This week we have a look at the 1943 film Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. This is Episode #386!
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of later called "monster rallies" combining characters from several film series. This film's script written by Curt Siodmak follows The Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. The film involves Larry Talbot who is brought back to life. Seeking a way to return to his death to escape his werewolf curse, he meets with gypsy Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) who advises him that the only way to stay dead is to confer with Dr. Frankenstein. The doctor is long dead but his equipment is in working condition, leading Talbot to seek the help of scientist Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles) and Frankenstein descendant Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey). Talbot then attempts to have his life sucked from his body and transferred into Frankenstein's monster (Bela Lugosi).
Developed under the title Wolf Man Meets Frankenstein, the film was originally developed with Lon Chaney Jr. to portray both Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolf Man, an idea that was halted before production began because of the physical toll it would take on the actor. The script was filmed with the monster originally having lines of dialogue which were later removed after a studio pre-screening for the film which led to the production staff laughing at Bela Lugosi's delivery of the lines. This led to Lugosi's dialogue being removed from the final film. The film was released to what the authors of the book Universal Horrors described as "lukewarm reviews". The film led to a series of what were later described as "monster rallies" involving having name-brand monsters interact with each other in films. Universal would follow this with The House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.

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