Cast
Boris Karloff Dr. Gustav Niemann
Lon Chaney Lawrence Talbot
John Carradine Dracula
Anne Gwynne Rita Hussman
Peter Coe Karl Hussman
Lionel Atwill Inspector Arnz
George Zucco Prof. Bruno Lampini
Elena Verdugo Ilonka
Sig Ruman Burgomeister Hussman
William Edmunds Fejos, the Gypsy Chieftain
Charles Miller Burgomeister Tobermann, Visaria
Philip Van Zandt Insp. Muller, Visaria
Julius Tannen Schwartz
Hans Herbert Meier
Dick Dickinson Boern
George Lynn Insp. Gerlach, of Frankenstein
Michael Mark Friedrich Strauss
Olaf Hytten Hoffman, bartender
Frank Reicher Ullman
Brandon Hurst Dr. Geissler
Glenn Strange Frankenstein Monster
J. Carrol Naish Daniel, the hunchback
Edmund Cobb Regelsburg Coachman
Belle Mitchell Urla, Gypsy Woman
Charles Wagenheim Jailer at Neustadt Prison
Produced by Paul Malvern; Directed by Erle C. Kenton; Screenplay by Curt
Siodmak and Edward T. Lowe; Original music by Paul Dessau, Charles Previn,
Heinz Roemheld, Milton Rosen, H. J. Salter and Frank Skinner;
Cinematography by George Robinson; Film Editing by Philip Cahn; Art
Direction by John B. Goodman and Martin Obzina; Set Decoration by Russell
Gausman and A.J. Gilmore; Costume Design by Vera West; Makeup Artist,
Jack P. Pierce; Assistant Director, William Tummel; Sound Director,
Bernard B. Brown; Sound Technician, William Hedgcock; Special Effects
by John P. Fulton; Stunts by Carey Loftin and Gil Perkins; Musical
Director, Hans J. Salter; Gown Supervisor, Vera West. Production date:
April 3 -- early May, 1944; New York opening: December 15, 1944; Los
Angeles opening: December 22, 1944; Released February 16, 1945.
The story:
Imprisoned for 15 years for macabre scientific experiments, Dr. Gustav
Niemann makes his escape to freedom with Daniel, a psychpathic hunchback
killer.
The unholy pair find refuge with Professor Bruno Lampini in his traveling
chamber of horrors. When Lampini refuses to do their bidding, Daniel
throttles him and Niemann takes over.
Among the eerie exhibits in the show is the skeleton of Dracula, the human vampire. Niemann removes the stake from the skeleton's heart, and the bones assume human form. The vampire falls in with a plan of revenge against three men responsible for Niemann's imprisonment.
Dracula casts a supernatural spell over Rita, daughter-in-law of one of Nieman's enemies. On the verge of her transformation into a bat vampire, Rita is rescued by her husband Carl, who destroys Dracula.
Niemann cruelly murders his enemies and with Daniel continues to the ruins of the laboratory where Frankenstein experimented on the dead. Enroute they rescue a Gypsy dancer, Ilonka, mistreated by her master, and take her with them.
Niemann and Daniel discover the frozen forms of the Wolf Man and the man-made Frankenstein Monster buried in coffins of ice. The Wolf Man responds to heat treatments and becomes a living man, but the monster does not.
Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man, helps Niemann search the wreckage of the laboratory for Frankenstein's personal diary. In it they hope to learn the secret of destroying Larry's werewolf curse.
Niemann postpones operating on Larry's brain, to continue his experimewnts on the Frankenstein Monster. Desperate, Larry attacks the scientist just as the Monster shows life.
To Ilonka's horror, Larry, the man she loves, changes into the Wolf Man and smashes into her room. As his fangs sink into her neck, she kills him with the gun he had given her to protect herself against him.
Attracted by eerie lights from the Frankenstein castle, a posse of villagers chase the monster and the already prostrate Niemann into the quicksand nearby.
Disclaimer: all materials (photos,
text, etc.) were copyright 1944 by Universal Pictures; All rights reserved. No rights given or implied. Do not use without permission. This is an unofficial website.
