Son of Frankenstein, 1939, BW, 99 minutes, Universal. Directed by Rowland V. Lee. Starring Boris Karloff as the monster, Bela Lugosi as Ygor, Basil Rathbone as Baron Wolf Von Frankenstein, Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh and Josephine Hutchinson as Elsa von Frankenstein. Schlock-meter rating: Eight stars out of 10.
Son of Frankenstein is a superior horror film. It's memorable mostly because it's the last ˙top budget˙ monster film that Universal made. It was a lesser contribution to the Golden Year of Hollywood, 1939, that included Gone With The Wind, Ninotchka, The Wizard of Oz and other great films. It was the last Frankenstein film where Boris Karloff played the monster. Karloff was the only Frankenstein monster who could evoke sympathy. His eyes personify the suffering he feels. Also, Bela Lugosi is masterful as the scheming, thirsting-for-revenge Ygor, permanently disfigured by a failed hanging. And Lionel Atwill is great as the one-armed Inspector Krogh, who lost his arm battling the monster years ago and fears the past returning.
The plot concerns the son of Dr. Frankenstein (Rathbone) occupying the decrepit Frankenstein castle with his wife Elsa (Hutchinson) and toddler son. Although he doesn't plan to follow in his dad's footsteps, he runs into Ygor, who is hiding in the ruins of his dad's laboratory. Ygor leads the doctor to the monster, who is in a coma. The doctor is manipulated by Ygor to fall into the spell of wanting to bring the monster to life. Ygor uses the monster to kill those who he believed wronged him. All the while Rathbone's doctor and Atwill's inspector engage in verbal sparring. A highlight is the scene where the doctor parries Atwill's questions while playing darts.
A word about Karloff's monster: He conveys true love for Lugosi's Ygor, who the monster regards quite accurately as a protector. His howl of anguish and suffering eyes at realizing Ygor is dead is believable. It's not my intention to give away the ending, but Rathbone's quick transformation from villain to hero at the end is a minor flaw in an otherwise great film. After all, he is responsible, at least indirectly, for the deaths of several villagers as well as his trusted assistant. Yet he waves farewell to the villagers, making them seem a bit ridiculous letting him leave without punishment. Nevertheless, the film is a pleasure to watch, not only for the great performances of Karloff, Lugosi and Atwill, but also for the superior production values and the 99 minute A-feature-length running time, all of which started to disappear from Universal horror films in the 1940s.