{"id":18402,"date":"2011-06-28T12:52:52","date_gmt":"2011-06-28T19:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18402"},"modified":"2022-10-29T16:25:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T23:25:52","slug":"son-of-frankenstein-1942","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18402","title":{"rendered":"Son of Frankenstein (1939)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Nothing in nature is terrifying when one understands it.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Poster-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-18403\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Poster-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Poster.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe grown son (Basil Rathbone) of Dr. Frankenstein returns to his father&#8217;s hometown with his wife (Josephine Hutchinson) and son (Donnie Dunagan), finding that the villagers still live in fear of the Monster (Boris Karloff) who terrorized them years before. When a rash of murders occurs, the town&#8217;s chief inspector (Lionel Atwill) begins to suspect Rathbone of colluding with a blacksmith named Ygor (Bela Lugosi) to revive the Monster.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Basil Rathbone Films<\/li>\n<li>Bela Lugosi Films<\/li>\n<li>Boris Karloff Films<\/li>\n<li>Frankenstein<\/li>\n<li>Horror Films<\/li>\n<li>Lionel Atwill Films<\/li>\n<li>Mad Doctors and Scientists<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nI was pleasantly surprised to find that this follow-up to <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18354\"><em>Frankenstein<\/em> (1931)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=17366\"><em>Bride of Frankenstein<\/em> (1935)<\/a> &#8212; two of the most highly regarded horror films in cinema history &#8212; remains an atmospheric, effective little flick in its own right. The sets are once again highly expressionistic, the cinematography is stark and moody, and director Rowland Lee confidently frames his actors for maximum effect. The performances throughout are memorable: Bela Lugosi is surprisingly effective as a crook-necked murderer obsessed with bringing his best friend, the Monster, back to life; Rathbone does a nice job showing his character&#8217;s gradually increasing interest in carrying on his father&#8217;s work; Lionel Atwill is memorable in a critical supporting role as the one-armed detective determined to prevent the Monster from resurfacing in his hometown; and young Donnie Dunagan proves himself to be one of the more natural child actors of his generation, holding his own with quite a bit of important dialogue. Karloff, unfortunately, isn&#8217;t given much to do this time around; he was right to refuse further roles as the Monster, recognizing that the creature&#8217;s character arc was essentially complete. The film&#8217;s biggest liability is its contrived premise, which essentially just recycles the original film&#8217;s storyline via a new generation of Frankensteins &#8212; but it&#8217;s nonetheless remarkably easy to get drawn into this well-crafted, timeless tale of scientific madness and hubris. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bela Lugosi as Ygor<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1105\" height=\"881\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58549\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2.png 1105w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2-300x239.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2-1024x816.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2-128x102.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2-768x612.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Lugosi2-339x270.png 339w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1105px) 100vw, 1105px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lionel Atwill as Inspector Krogh<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1099\" height=\"889\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill.png 1099w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill-300x243.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill-1024x828.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill-128x104.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill-768x621.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Atwill-334x270.png 334w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1099px) 100vw, 1099px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Basil Rathbone as Wolf von Frankenstein<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1097\" height=\"885\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone.png 1097w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone-300x242.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone-1024x826.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone-128x103.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone-768x620.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Rathbone-335x270.png 335w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1097px) 100vw, 1097px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jack Otterson&#8217;s expressionistic sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1093\" height=\"891\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3.png 1093w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3-300x245.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3-1024x835.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3-128x104.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3-768x626.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Sets3-331x270.png 331w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1093px) 100vw, 1093px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1093\" height=\"871\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58552\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5.png 1093w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5-300x239.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5-1024x816.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5-128x102.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5-768x612.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Cinematography5-339x270.png 339w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1093px) 100vw, 1093px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Accomplished direction by Rowland Lee<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1101\" height=\"867\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58553\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction.png 1101w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction-300x236.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction-1024x806.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction-128x101.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction-768x605.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Son-of-Frankenstein-Direction-343x270.png 343w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1101px) 100vw, 1101px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an enjoyable follow-up to two of cinema&#8217;s most famous early horror films. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031951\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=3015&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/horror\/sonoffrankenstein.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/classic-horror.com\/reviews\/son_of_frankenstein_1939\">Classic Horror Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s302frank39.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/90804\/son-of-frankenstein#articles-reviews?articleId=18670\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/son-of-frankenstein\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Nothing in nature is terrifying when one understands it.&#8221; Synopsis: The grown son (Basil Rathbone) of Dr. Frankenstein returns to his father&#8217;s hometown with his wife (Josephine Hutchinson) and son (Donnie Dunagan), finding that the villagers still live in fear of the Monster (Boris Karloff) who terrorized them years before. When a rash of murders occurs, the town&#8217;s chief inspector (Lionel Atwill) begins to suspect Rathbone of colluding with a blacksmith named Ygor (Bela Lugosi) to revive the Monster. Genres,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18402\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18402"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88164,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18402\/revisions\/88164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}