½ a year or so since the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Also, by coincidence, Ellen and Michael, the policeman, are romantically involved.  (Any more coincidences, and I may not be able to restrain myself...)  She is sworn to secrecy by her government contact, and is not to tell anyone, including Michael about her secret mission.  On the train, by coincidence (uh oh..), she and Raven are seated next to each other.  Also, by coincidence, Gates just happens to pass through the car where they are and sees them together.  (OK, just how much of this coincidence crap am I supposed to take?)

Gates telegraphs the police to meet the train, but Raven, with Ellen as his hostage, manages to escape the dragnet.  A scene where Raven and Ellen are in a deserted building and Raven is about kill Ellen really shocks the senses, since up to that point we have been gradually, if somewhat reluctantly, dragged into a feeling of sympathy for the killer.  Fortunately for us, and the rest of the movie, Raven is interrupted by some workmen who are preparing to demolish the building.

Raven continues on his quest, while Ellen goes to her new job at Gates' nightclub.  Gates' suspicions of Ellen increase and he invites her to his home for dinner, ostensibly to get to know her, but really to get to the bottom of what her connection is to Raven.  In that regard, he and his valet incapacitate Ellen and plan to kill her by dropping her in the river with weights on her ankles.  But Raven shows up and rescues her.  (This teeter-tottering of Raven's display as , alternately, a sympathetic soul and an unrepentant killer keeps the viewer on edge.  Just when we start to think that Raven deserves what his fate must be, we are dragged into a feeling of hope that he might escape, because, after all, he's not such a bad guy after all, is he..?)

Raven and Ellen end up hiding out in a factory, but they are surrounded by the police.  Michael, whose feelings for Ellen have been complicated by the fact that she seems to be in cahoots with Raven, leads the charge.  In the factory Ellen and Raven have an intimate moment, of sorts, where Ellen convinces Raven to give up his killing, to which Raven promises, but only after he has finished his goal.  Ellen gets him to help her in getting down to the truth of the traitorous dealings that Gates has been doing, however.  The traitorous

Needless to say, it all works out in the end, although maybe not entirely the way we as the viewers may hope at this point.  This is a really good movie, all the way up until the end.  I can't understand, though, why a movie that involves all this subterfuge and killing ends, with the screen credits rolling, with a perky, happy almost screwball comedy type of music.  It definitely seems like an odd choice.   But that is the only downside to what is a terrific movie.

The Glass Key (1942)

Ladd is cast here as Ed Beaumont, a second-in-command to gangster Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) .  Donlevy is the most unlikely looking gangster in the history of film, if you ask me, but be that as it may.  Madvig is involved in trying to help a reform candidate, Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen) to win the position of governor of the state, notwithstanding that Henry wants to shut down illegal operations of gangsters like himself, and his counterpart Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia).

Varna is among those who have a stake in seeing that Henry does not win.  And there is, of course, some animosity between Varna and Madvig, not just for the political reasons but because they are competitors in business.

Madvig has a less than friendly encounter with Henry's daughter, Janet (Veronica Lake).  She slaps him.  Rather than be offended, Madvig proclaims he loves her and intends to marry her.  (Must be a masochist, to boot).  To complicate matters even further, Henry's son, Taylor (Richard Denning), is a gambler who owes big time money to Varna.

And Opal (Bonita Granville), Madvig's sister, is carrying on a relationship with Taylor.  A relationship that Madvig has  attempted to discourage, but Opal is a girl with a mind of her own.  But that is not going to be a problem for too much longer, because Taylor ends up murdered.  And his body is found, first, by Ed.

Which becomes a thorn in Ed's side, because someone is out to make an issue of that fact.  A note starts popping up which states "If Paul Madvig didn't kill Taylor Henry, how did his best friend happen to find the body?"  And everyone, it seems, suspects Madvig of having done it, including Ed.  But Ed is still a loyal confidante and is determined to help Madvig through it, even though Madvig won't own up to the murder, or for that matter profess his innocence.

But eventually, or so it seems, Ed gets fed up and quits his relationship with Madvig.  And goes straight to Varna.  Varna, for his part, is eager to have Madvig's right hand man in his camp, but apparentyly Ed is not so eager.  Varna sicks his dog, Jeff (William Bendix) on Ed.  Calling Jeff a "dog" is not meant to imply that Jeff (or Bendix) is ugly.  It is meant to say that Jeff is as vicious as any pitbull stories you may have ever heard.  In fact it is probably derogatory to pitbulls to call him a "dog"... Jeff beats the crap out of Ed.  And seems to enjoy every minute of it.

Fortunately for Ed, he manages to escape during one of Jeff's breaks from kicking his ass.  Meanwhile Varna has apparently bribed a guy into claiming he witnessed Madvig kill Taylor.  But this witness is gunned down, and Madvig ends up on the hook for his murder.  Ed has to get down to the bottom of what all these loose threads tie up to reveal, which he does, and you'll be relieved to know it wasn't Ed, all along who committed the murder.  (I half expected they would throw that monkey wrench into the fray, which is why I mention it...)

The Glass Key has it's downsides, not the least of which, as I stated, is the casting of Brian Donlevy as the most un-gangster-like gangster to ever be portrayed (on a film I've seen, at least.  I don't include any overt comedies in that judgement, just gangster and film noir movies).  The absolute best part of the movie, for me, is when Bonita Granville smiles with that twinkle in her eye.  Makes me wish I had a time machine...  If I had to pick only one of these two, I'd opt for The Glass Key just to see her.

Well, time to pack the gat away and shuffle on home.  Enjoy the movies.

Quiggy

Madame Joan vs. Vichy France

This is my entry in the Joan Crawford Blogathon hosted by In the Good Old Days of Hollywood.

I must admit at the outset that I was (and still am) not that familiar with Joan Crawford.  I had previously only seen one movie in which she was in, Grand Hotel.  My main knowledge of her came from the Faye Dunaway portrayal of her in Mommie Dearest.  And Blue Oyster Cult recorded a song titled Joan Crawford (Has Risen from the Grave)  [which actually doesn't have anything to do with Joan Crawford...or maybe it does.  Since I haven't seen many of her movies, I wouldn't know...]

I was reluctant to enter another star-oriented blogathon, but Crystal is a hard woman to say no to, so I cast about for a possibility or two.  I would have gone for two of her late career movies (Strait-jacket and Berserk!), but I foresaw a lot of trouble finding them on the cheap, as I did not already have copies in my library (I am an avid collector of cheesy cult drive-in style flicks).  But, as I have a very extensive John Wayne collection, I had a readily available choice of one in which Joan costarred with him, Reunion in France.


A little background on this film.  According to one source I read, Crawford only agreed to to this film if John Wayne would be in it with her.  She had a crush on him and flung herself unabashedly on him, only to be spurned.  She has later been quoted as saying she thought it was one of the worst performance of her career.  (Could it be she had regrets from an unrequited love...?)

Reunion in France (1942)

In this film, Joan plays Michele de la Becque,  who is initially a very laissez-faire woman at the beginning of World War II.  France at this point is defending against the advances of the forces of Nazi Germany, of which the French powers that be are supremely confident they will withstand.  You kind of get the idea that Michele thinks the war ought to bend to her own wants and desires instead of the other way around.  Her boyfriend, Robert Cortot (Philip Dorn), is involved with the defense of France and desires that Michele leave the country before the war arrives.  Michele is reluctant to agree to go without him, but finally relents.

A few months later, she returns to France after it has fallen to the Germans.  She finds her house has been taken over by the Germans as a base of operations, although they are willing to allow her to live in a room in the servant's quarters (quite generous of them, don't you think?).  Without access to her wealth, she is forced to take a job as an assistant to her former clothes designer.  And worse, it appears that Robert is now joined with the Vichy government and Germany to design weapons and material for their use.

Robert still loves Michele, although her love has waned somewhat in view of his defection to the enemy.  Which leaves her open to new possibilities when she encounters Patrick Talbot (John Wayne), a downed RAF American Eagle Squadron pilot who has had the unfortunate circumstances of being downed by the Germans and on the run from them.  Pat, who dubs Michele "Mike", manages to hide out from the Germans with her, and during their stay together manages to cause her to fall in love with him.

Robert, unaware of the presence of a competitive suitor, is trying to wrangle for Michele some letters of transit to get her to Lisbon, and to safety from the Germans.  She wants him to also get papers for Pat, but does not reveal to Robert the RAF status of Pat.  She gets him to agree because she convinces Robert he is a student who has somehow managed to lose his papers.  The Germans in charge are suspicious and there is a lot of intrigue going on within the film.  Circumstances even lead to the arrest of Michele.

Twists and turns in the plot and a surprise, but somewhat fabricated, ending make this an entertaining movie, although it has a lot of parallels to Casablanca, which is a far better movie.  Still, for the passage of an hour and a half, it is worth checking out.

John Carradine, looking very young and spry from the characters I am used to seeing him play, makes an appearance as a smarmy Gestapo officer.  Don't blink, or you'll miss Ava Gardner as a shopgirl. She isn't listed in the credits, and neither is another familiar face. If you think the wife of General Schroeder looks vaguely familiar, it is indeed Natalie Schaeffer (Lovey Howell on Gilligan's Island).




Time to fire up the Plymouth and head home, where, thankfully, no Nazis have commandeered the residence.  Drive safely folks.

Quiggy

"Frank" and Friends

Frankenstein's monster is proof that a good man just can't be kept down.  Or a bad man can't be kept dead.

The name of Frankenstein brings out the worst in people in the ancient village where the original mad scientist did his dirty work.  (And, just for clarity, the name of the doctor is Frankenstein.  His monster, although usually referred to as "Frankenstein" should be called "Frankenstein's Monster")  There is a series of sequences in the first few movies that follows an identifiable timeline.  The original doctor Heinrich "Henry" Frankenstein, as played by Colin Clive in the first two Frankenstein movies (Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein) was the creator of the monster that plagued the countryside throughout the Universal sequels.

A side note:  If you thought, like I did, the doctor's name was supposed to be "Victor Frankenstein", it was, in the original novel, but in the movies made by Universal, for some reason, they changed it to Henry, and then in a subsequent movie, Son of Frankenstein, it was revealed that his actual name was Heinrich.  You'd have to ask the writers why they made the change, but a subsidiary character in the original movie was named Victor, just not the doctor.

I won't go into the references that were made when Mel Brook's movie Young Frankenstein was made in the first two (that's for a later post if and when I get to it).  There is in this movie a new character, Ygor, who is not a hunchback, as in the Brooks movie, but has a disfigurement nonetheless. Also the gendarme so hilariously played by Kenneth Mars was drawn from a similar character here, Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill), played with very subdued humor compared to the Mars character.

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), the son of Henry, arrives in the town of Frankenstein to take over the family castle.  He brings with him his wife Elsa (Josephine Hutchinson) and his son, Peter (Donnie Dunnagan).  He does not get a very welcome reception from the villagers, who believe he will only continue the evil experiments his father started.  They are also sure that Henry's monster still lives, though it supposedly died.  The source of this rumor is the fact that several villagers have died recently under mysterious circumstances.

Rathbone w/ Donnegan and the nursemaid.

Still living in the castle is Frankenstein père's assistant, Ygor (Bela Lugosi).  Ygor was convicted of crimes and hung, but survived the execution.  But as a result of the failed hanging, he has a deformed neck.  Wolf finds the body of the monster in his family crypt and, at Ygor's behest, decides to try to revive the monster.  But Ygor has ulterior motives.  See, all of the mysterious deaths in the village were, indeed, commited by the monster, but all of the deaths were members of the jury that convicted Ygor.  Ygor had been using the monster to get revenge on the village and the jury.

Rathbone w/ Karloff and Lugosi

Wolf has only one real ally in the village, Inspector Krogh (Lionel Atwill), who had previously encountered the monster and had his armed torn off.  The Inspector goes through life with an artificial arm now.  He tries to warn Wolf that the villagers want him gone and protect the doctor, but he is also suspicious that the doctor knows where the monster is and his hiding him.

Rathbone w/Atwill

Wolf, for his part, does not know of the monster's and Ygor's complicity in the deaths of the villagers until too late.  When he confronts Ygor, Ygor is of course not entirely receptive to the doctor's pleas.

Son of Frankenstein is the third in the sequence of the Frankenstein oeuvre, and while not on par with Bride of Frankenstein is still a serviceable entry into the genre.  Basil Rathbone, is in my opinion, the only down side to the movie, probably due to the fact that I am so used to his staid, unemotional portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, that the emotional outbursts from Wolf just seem a bit too bizarre.

Son of Frankenstein  was the last appearance of Boris Karloff in the monster makeup, although he would go on to appear in House of Frankenstein as a mad doctor, and in Frankenstein 1970, a cheapo knock-off from the 50's as the titular Doctor.  It was not the end of his career when he stopped putting on the monster makeup, though.  He had a prolific career afterwards.

Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Lon Chaney, Jr makes his appearance as the Frankenstein monster in this sequel to Son of Frankenstein.  Although Chaney would go on to appear in other Universal monster movies, it would be as Larry Talbot, aka The Wolf Man. This was his only role as the titular monster, and a good thing too, because Chaney just did not essay a good Frankenstein monster.

The beginning of the movie finds the townspeople still ranting over the curs they feel that the Frankenstein family has brought on the town.  They are given permission by the mayor of the town to fully destroy the castle.  Ygor (Bela Lugosi), who apparently has inherited the nine lives of a cat, is back and living in the castle.  While the townspeople go block demolishing on the castle, Ygor finds the monster, who also apparently cannot be killed, and revives him.

Chaney and Lugosi

The two go off in search of Ludwig von Frankenstein (Cedric Hardwicke), the other son of Henry.  It is discovered that lightning makes the monster stronger, so the idea is to entice Ludwig, who is a doctor of brain surgery to heal the monster's brain.  At first Ludwig refuses, but is eventually blackmailed by Ygor into agreeing.



Ralph Bellamy, a frequent character actor (as well as one of the two rich brothers in the Eddie Murphy/Dan Aykroyd comedy Trading Places) appears as the town prosecutor, Erik, who is also the boyfriend of Ludwig's daughter, Elsa (Evelyn Ankers).  (Apparently the writers ran out of decent names, because you will note it is the same name as the wife of Wolf from the previous movie.)  Erik calls on Ludwig, as a brain specialist, to examine the monster after it is captured, but things go awry and the monster escapes.

Bellamy, Hardwicke, Chaney and Atwill

Eventually Ludwig is convinced to transplant the brain of his associate Dr. Kettering (Barton Yarborough), whom the monster had previously killed.  Dr. Bohmer (Lionel Atwill), Ludwig's other associate, has other ideas though, with a plant to give the monster the brain of Ygor, with Ygor's willing complicity.

The Ghost of Frankenstein marks a decline in the production values of the series.  While the three previous movies (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein) could be considered "A" pictures, The Ghost of Frankenstein was the beginning of it's "B" picture phase, and it shows.  Of the Universal Monsters movies I have seen thus far, this one is definitely the lowest ranked one.  But I would still take it over any of the knockoffs that came out in the 50's and 60's.

Well, that's the view from the back seat this week. So long, kiddies and drive safely.

Quiggy