Son of Frankenstein (1939) - full transcript
Wolf von Frankenstein returns to the Baronial manor from the United States with his wife Elsa and son Peter. He not made welcome by the locals who are still terrified of his father's works and the monster he created. The local Burgomaster gives him a sealed briefcase left by his father and inside, Wolf finds his father's scientific notes. At the manor house he meets his father's assistant Igor who has a surprise for him: the monster his father created is still alive, though in some sort of coma. Wolf's initial attempts to re-animate the creature seem to fail but when Peter says he saw a giant in the woods, it appears he's met success. When people are mysteriously killed in the village there is little doubt that the monster is responsible.
Ain't you afraid?
Of old Ygor? No.
(EXCLAIMING)
I say that I,
for one, will not...
BURGOMASTER:
Enough, guard, enough.
He'll be met
exactly as arranged.
Now, friends,
on his deathbed,
the old Baron Frankenstein
gave me this chest of papers
to deliver to his son,
and deliver it I shall.
Haven't we had enough
of that name here?
Yes. There was a time
when our village
was prosperous and happy.
Look at it now.
Forsaken, desolate, shunned by every
traveler, and why?
Because of
these Frankensteins.
We live in the black shadow
of that cursed place up on the hill
where only that crazy Ygor,
with his broken neck, dares to stay.
And now we go to
the railway station
to welcome
another Frankenstein.
This one is probably
just as bad as his father
who created a monster
in the devil's own image.
It's in the blood,
I tell you.
We've said these same words
a thousand times,
and they get us nowhere.
Fine talk, Herr Inspector.
Fine talk.
But Baron Frankenstein
does arrive tonight to claim his heritage.
And then what?
BURGHER 1:
Yes, what then?
That's true, but he'll
find no friends here.
Nothing but locked doors
and darkened windows.
Locked hearts
and bitter hatred.
Let that, too, be a part
of the Frankenstein heritage.
Come, gentlemen.
We'll be there soon,
darling.
That's good.
So I can see Amelia.
That's right.
Amelia will be there waiting for you,
and so glad
to see you.
ELSA: What
strange-looking country.
(CHUCKLES)
Not much
like America, is it?
On my first trip
to Europe,
I was prepared
for anything
but, well, I'm glad
we went to London and Paris first.
We must be getting close
to the village now.
It's exciting,
isn't it?
Out there in the darkness,
a new life lies before us.
(LAUGHS) No more college classrooms
or faculty meetings.
I feel rather
like an explorer.
That's what it is.
We're going to explore something
so foreign to us,
we can't even imagine
what it'll be like.
A medieval castle.
I wonder if there's a moat.
And a drawbridge,
and a great tall, dark tower.
And battlements.
Perhaps there's a haunted room.
Yes, there's sure
to be a haunted room.
The castle itself is
supposed to be haunted.
- Because of...
- Yes.
Yes. Because of the things
my father did there.
I remember the stories
my mother used to tell me
when I was quite young
in England.
It wasn't my father's fault
that the being he created
became a senseless, murderous monster.
He was right.
You understand that, don't you, dear?
He was right.
It was the unforeseen blunder
of a stupid assistant
that gave his creation the brain of
a killer instead of a normal one.
(SCOFFS)
And how my father was made to suffer
for that mistake.
His name has become synonymous with
horror and monsters.
Why, nine out of 10 people
call that misshapen creature
of my father's experiments...
GUARD: Frankenstein.
Frankenstein.
- Herr Baron Frankenstein?
- Yes.
I will see that madam and the bags
are placed in the car.
The Burgomaster's on the platform
waiting for you.
Thank you.
- Herr Baron Frankenstein?
- Yes.
I am Burgomaster
of the village.
It's a great pleasure to
see you, Herr Burgomaster.
These are the gentlemen
of the council.
We come to meet you,
not to greet you.
I deliver you these,
on the instructions of your late father.
Thank you.
The large box contains certain papers
pertaining to the estate.
The small one,
the key that will open it.
Thank you, I...
It is unfortunate that we cannot offer you
a more cheerful welcome.
But we can't.
Herr Burgomaster,
gentlemen of the council, villagers.
I quite realize that
it was my father's misfortune
to be the unwilling,
unknowing cause of tragedy.
I'm so sorry that
I don't remember him
because I've been told
that he was a good man.
And I know how
greatly your tragedy
must have
weighed upon his mind.
I can't undo the wrongs that
you've suffered,
but I beg of you,
let the dead past remain buried.
My wife and I,
and our son,
we want so much
to be your friends.
There is a car waiting,
Herr Baron.
Thank you.
Thank you for your courtesy.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(WIND WHISTLING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
AMELIA: There's
my little darling!
Amelia!
- Amelia!
- Aw.
I am glad to
see you, Benson.
Thank you, sir.
Should I take this, sir?
- No, just take my coat, will you?
- Sir.
I'm so glad
to see you.
- Bless you.
- Amelia.
Oh, what a comfort
to find you here.
Welcome, madam.
Good evening, sir.
Good evening, Amelia.
I think Peter had better go right to bed.
It's been a long trip.
Come along, darling.
Oh, Amelia,
are the bedrooms cheery?
Yes, madam,
quite cheery.
I think you'll
be surprised.
It's medieval.
It's exciting, exhilarating.
You really feel that
you belong here already?
Yes. Yes, I think I do.
- Why? Don't you like it?
- Well...
Well, it...
It all seems so unreal,
oh, but I'm excited, too.
PETER: Good night,
Daddy!
Daddy, look at me.
I'm way up here on a mountain.
BARON: Good night, son.
I'll go and
freshen up a bit
and see that
Peter is put to bed.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
I'm terribly glad
you're here with me.
Amelia, wait for me.
I don't want to get lost.
Where did you get those other servants,
Benson? They look like Tyroleans.
They are. None of the people
of this province would serve here,
no matter what
I offered to pay them.
Strange,
superstitious creatures.
Uh, where's the library,
if there is a library?
Here it is, sir.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
I think you're rather
like your father, sir.
If only I could have
some small portion of his genius.
Think of it, Benson.
Here, in this
very study,
the luminous facets
of his brilliant mind
conceived his
outstanding theory of...
The source of life.
Here, he planned a miracle
and saw it come to pass.
A miracle that
the good people
of Frankenstein
called a monster.
They call it a lot
worse than that, sir.
Such stories as
I've never heard.
Would you
like a brandy, sir?
Yes, thank you,
Benson.
"My son.
"Herein you will
find my faiths,
"my beliefs,
and my unfoldments.
"A complete diary of my experiments,
charts, and secret formulas.
"In short, the sum total of my knowledge,
such as it is.
"Perhaps you
will regard my work
"with ridicule or
even with distaste.
"If so,
destroy these records.
"But if you, like me,
burn with the irresistible desire
"to penetrate
the unknown, carry on.
"Even though the path is cruel
and torturous, carry on.
"Like every seeker
after truth,
"you will be hated,
blasphemed, and condemned.
"But mayhap where I have failed,
you will succeed.
"You have inherited the fortune
of the Frankensteins.
"I trust you will not
inherit their fate."
To you, sir.
Our Father,
help me be
a good little boy,
and bless Mommy
and Daddy. Amen.
Good night,
my darling.
I'll close the curtains,
madam,
so the lightning
won't bother him.
Oh, please don't close them,
'cause I like lightning.
Oh, he isn't afraid of anything,
is he, madam?
His father has taught him never to
be afraid, and he isn't.
Amelia...
Do you think he'll
be all right here?
Oh, yes, madam. Nothing can happen to him.
I'll leave my door open.
Please do.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Why do you suppose
they ever built in
these beds in this
strange position?
An old superstition.
"If the house is
filled with dread,
"place the beds
at head-to-head."
Come on, gentlemen, see!
More bags for Frankenstein.
(VILLAGER YELLING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
Good evening,
Inspector.
Good evening.
The Baron is in,
I know.
Yes, but, uh...
A policeman.
- Herr Baron Frankenstein?
- Yes.
I am Inspector Krogh
of the district police.
I am glad to
see you, Inspector.
Uh, Benson,
take the Inspector's cape.
Yes, sir.
Won't you, uh...
Won't you come in?
Thank you.
Come over and dry out
by the fire, Inspector.
Thank you.
I've been studying some old papers
of my father's.
Care for a brandy?
Thank you, no.
I have come here, Herr Baron,
to assure you of protection.
Protection?
From whom?
From a virulent
and fatal poison.
Oh, am I to be, uh...
Am I to be poisoned, then?
You are poisoned
already by your name.
To the best of my knowledge,
it has served
my family faithfully
for over 700 years.
You recommend that I change it to,
say, Smith?
I'm afraid that
wouldn't help.
You might change your name,
but you can't erase the brand.
That's indelible.
As long as you continue to live in
this place, you're in danger.
You're speaking in riddles,
Herr Inspector.
Danger from whom?
The Burgomaster and his
inhospitable villagers?
Oh, I think I can guarantee
to control their animosity, but not their fears.
What are they
afraid of, ghosts?
Perhaps.
I'm afraid I don't believe in them.
Do you?
When they
commit murder, yes.
Oh...
You're referring
to the monster.
Perhaps.
My dear Inspector,
he was destroyed years ago.
Perhaps.
Can we stick to facts,
Inspector?
That my father
instilled life
into a dead man
is perfectly true.
But I'm also convinced
that stories of this creature
have been
so greatly exaggerated
in the telling
and the retelling,
that the simple folk
of this neighborhood
now believe him
to have been the most fiendish monster
that ever walked
this earth.
Do you honestly know
of one criminal act
that this poor
creature committed?
Did you ever
even see him?
The most vivid
recollection of my life.
I was but a child
at the time,
about the age of your own son,
Herr Baron.
The monster had escaped
and was ravaging the countryside...
Killing, maiming,
terrorizing.
One night,
he burst into our house.
My father took a gun
and fired at him,
but the savage brute
sent him crashing to a corner.
Then he grabbed me
by the arm.
(THUD)
One doesn't easily forget,
Herr Baron,
an arm torn out
by the roots.
No, I...
My lifelong ambition
was to have been a soldier.
But for this...
I, who command
seven gendarmes
in a little
mountain village,
might have
been a general.
I wish I could
do something to...
Won't you change
your mind for brandy?
Thank you, Baron.
I apologize if I've
aroused your sympathy,
but I have found
that by explaining my affliction,
it ceases to be
quite such a curiosity.
You intimated there have
been other murders
committed since
the destruction of the...
- My father's work.
- Yes.
How do you account
for it?
Well, I can't.
Neither can
the special agents imported
for the purpose
from Scotland Yard
and the Surete Francaise.
There have been six,
all unsolved,
and all men of some prominence
in the village.
In each case,
the autopsy disclosed
that death had been caused
by a violent concussion.
There were no marks
on the bodies
except a slight discoloration or bruise
at the base of the brain.
But the hearts of all the victims
were ruptured.
In fact,
they had burst.
Hence the local superstition
of the murdering ghost.
Need I add that it is always alluded to
as Frankenstein?
Now it's rumored that you,
like your father, are a scientist.
The villagers have seen the strange
instruments that preceded you here.
That's why I've
come to warn you.
Inspector Krogh,
I should indeed seem ungrateful
if I were not to thank you
for your interest in my welfare.
But I can assure you
I am not engaged in any black magic
nor in the creation
of monsters,
however the villagers
may think.
Nevertheless, Herr Baron,
I stand ready when you need help.
I shall not need it.
When you need help, you have but to
ring the alarm bell in the tower
and I shall hear it wherever I may be and
hasten to your assistance.
Good night,
Herr Baron.
Good night and
thank you, Inspector.
Oh, darling, this is
Inspector Krogh of the police.
How do you do?
Madam.
He called to assure us
that he's at our service.
Oh, it's very good
of you, Inspector.
Perhaps you'll honor us
one night soon at dinner.
Madam, I...
I shall be honored,
madam.
Wasn't he odd?
Yes. He said if the villagers bothered us,
he'd take a hand.
We seem to be rather
undesirable characters.
Oh, they'll change
their attitude
when they get to
know us a little better.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
What a dreadful storm.
What awful lightning!
It's magnificent.
Nothing in nature
is terrifying when one understands it.
Think of it, darling.
My father drew
that very lightning
from heaven and forced it
to his own will,
to bring life to a being
that he created with his own hands.
Why should
we fear anything?
Thank you, Benson.
PETER: Well, hello!
Good morning, son.
Did you have
a nice sleep?
Yes.
What are you
going to do now?
- I'm going out hunting.
- Uh-huh!
What are you
going to get?
Elephants and tigers.
That's fine. You better
come along down here.
There's some stairs
over there.
You see,
it isn't so bad in daylight, is it?
No, but I just hope
we don't have
any more nights
like last night.
It's nights like that that make beautiful
mornings like this.
I'm going to
look over the estate
and I'm going to take
my gun with me, too.
You never can tell what you'll see,
can you, Peter?
You might see some rhinoceros
or alligators.
Mmm-hmm.
What's that, Daddy?
BARON: That?
That's a boar.
Like Aunt Fanny?
No, Peter, not like Aunt Fanny.
A wild boar.
I hope I don't
have teeth like that.
ELSA: Why, darling?
They'd be too hard
to clean.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Now you run along with Amelia.
But don't go far.
No.
- Goodbye, Peter.
- Goodbye.
What's that weird-looking structure
across the ravine?
That's my
father's laboratory.
They blew the roof off
when the monster was destroyed.
I can't wait
to see inside it.
(BUBBLING)
(SNIFFING) Sulfur.
Hey! Hey, you,
come down here!
Come on.
Come on, hurry up.
Come on, get up.
Get up.
Why did you try
to kill me?
I thought you came here
to kill me.
That's a fine story.
It's all right for
you people to hate me,
but attempted murder
is another thing.
Who are you?
My name is Ygor.
Let me go,
Frankenstein.
I'm gonna turn you over
to Inspector Krogh.
No!
Not give me to Krogh.
Why?
Krogh not want dead man.
Ygor is dead.
What are you
talking about?
You see that?
They hanged me once,
Frankenstein.
They broke my neck.
They said I was dead.
Then they cut me down.
Hanged you?
Why did they hang you?
Because
I stole bodies...
They said.
Yes. Well, what are
you doing here?
They threw me
in here long ago.
They wouldn't bury me
in holy place like churchyard
because I stole bodies,
they said.
So Ygor is dead.
(LAUGHING)
You Dr. Frankenstein,
like your father, huh?
Yes, but I can't
mend a broken neck.
Nobody can mend
Ygor's neck.
It's all right.
So you doctor?
Yes, I'm a doctor,
amongst other things.
You come with me.
(STRIKING MATCH)
My grandfather.
My father.
Is this what you
wanted to show me?
(SHOUTING) He's alive!
How long has
he been here?
Long time.
He is my friend.
He...
He does things for me.
Has he always
been here?
Nearly always.
This is place
of the dead.
We're all dead here.
But he's not dead.
No, not dead.
Asleep.
Sick.
He has been
so many months.
What happened?
- Did you...
- Oh, no.
It happened one night
when he was outside.
Outside?
Yes. He was...
Hunting.
There was
a great storm.
He was standing
under tree
when lightning strike.
How did he get in here?
I find him
and bring him home.
But he walks no more.
Evidence of trauma
exactly the same
as a human being.
But he was supposed
to be destroyed.
YGOR: No.
He cannot be destroyed.
Cannot die.
Your father made
him live for always.
(CHUCKLES)
Now he is sick.
Make him well,
Frankenstein.
I don't know
whether I...
Your father made him.
And Heinrich Frankenstein
was your father, too.
Do you mean to
imply then that...
That is my brother?
But his mother
was lightning.
Oh.
Electricity.
We'll see.
I'll get my instruments from the castle.
We'll take him up there.
No!
You cannot
take him away.
Just up there in
the old laboratory
where I have light
and room.
Please.
You understand.
No one must see him,
Frankenstein.
But does anyone know
that he's here?
Good.
Good.
And no one will know
that he is here until...
Until your creation,
Father, walks again.
What's going on at
Castle Frankenstein?
The whole village is
alarmed with anxiety.
Our men report
nothing but quiet.
Quiet?
There's nothing
so ominous as quiet.
Besides, it isn't quiet.
From the cemetery
on Crag Hill,
Hans Stenble can see Castle Frankenstein
with his field glasses.
The servants have
been moving large
crates and boxes
into the old laboratory.
They even have old Ygor
helping them.
Ygor.
(ALL GRUMBLING)
We Frankensteinians
are as nervous as cats.
We grovel at
the howl of a wolf.
When the wind slams
the door or a shutter,
we tremble in our shoes
and hide ourselves like frightened rabbits.
And always will
with a Frankenstein in our midst.
What's he doing?
That's all we want to know.
Yes, we want to know.
Well, let's get Ygor here
and make him tell us.
ALL: Yes!
Yes.
Yes.
(HANDS CLAP)
All right, Ygor,
make it fast.
Ready?
YGOR: Ready!
(CHAINS RATTLING)
No!
What's the matter with you?
What are you doing?
He cannot come in here.
No one.
Oh.
You want me to
make him well?
Very well, then.
I'll need some help.
This man is not
just my servant.
He's been with me
for years,
helping me with
my experiments.
I need him now
to make notes.
All right,
I'll not make him well.
But if he tells...
(KNOCKING)
All right,
come along, Benson.
Get your notes,
Benson.
Iris contracted.
Marked sclerectasia.
Mental abnormality.
Considerable osteodermia
in the frontal region.
Apparently these are
the exterior electrodes.
The means by which my father
inducted the vital energy into the body.
Systolic pressure,
over 300.
Diastolic, over 220.
Three times normal.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Definite hyperpituitary.
Minus 65.
That accounts
for his great size.
No human heart
could possibly function like that,
especially in
his condition.
It's beating at
over 250 to the minute.
(TAPPING)
He's completely
superhuman.
Get your notes,
Benson.
Left ventricular
preponderance.
And look here, Benson,
look at this.
Do you know
what those are?
BENSON: No, sir.
Bullets. Two bullets
in his heart.
But he still lives.
BARON: I've never seen
blood like that before.
Polymorphocellular.
Extreme hemachrosis.
The alpha leukocytes
apparently do not dissolve.
The entire structure
of the blood is quite different
from that of
a normal human being.
The cells seem to be
battling one another
as if they had a conscious life
of their own.
What was
in those boxes?
All kinds of things.
Machines.
What kind of machines?
All kinds.
Wheels turn around,
electric lightnings come out.
Bottles,
big ones, little ones.
Medicine. All kinds.
He doctor. I don't
understand his business.
I, uh...
I am blacksmith.
Body snatcher,
you mean?
Yes.
Has he asked you
to rob any graves?
To get him a body?
No!
Tell us the truth,
or we'll hang you again
and make a better job
of it next time.
No, you no can hang me again.
Can they?
No, that's been settled.
You were hanged and pronounced dead.
But he was not dead.
He was pronounced dead
by Dr. Burgher.
And all the others Burgher's pronounced
dead for the last 30 years
have been dead,
haven't they?
If Ygor came to life again,
it's the devil's work, not the court's.
You mean to say that if he commits another
crime, he can't be hanged again?
- Well, yes, but...
- I do nothing.
I help Frankenstein.
He good man.
He pay me money.
Well, you watch him.
And if he starts
to do anything
like his father and
you don't tell us...
I'll see that
you hang again.
You? Alone?
(LAUGHS)
It took eight men before
to say I was to be hanged.
Well, the same eight will
find you guilty again.
So?
The same eight
aren't here, Weber.
No?
Well, I'm one
of the eight,
and I'll be one again
with pleasure.
You.
You, Neumuller.
You were one.
And I, too.
Yes. You, too, Lang.
That's right.
I remember.
That's all here now, eh?
BURGOMASTER: Yes.
The other six
are all dead.
(LAUGHING)
They die. Dead.
I die. Live.
Quiet!
That'll be all, Ygor.
Go back to Castle Frankenstein
and be careful.
(COUGHING)
Hey!
You spit on me!
I am sorry. I cough.
You see,
bone get stuck in my throat.
(CONTINUES COUGHING)
(LAUGHING)
The results of my extensive examinations
establish beyond doubt
that the creature
was brought to life originally
by an electrical impulse
of terrifying potency.
It appears that
my father thought
that he could extract
from lightning
some super-violet ray
of life-giving properties.
From a careful analysis
of his electrical hookup,
I've learned that he actually
attracted cosmic rays
which neither he,
nor anyone else
in the world of science
at that time
even knew existed.
Of course, since then,
many of our most profound scientists
have come to believe
that these rays
are actually the very source
of life itself.
This creature is
indeed a monster.
There is not one part
of his physical being
that's like that
of human beings.
From his warped brain,
down to the tiniest argumentative cell
of his huge carcass,
he's unearthly.
Every fantastic
story told of him
by the people
of Frankenstein,
I now believe to be
absolutely true.
I, as a man...
Should destroy him.
But as a scientist...
I should do
everything in my power
to bring him back
to conscious life
so that the world can study
his abnormal functions.
That would
vindicate my father
and his name would be enshrined
among the immortals.
Benson,
turn on the generator.
(GENERATOR POWERING UP)
(CRACKLING)
Stop!
Quiet, you fool!
(MOANING)
(GROWLS)
It's no good, Ygor.
I've done everything I can.
I'm afraid we'll never get him
out of this coma.
Come on, Benson.
Take off these electrodes.
I'm not going to work
at Castle Frankenstein any longer.
I've seen enough to make me suspicious.
I'm going to quit.
No, you're not.
You'll stay there and report to me
everything you see and hear.
I'll call there
myself this afternoon.
You'll be well repaid.
Now go back and don't tell anyone
you've seen me.
Understand?
Yes, sir.
I'd like very much
to visit the village,
but I'm ashamed to
say I don't dare.
I think you're
very wise, madam.
There's a definite feeling
of tension there
and I'm sure you'll
be much better off
not to risk the discourtesy
of the villagers.
Yes,
that's what Wolf said.
I suspect the Baron, too,
finds time heavy on his hands here.
Oh, no, never.
He's almost constantly
in his laboratory.
- Laboratory?
- ELSA: Yes.
He's fixed over
his father's old one, you know.
He's deep in
some experiment.
I see. What sort
of experiment?
I'm sure I don't know.
I never bother him
at times like this.
He's terribly
preoccupied now.
But as soon as his
problem's solved,
he'll be as gay
as a lark again.
He's like that.
Is he in his
laboratory now?
No.
He came in to lunch
looking gray as a ghost.
I could see he was
on pins and needles,
so I suggested that he go out into
the open air for a while.
He's been gone
for hours.
KROGH: You don't mind
being left alone?
ELSA: Well, not in
the daytime, but at night...
Good afternoon,
Inspector.
Good afternoon,
Herr Baron.
I trust you enjoyed
your walk.
Yes, very much.
There's nothing like a good walk
through the woods
for clearing
one's mind.
- Won't you sit down?
- Thank you.
Yes, you scientists must have to have clear
minds and steady nerves.
The Baroness has
just been telling me
that you're knee-deep
in experiments.
Yes.
And working in your
father's old laboratory?
The villagers call it
"the Monster's home."
Haven't seen him
stalking about by any chance, have you?
No.
I fear he'll
never stalk again.
Well, that's a relief.
But I'm curious to know
why you chose that place to work.
It was my father's.
But without a roof?
Oh, I sealed it up
with some heavy canvas.
Don't the sulfur
fumes bother you?
No, no, no, not at all.
Sulfur fumes?
Oh, uh, forgive me, Baron,
perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that.
I thought madam knew.
Tell me.
Well, you see, darling,
our family history states
that the structure was built by the Romans
over a natural sulfur pit
and used by them
as mineral baths.
One of the first
health resorts, perhaps.
(SCOFFS)
Health resort.
(LAUGHING)
Yes, possibly.
But during
the succeeding centuries,
the boiling sulfur
increased in its intensity,
until now, I believe,
it is over 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Exactly.
- Even the stoutest Roman
couldn't venture
into that today
without being parboiled to the bones
in just a few moments.
(LAUGHS)
Wolf, you do pick
the strangest places.
I'd like to see
how you fixed it up.
I'll have you come there some time
and parboil you.
(BARON CHUCKLING)
Well, hello!
Mother, may I come in?
Come on in, son.
Peter,
this is Inspector Krogh.
How do you do?
How do you do, sir?
You're not supposed to shake hands
with a left hand.
- Peter.
- I'm sorry. That was very rude of me.
You're not supposed to wear gloves
in the house, either.
- BARON: Son.
- Sorry about that, too.
But, you see, I only have one real arm.
This one isn't mine.
Well, whose is it?
You see,
Inspector Krogh lost his other real arm...
In the war.
He's a soldier.
Oh! Are you a general?
BARON: No, he's something
more than a general.
He's an inspector.
Well,
I'm a soldier myself,
and I've been
hunting all day long.
Hunting?
Did you get anything?
Oh, yes, a few elephants
and a few tigers.
Did you have a nice
long nap, darling?
No, not a very long nap.
A giant came in here
and woke me up.
AMELIA: A giant?
(LAUGHS)
What an imagination.
PETER: No, Amelia,
it wasn't imagination.
It was a giant
and he woke me up.
And when I got up,
he had a hold of my arm.
ELSA: Did you chase him away
with your gun?
Oh, no, he was
a nice giant.
I gave him my picture book
and then he went away.
Are there lots of
giants around here?
Only one that
I ever heard of.
PETER: That must
have been him, then.
Perhaps.
You're pretty much of a giant yourself,
aren't you?
Aren't we getting heavy?
(LAUGHS)
Excuse me, Inspector.
I, uh...
I'll take him up
to the nursery.
It's almost
his suppertime.
Here we go.
It must be that book
Jack the Giant Killer
that's got into his head
with his great imagination.
Here we go
up the big mountain.
(EXCLAIMS)
Duck your head.
BARON: Hold tight.
We're almost there.
Here we are.
Now, Peter...
I want you to tell me all about
the elephants, the tigers
and that giant.
Well...
Really, Daddy, there weren't any
elephants and tigers.
- I just made-believe that.
- Oh!
But what
about the giant?
What giant?
The one you gave
your storybook to.
Oh, he's real.
Well, what did he look like?
Ooh!
He was a great big man
with a hairy coat on.
And he walked
like this.
(AMELIA LAUGHING)
What an imagination!
Yes.
See you later, son.
What a boy!
Oh, going out, Herr Baron?
Yes, I just remembered
a thing I have to check in my laboratory.
I almost forgot the time.
I'm getting sort of absent-minded.
I'll have to hurry,
if you'll excuse me.
Ygor!
Ygor!
Ygor!
Ygor!
(GASPS)
(GRUNTING)
(GROWLING)
(GRUNTING ANGRILY)
(GRUNTING)
(GROANING)
(GROANING)
Ygor!
No.
No! No.
No, no.
How did he
get out of here?
You make him well
with your lightning.
After you go,
he get up and walk.
Now he's
all right again.
(LAUGHING)
Come.
Good man.
Good man.
(LAUGHING)
He must never
get out again. Never.
No.
He just do what
I tell him, always.
See?
Go.
Go.
(LAUGHS)
No one must know
that he's here.
No one know now,
but you and Benson man.
Oh, he'll never tell.
No, he will never tell.
(GROANS)
Come.
Ygor.
Ygor, I made him walk,
but I haven't made him well.
He isn't well here.
You understand?
I must continue
my experiments.
He's well enough
for me
and you no
touch him again.
Oh.
If you want him
to be well,
you must keep him
here always.
Understand?
I keep him here.
(LAUGHING)
You sent for me, sir?
Yes, Benson.
Inspector Krogh is still in the library.
I can't stand his suspicious look,
so I called you in here.
Yes, sir.
Benson, it's alive!
Alive? You mean...
Yes, alive! Alive!
But you said
our experiment...
I know. I, too, at first
thought that we failed,
but Benson, I've actually
seen it walk.
- Walk?
- Yes, it's like...
It's like
some huge animal.
Never in my life have
I known cold fear
until that moment
that I felt his hand on my shoulder.
I was like a child's doll
in those huge hands.
He could have crushed me
as I would have crushed an eggshell.
But how did you
escape him, sir?
Ygor came in.
It's amazing the control he exercises
over that thing.
It's hypnosis,
or something more elemental perhaps.
What are you
going to do about it?
Do? Continue
my experiments.
- But what if he...
- I'm not worried.
He's dangerous, of course,
but he loves Ygor and obeys him.
My problem is how
to make Ygor obey me.
But what about madam
and Master Peter, sir?
Huh?
Oh, yes, yes.
I'll have to send them away.
I'll suggest tonight
that they make a trip to Brussels.
And they leave on
the noon train tomorrow.
Get some tickets
in the morning.
I hope you forgive
me speaking my way, sir,
but I've served you
for a great number of years.
I think it would be better
if you called in
Inspector Krogh and
told him everything.
No, no, no.
I will not!
I have begun this thing
and I'll finish it.
I'll not be
halted by anything,
until I'm the complete
master of this living,
breathing,
intelligent creature
my father dreamed
of creating.
Herr Neumuller.
How are you?
Fine, Schmidt. Fine.
(SPITS)
(NEUMULLER YELLING)
(MONSTER GROWLING)
(HORN PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE)
Thank you.
I hope you don't feel
I'm an intruder, madam.
Not at all,
Inspector.
(LAUGHS) Well, I practically invited
myself to dinner, but I...
No, of course not.
It's a great pleasure
to have you.
You're our first guest.
I never thought that
I'd have the privilege
of being entertained
at Castle Frankenstein, Baron.
No, it's a great pleasure
to have you here.
You see,
you're our first guest.
Oh, you just said that,
didn't you, dear?
Well, you are.
Fritz, where is Benson?
Why isn't he
serving dinner?
We don't know, madam.
He went up to the nursery
for the baby's supper tray
and we haven't
seen him since.
Have you seen him,
Wolf?
(STUTTERING)
Yes, dear.
I sent him over to the laboratory
to get some notes for me
that I want to work on
after dinner tonight.
But how long ago?
Oh, perhaps my instructions
were a little complicated
and he may have
become confused.
You know, he hates
to make mistakes.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
That awful knocker.
Fritz, will you see
who it is, please?
Wolf, couldn't we install
an old-fashioned doorbell?
That boom almost makes me
jump out of my skin.
Yes, dear,
I'll have a bell put in.
The knocker must have been used
in the old days
to arouse
the entire household.
A sort of call to arms
in times of danger.
It's one of your men,
Inspector.
There has been
an accident in the village.
A sudden death.
He requested that
you come at once.
Oh, I...
I'm terribly sorry.
Please excuse me.
What a shame to leave a delicious
dinner like this
for so sordid
a thing as...
I trust that nothing has happened
to your butler, madam.
- Thank you.
- Good night.
Baron.
Wolf, I really think
you ought to try and find Benson.
I'm terribly worried
about him.
- Yes, yes, I will.
- But don't go alone.
Oh, silly.
I'll be all right.
(LAUGHING)
(GRUNTS)
What's the matter
with him?
He's asleep.
Have you seen Benson?
Yes.
- When?
- About two hours ago.
- Where?
- Here.
He say you tell him
monster walk again.
He came to see.
Monster walk.
Benson run, run, run!
Where did he run to?
He isn't at the castle.
He just run away
in the woods.
That thing's enough
to scare anyone.
I didn't think
Benson would come here.
Are you telling me the truth?
You didn't kill him?
No, no, no.
Why, I scare him
to death.
I don't have to
kill him to death.
(LAUGHING)
(GRUNTING)
(MONSTER WAILING)
Where does the ladder
into the sulfur pit lead to?
A cave.
A cave?
It's warm.
We stay there in winter.
Oh.
Where does the cave
lead to?
Just cave.
(GROANS)
My deepest sympathies,
Frau Neumuller.
How did it happen?
He must have been asleep
and fallen off his wagon.
The wheels passed over his legs
breaking them,
and crushing his chest.
See here?
Now, would you all
please leave while Dr. Burgher and I
make out
the death certificates?
(MRS. NEUMULLER SOBBING)
Any other marks
or bruises?
Examine the back
of the neck.
- You don't think that...
- Perhaps.
We won't know
until you perform an autopsy.
Examine the heart,
and report to me at once.
Wolf...
What happened
to Benson?
I don't know,
really, dear.
I've been working
him pretty hard lately.
(CHUCKLES) Maybe he just wanted to
go out and get drunk.
But Benson
doesn't drink.
Oh, well, perhaps
he does sometimes.
But he'll be back in the morning bright
and early. You'll see.
Don't worry about him.
It's you
I'm worried about.
You aren't yourself.
Are you keeping
something from me?
No, darling.
Is this place
getting on your nerves?
I hate it here, Wolf.
I'm terribly afraid
all the time.
I'm sorry, dear.
I'm going to send you and Peter away
in the morning.
I want you to take
a trip to Brussels,
and I'll follow you
in a few days.
I've tried so desperately to
match your bravery, but...
Oh, my dear.
(SOBBING)
I'll be all right.
There's a good girl.
Where are you going?
To get Peter.
I'll feel better having him
in here with me.
(HORN PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE)
LANG: No! No!
(YELPS)
(BELLS TOLLING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Good morning,
Inspector.
You're up rather early,
aren't you?
You're early
yourself, Baron.
I came to inquire
about your butler.
Have you found him,
dead or alive?
No. No, but he'll be back.
He's done this sort
of thing before.
You know, these sudden disappearances.
Oh, can I give you a light?
KROGH: Thank you, no.
He was in the war,
you know.
He was wounded
in the head.
It make him, sort of...
Well, rather funny at times.
But don't worry
about him.
I'm going down
to the village.
Will you come
along with me?
The village?
There's not a shop open.
No, I'm going to
the railroad station.
My wife and child are going away
for a slight holiday.
So?
Yes.
So, you see,
I have to do all the arranging myself,
now that that
stupid Benson's gone.
I'm afraid I must ask you
not to go, Baron.
Neither you, nor your wife,
or child.
That accidental death
that called me from your dinner last night
was another burst heart.
Listen.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING ANGRILY)
(HORN PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE)
MAN 1: Inspector Krogh!
MAN 2: Ygor, shut up!
MAN 3: He's been playing
that thing all night.
There's a mob
at your gate.
They have a strange notion
that you had something to do with it.
Silly, isn't it?
Silly? They're mad.
I'll go down there
and tell them so.
No, you won't go, Baron.
Why?
We'll talk it over,
inside.
All right,
if you like.
(HORN PLAYING CONTINUES)
Inspector.
Madam.
My dear, I assume
from the Inspector's
attitude and
pointed implications
- that I'm under arrest.
- Arrest?
It appears we've returned to
the Middle Ages.
The villagers have laid siege
to the castle
and are crying out
for blood, blood, blood!
Madam, I...
A man is murdered
a mile away,
and do you know
what killed him?
My name.
The very name of Frankenstein
burst his heart.
And now the happy little villagers are
clamoring for my blood!
I'm afraid the Baron is in a humorous mood
this morning.
I suppose it has
its humorous side,
but you're not
under arrest, madam.
I'm merely here to
guarantee you protection
against any
unprovoked assault.
Unprovoked assault!
Wolf!
Inspector, you mean it isn't safe
for us to leave?
I'm afraid not,
madam.
But is there any reason
why you shouldn't be perfectly safe here?
If one simple-minded villager
as much as sets foot inside that door,
I'll shoot him
like a dog!
And you can
tell them that for me,
as long as you won't allow me
to tell them myself.
Wolf.
I've never seen
him so violent.
Madam, last night
I missed my dinner,
and this morning
I've had no breakfast.
Now, do you think...
Certainly. I'll order
some at once. If you'll...
Herr Baron,
shall we go into the library?
I prefer to remain here,
thank you.
Shall we go
into the library?
I don't mind
telling you, Inspector,
that as a guest
in my own house,
you'll find me
extremely disagreeable.
(SCREAMING)
♪ Sailing, sailing,
over the bounding main ♪
May I come in?
Come in,
Inspector, please.
Thank you.
Hello, young man.
Your mother said
I could call on you.
Hello, General.
I'll be back in a moment, darling.
Excuse me, please.
You see, I have no
young son of my own.
Oh, that's too bad.
(CHUCKLES)
Have you done any more hunting lately?
Yes.
Has the giant paid you
any more visits?
Yes.
Huh!
He's a great
big fellow, I imagine.
Yes.
So big, possibly, he can hardly get
through that door?
Oh, no, he doesn't
come through the door.
No? Where does he
come in, huh?
Through the window?
Through the fireplace?
Through the wall.
Through the wall?
- Where?
- Over there.
Huh!
That's very interesting.
You're not afraid of him at all,
are you, Peter?
Oh, no, he's a nice giant.
He gave me a watch.
- A watch?
- Yes.
Would you like
to see it?
Very much.
Thank you.
Yes, it's a very
nice watch. A very...
Nice watch.
Well, Peter,
shall we go downstairs
and have some
nice hot chocolate?
PETER: Yes.
If the General will
come with me.
I'll be very
pleased, sir.
(CHUCKLING)
Here we go.
Gently.
Hurry up.
All right,
I'm coming.
Superstitious,
blundering idiot!
Prying, insinuating,
accusing.
I'll kick him
out of the house!
I'll not be heckled by a stupid,
intolerable policeman.
Wolf, the way
you're carrying on,
if I were a policeman,
I'd be suspicious myself.
- You would?
- Yes, I would.
Mysterious things
have happened.
A murder
in the village.
Our own dear Benson
disappears for no reason.
They probably think you,
like your father,
have created
another monster or...
(STUTTERING)
Why, he's got even you,
my own wife, believing that I...
I believe nothing.
I don't care about Krogh.
But I'm afraid
for you, for Peter.
And only you, Wolf,
can restore my confidence.
Oh, please, darling, Elsa,
please have faith in me!
I'm sorry that
I lost control of myself.
I've no reason for
being nervous like this.
But I've been
working too hard.
A terrific experiment,
one that I wanted to surprise you with,
one that would establish me and
my work. My work...
As something outstanding
in the world of science.
But believe me, darling,
believe me there's nothing to be afraid of.
I wouldn't be
afraid if I hadn't,
for the first time,
sensed you were afraid.
Me? Oh, silly.
Everything's
under control.
I'll not lose my temper again.
You'll see.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
Inspector.
Sorry, young man. I shan't be able
to take chocolate with you.
Tell your father and mother I'll be back
very soon. Very soon.
- Goodbye, General.
- Krantz, remain here on guard.
Now I can go
to the lab.
I mean, I must go to the lab.
Only for a minute, dear.
I won't be long,
really.
No touch him,
Frankenstein!
No touch him
or something happens to you
worse than dying.
- How long has he been here?
- All night.
You liar!
He was in the village.
You made him
kill Herr Neumuller.
Yes, why not?
Neumuller kills me.
Eight men say Ygor hang.
Now eight men dead.
All dead!
You crazy fool!
If Krogh finds him,
he'll kill him.
Then he won't be any good to
either of us.
You get out of here.
If I find you hanging around here again, I'll...
He's mine!
He no belong to you!
You go away, not me!
(MONSTER GROWLING)
(PEOPLE SHOUTING)
Get back!
POLICEMAN: Get back!
Where is everybody?
The Baron's in
the library, sir.
The rest of the family
are at dinner.
I've had to send to Bandleheim
for additional police.
Krantz, you report to Sergeant Schiller
at the lower gate.
The crowd is
becoming unmanageable.
Herr Inspector.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Come in.
Good evening, Inspector.
I thought that I'd see you sooner.
Sorry. I've been busy.
Very busy indeed, for me.
My job is usually
a rather sleepy one.
- Have a drink?
- Thank you, no.
I'm afraid I shall require all the wits
I've got tonight.
I've never seen you disturbed before,
Inspector.
You've even forgotten
to take off your hat.
Not forgotten,
Herr Baron.
Merely a matter of form.
My business tonight is
official, not social.
Rather a crude custom,
I agree...
But a custom.
Well, sir, what news
from the front?
Another death.
Another inquest.
When did it occur?
This afternoon?
No. Sometime last night.
It was only discovered
late this morning.
Herr Lang, this time.
The village apothecary.
A very old
and dear friend.
He'll be mourned.
Too bad.
Yes, isn't it?
BARON: Herr Lang, eh?
Never heard of him before. Oh, well.
I suppose the villagers will say I killed him,
just the same.
No, not that you killed him,
but that you know who did.
Really?
But of course
I know who did.
Haven't you heard?
The Monster!
(LAUGHS MANIACALLY)
Yes, that's
what they think.
Is it the old legendary monster
of my father's time
or am I supposed to
have whipped one up
as a housewife
whips up an omelet?
I've been here over a month,
you know.
Your wife and child
are in danger.
So? From what?
You tried to
send them away.
Yes, I will tomorrow,
in spite of you.
You forget
I have my hat on.
Meaning that
I'm under arrest?
Yes.
I promised your arrest
to the villagers
to keep them quiet
for the moment.
Huh.
For the murder of
Lang and Neumuller?
No. For the murder
of Benson.
A technical charge,
for the time being.
Why don't you search the laboratory?
You have my permission.
I've searched it already
without your permission
with two men
the other night.
We found nothing incriminating but
a very large table
fit for a giant.
Yes.
Yes, it was my father's.
I reconstructed it
out of curiosity.
Why don't you
search it again?
By George...
I think I know who
your monster may be.
Good. Who?
Old Ygor.
(CHUCKLING)
Of course. Why not?
Everybody wants to
hang old Ygor again,
yet he has
a perfect alibi.
He was constantly
under observation
when every murder
was committed.
It's curious that the entire jury
that hanged him is dead.
But he was never seen
at the scene of the crime.
Yet it would be too simple
to hang old Ygor.
Well, I don't trust him!
I'm gonna find him and kick him
off the estate...
With your permission.
Yes.
If you like.
(GROANING)
(SCREAMING)
Amelia, you can put Peter to bed at once,
but stay with him.
AMELIA: Yes, madam.
Inspector, I'm more
terrified every minute.
Madam, I personally
guarantee to get you
and your son out of here
in the morning.
And Wolf. He's a bundle of
uncontrollable nerves and...
Yes. I'm going in now
to comfort him.
Thank you.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Come in, come in, come in.
Well, did you find Ygor?
Yes, I got rid of him.
Have a drink?
How did you
get rid of him?
I killed him!
He tried to murder me
with his hammer,
so I shot him.
What are you
gonna do about it?
Compliment you.
For it is he who
undoubtedly killed Benson.
Benson?
He's dead. Murdered.
I just found his body in a secret
passageway off the nursery.
Here's his watch.
It was in the possession
of your son.
And here's a bit of chain
that was attached to Benson's vest.
But Ygor didn't
do it, nor did you.
Nor was it done
by any ghost.
There's a monster afoot
and you know it.
He's in your control.
By heaven, I think you're a worse fiend
than your father.
Where is this monster?
Where is he?
I'll stay by your side
until you confess.
And if you don't,
I'll feed you to the villagers
like the Romans fed
Christians to the lions.
I wouldn't
put it past you.
In the meantime,
will you have a drink?
Or would you like
to play darts?
(MOANING)
(YELLING)
(GRUNTS)
(GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
Amelia!
(SCREAMING)
Where is Peter?
Where is Peter, Amelia?
- Where is he? Where is he?
- (SCREAMS)
He's gone!
ELSA: (SCREAMING) Peter!
Peter!
What is it?
Peter's gone!
I'm going to
the laboratory!
Here we are.
ELSA: (YELLING)
Peter! Peter!
Peter!
(BANGING ON DOOR)
Open the door!
Peter!
(MONSTER GROWLING)
(GUN FIRING)
Daddy! Daddy!
(MONSTER YELLING)
(SIZZLING)
Oh, baby.
Herewith I deed to you the castle and
the estates of Frankenstein.
Do with them
what you will.
And may happiness and peace of mind
be restored to you all.
Goodbye.
(ALL CHEERING)
Goodbye, gentlemen.
ALL: Goodbye, Baron.
KROGH: Goodbye, Peter.
PETER: Goodbye, General.
Of old Ygor? No.
(EXCLAIMING)
I say that I,
for one, will not...
BURGOMASTER:
Enough, guard, enough.
He'll be met
exactly as arranged.
Now, friends,
on his deathbed,
the old Baron Frankenstein
gave me this chest of papers
to deliver to his son,
and deliver it I shall.
Haven't we had enough
of that name here?
Yes. There was a time
when our village
was prosperous and happy.
Look at it now.
Forsaken, desolate, shunned by every
traveler, and why?
Because of
these Frankensteins.
We live in the black shadow
of that cursed place up on the hill
where only that crazy Ygor,
with his broken neck, dares to stay.
And now we go to
the railway station
to welcome
another Frankenstein.
This one is probably
just as bad as his father
who created a monster
in the devil's own image.
It's in the blood,
I tell you.
We've said these same words
a thousand times,
and they get us nowhere.
Fine talk, Herr Inspector.
Fine talk.
But Baron Frankenstein
does arrive tonight to claim his heritage.
And then what?
BURGHER 1:
Yes, what then?
That's true, but he'll
find no friends here.
Nothing but locked doors
and darkened windows.
Locked hearts
and bitter hatred.
Let that, too, be a part
of the Frankenstein heritage.
Come, gentlemen.
We'll be there soon,
darling.
That's good.
So I can see Amelia.
That's right.
Amelia will be there waiting for you,
and so glad
to see you.
ELSA: What
strange-looking country.
(CHUCKLES)
Not much
like America, is it?
On my first trip
to Europe,
I was prepared
for anything
but, well, I'm glad
we went to London and Paris first.
We must be getting close
to the village now.
It's exciting,
isn't it?
Out there in the darkness,
a new life lies before us.
(LAUGHS) No more college classrooms
or faculty meetings.
I feel rather
like an explorer.
That's what it is.
We're going to explore something
so foreign to us,
we can't even imagine
what it'll be like.
A medieval castle.
I wonder if there's a moat.
And a drawbridge,
and a great tall, dark tower.
And battlements.
Perhaps there's a haunted room.
Yes, there's sure
to be a haunted room.
The castle itself is
supposed to be haunted.
- Because of...
- Yes.
Yes. Because of the things
my father did there.
I remember the stories
my mother used to tell me
when I was quite young
in England.
It wasn't my father's fault
that the being he created
became a senseless, murderous monster.
He was right.
You understand that, don't you, dear?
He was right.
It was the unforeseen blunder
of a stupid assistant
that gave his creation the brain of
a killer instead of a normal one.
(SCOFFS)
And how my father was made to suffer
for that mistake.
His name has become synonymous with
horror and monsters.
Why, nine out of 10 people
call that misshapen creature
of my father's experiments...
GUARD: Frankenstein.
Frankenstein.
- Herr Baron Frankenstein?
- Yes.
I will see that madam and the bags
are placed in the car.
The Burgomaster's on the platform
waiting for you.
Thank you.
- Herr Baron Frankenstein?
- Yes.
I am Burgomaster
of the village.
It's a great pleasure to
see you, Herr Burgomaster.
These are the gentlemen
of the council.
We come to meet you,
not to greet you.
I deliver you these,
on the instructions of your late father.
Thank you.
The large box contains certain papers
pertaining to the estate.
The small one,
the key that will open it.
Thank you, I...
It is unfortunate that we cannot offer you
a more cheerful welcome.
But we can't.
Herr Burgomaster,
gentlemen of the council, villagers.
I quite realize that
it was my father's misfortune
to be the unwilling,
unknowing cause of tragedy.
I'm so sorry that
I don't remember him
because I've been told
that he was a good man.
And I know how
greatly your tragedy
must have
weighed upon his mind.
I can't undo the wrongs that
you've suffered,
but I beg of you,
let the dead past remain buried.
My wife and I,
and our son,
we want so much
to be your friends.
There is a car waiting,
Herr Baron.
Thank you.
Thank you for your courtesy.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(WIND WHISTLING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
AMELIA: There's
my little darling!
Amelia!
- Amelia!
- Aw.
I am glad to
see you, Benson.
Thank you, sir.
Should I take this, sir?
- No, just take my coat, will you?
- Sir.
I'm so glad
to see you.
- Bless you.
- Amelia.
Oh, what a comfort
to find you here.
Welcome, madam.
Good evening, sir.
Good evening, Amelia.
I think Peter had better go right to bed.
It's been a long trip.
Come along, darling.
Oh, Amelia,
are the bedrooms cheery?
Yes, madam,
quite cheery.
I think you'll
be surprised.
It's medieval.
It's exciting, exhilarating.
You really feel that
you belong here already?
Yes. Yes, I think I do.
- Why? Don't you like it?
- Well...
Well, it...
It all seems so unreal,
oh, but I'm excited, too.
PETER: Good night,
Daddy!
Daddy, look at me.
I'm way up here on a mountain.
BARON: Good night, son.
I'll go and
freshen up a bit
and see that
Peter is put to bed.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
I'm terribly glad
you're here with me.
Amelia, wait for me.
I don't want to get lost.
Where did you get those other servants,
Benson? They look like Tyroleans.
They are. None of the people
of this province would serve here,
no matter what
I offered to pay them.
Strange,
superstitious creatures.
Uh, where's the library,
if there is a library?
Here it is, sir.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
I think you're rather
like your father, sir.
If only I could have
some small portion of his genius.
Think of it, Benson.
Here, in this
very study,
the luminous facets
of his brilliant mind
conceived his
outstanding theory of...
The source of life.
Here, he planned a miracle
and saw it come to pass.
A miracle that
the good people
of Frankenstein
called a monster.
They call it a lot
worse than that, sir.
Such stories as
I've never heard.
Would you
like a brandy, sir?
Yes, thank you,
Benson.
"My son.
"Herein you will
find my faiths,
"my beliefs,
and my unfoldments.
"A complete diary of my experiments,
charts, and secret formulas.
"In short, the sum total of my knowledge,
such as it is.
"Perhaps you
will regard my work
"with ridicule or
even with distaste.
"If so,
destroy these records.
"But if you, like me,
burn with the irresistible desire
"to penetrate
the unknown, carry on.
"Even though the path is cruel
and torturous, carry on.
"Like every seeker
after truth,
"you will be hated,
blasphemed, and condemned.
"But mayhap where I have failed,
you will succeed.
"You have inherited the fortune
of the Frankensteins.
"I trust you will not
inherit their fate."
To you, sir.
Our Father,
help me be
a good little boy,
and bless Mommy
and Daddy. Amen.
Good night,
my darling.
I'll close the curtains,
madam,
so the lightning
won't bother him.
Oh, please don't close them,
'cause I like lightning.
Oh, he isn't afraid of anything,
is he, madam?
His father has taught him never to
be afraid, and he isn't.
Amelia...
Do you think he'll
be all right here?
Oh, yes, madam. Nothing can happen to him.
I'll leave my door open.
Please do.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Why do you suppose
they ever built in
these beds in this
strange position?
An old superstition.
"If the house is
filled with dread,
"place the beds
at head-to-head."
Come on, gentlemen, see!
More bags for Frankenstein.
(VILLAGER YELLING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
Good evening,
Inspector.
Good evening.
The Baron is in,
I know.
Yes, but, uh...
A policeman.
- Herr Baron Frankenstein?
- Yes.
I am Inspector Krogh
of the district police.
I am glad to
see you, Inspector.
Uh, Benson,
take the Inspector's cape.
Yes, sir.
Won't you, uh...
Won't you come in?
Thank you.
Come over and dry out
by the fire, Inspector.
Thank you.
I've been studying some old papers
of my father's.
Care for a brandy?
Thank you, no.
I have come here, Herr Baron,
to assure you of protection.
Protection?
From whom?
From a virulent
and fatal poison.
Oh, am I to be, uh...
Am I to be poisoned, then?
You are poisoned
already by your name.
To the best of my knowledge,
it has served
my family faithfully
for over 700 years.
You recommend that I change it to,
say, Smith?
I'm afraid that
wouldn't help.
You might change your name,
but you can't erase the brand.
That's indelible.
As long as you continue to live in
this place, you're in danger.
You're speaking in riddles,
Herr Inspector.
Danger from whom?
The Burgomaster and his
inhospitable villagers?
Oh, I think I can guarantee
to control their animosity, but not their fears.
What are they
afraid of, ghosts?
Perhaps.
I'm afraid I don't believe in them.
Do you?
When they
commit murder, yes.
Oh...
You're referring
to the monster.
Perhaps.
My dear Inspector,
he was destroyed years ago.
Perhaps.
Can we stick to facts,
Inspector?
That my father
instilled life
into a dead man
is perfectly true.
But I'm also convinced
that stories of this creature
have been
so greatly exaggerated
in the telling
and the retelling,
that the simple folk
of this neighborhood
now believe him
to have been the most fiendish monster
that ever walked
this earth.
Do you honestly know
of one criminal act
that this poor
creature committed?
Did you ever
even see him?
The most vivid
recollection of my life.
I was but a child
at the time,
about the age of your own son,
Herr Baron.
The monster had escaped
and was ravaging the countryside...
Killing, maiming,
terrorizing.
One night,
he burst into our house.
My father took a gun
and fired at him,
but the savage brute
sent him crashing to a corner.
Then he grabbed me
by the arm.
(THUD)
One doesn't easily forget,
Herr Baron,
an arm torn out
by the roots.
No, I...
My lifelong ambition
was to have been a soldier.
But for this...
I, who command
seven gendarmes
in a little
mountain village,
might have
been a general.
I wish I could
do something to...
Won't you change
your mind for brandy?
Thank you, Baron.
I apologize if I've
aroused your sympathy,
but I have found
that by explaining my affliction,
it ceases to be
quite such a curiosity.
You intimated there have
been other murders
committed since
the destruction of the...
- My father's work.
- Yes.
How do you account
for it?
Well, I can't.
Neither can
the special agents imported
for the purpose
from Scotland Yard
and the Surete Francaise.
There have been six,
all unsolved,
and all men of some prominence
in the village.
In each case,
the autopsy disclosed
that death had been caused
by a violent concussion.
There were no marks
on the bodies
except a slight discoloration or bruise
at the base of the brain.
But the hearts of all the victims
were ruptured.
In fact,
they had burst.
Hence the local superstition
of the murdering ghost.
Need I add that it is always alluded to
as Frankenstein?
Now it's rumored that you,
like your father, are a scientist.
The villagers have seen the strange
instruments that preceded you here.
That's why I've
come to warn you.
Inspector Krogh,
I should indeed seem ungrateful
if I were not to thank you
for your interest in my welfare.
But I can assure you
I am not engaged in any black magic
nor in the creation
of monsters,
however the villagers
may think.
Nevertheless, Herr Baron,
I stand ready when you need help.
I shall not need it.
When you need help, you have but to
ring the alarm bell in the tower
and I shall hear it wherever I may be and
hasten to your assistance.
Good night,
Herr Baron.
Good night and
thank you, Inspector.
Oh, darling, this is
Inspector Krogh of the police.
How do you do?
Madam.
He called to assure us
that he's at our service.
Oh, it's very good
of you, Inspector.
Perhaps you'll honor us
one night soon at dinner.
Madam, I...
I shall be honored,
madam.
Wasn't he odd?
Yes. He said if the villagers bothered us,
he'd take a hand.
We seem to be rather
undesirable characters.
Oh, they'll change
their attitude
when they get to
know us a little better.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
What a dreadful storm.
What awful lightning!
It's magnificent.
Nothing in nature
is terrifying when one understands it.
Think of it, darling.
My father drew
that very lightning
from heaven and forced it
to his own will,
to bring life to a being
that he created with his own hands.
Why should
we fear anything?
Thank you, Benson.
PETER: Well, hello!
Good morning, son.
Did you have
a nice sleep?
Yes.
What are you
going to do now?
- I'm going out hunting.
- Uh-huh!
What are you
going to get?
Elephants and tigers.
That's fine. You better
come along down here.
There's some stairs
over there.
You see,
it isn't so bad in daylight, is it?
No, but I just hope
we don't have
any more nights
like last night.
It's nights like that that make beautiful
mornings like this.
I'm going to
look over the estate
and I'm going to take
my gun with me, too.
You never can tell what you'll see,
can you, Peter?
You might see some rhinoceros
or alligators.
Mmm-hmm.
What's that, Daddy?
BARON: That?
That's a boar.
Like Aunt Fanny?
No, Peter, not like Aunt Fanny.
A wild boar.
I hope I don't
have teeth like that.
ELSA: Why, darling?
They'd be too hard
to clean.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Now you run along with Amelia.
But don't go far.
No.
- Goodbye, Peter.
- Goodbye.
What's that weird-looking structure
across the ravine?
That's my
father's laboratory.
They blew the roof off
when the monster was destroyed.
I can't wait
to see inside it.
(BUBBLING)
(SNIFFING) Sulfur.
Hey! Hey, you,
come down here!
Come on.
Come on, hurry up.
Come on, get up.
Get up.
Why did you try
to kill me?
I thought you came here
to kill me.
That's a fine story.
It's all right for
you people to hate me,
but attempted murder
is another thing.
Who are you?
My name is Ygor.
Let me go,
Frankenstein.
I'm gonna turn you over
to Inspector Krogh.
No!
Not give me to Krogh.
Why?
Krogh not want dead man.
Ygor is dead.
What are you
talking about?
You see that?
They hanged me once,
Frankenstein.
They broke my neck.
They said I was dead.
Then they cut me down.
Hanged you?
Why did they hang you?
Because
I stole bodies...
They said.
Yes. Well, what are
you doing here?
They threw me
in here long ago.
They wouldn't bury me
in holy place like churchyard
because I stole bodies,
they said.
So Ygor is dead.
(LAUGHING)
You Dr. Frankenstein,
like your father, huh?
Yes, but I can't
mend a broken neck.
Nobody can mend
Ygor's neck.
It's all right.
So you doctor?
Yes, I'm a doctor,
amongst other things.
You come with me.
(STRIKING MATCH)
My grandfather.
My father.
Is this what you
wanted to show me?
(SHOUTING) He's alive!
How long has
he been here?
Long time.
He is my friend.
He...
He does things for me.
Has he always
been here?
Nearly always.
This is place
of the dead.
We're all dead here.
But he's not dead.
No, not dead.
Asleep.
Sick.
He has been
so many months.
What happened?
- Did you...
- Oh, no.
It happened one night
when he was outside.
Outside?
Yes. He was...
Hunting.
There was
a great storm.
He was standing
under tree
when lightning strike.
How did he get in here?
I find him
and bring him home.
But he walks no more.
Evidence of trauma
exactly the same
as a human being.
But he was supposed
to be destroyed.
YGOR: No.
He cannot be destroyed.
Cannot die.
Your father made
him live for always.
(CHUCKLES)
Now he is sick.
Make him well,
Frankenstein.
I don't know
whether I...
Your father made him.
And Heinrich Frankenstein
was your father, too.
Do you mean to
imply then that...
That is my brother?
But his mother
was lightning.
Oh.
Electricity.
We'll see.
I'll get my instruments from the castle.
We'll take him up there.
No!
You cannot
take him away.
Just up there in
the old laboratory
where I have light
and room.
Please.
You understand.
No one must see him,
Frankenstein.
But does anyone know
that he's here?
Good.
Good.
And no one will know
that he is here until...
Until your creation,
Father, walks again.
What's going on at
Castle Frankenstein?
The whole village is
alarmed with anxiety.
Our men report
nothing but quiet.
Quiet?
There's nothing
so ominous as quiet.
Besides, it isn't quiet.
From the cemetery
on Crag Hill,
Hans Stenble can see Castle Frankenstein
with his field glasses.
The servants have
been moving large
crates and boxes
into the old laboratory.
They even have old Ygor
helping them.
Ygor.
(ALL GRUMBLING)
We Frankensteinians
are as nervous as cats.
We grovel at
the howl of a wolf.
When the wind slams
the door or a shutter,
we tremble in our shoes
and hide ourselves like frightened rabbits.
And always will
with a Frankenstein in our midst.
What's he doing?
That's all we want to know.
Yes, we want to know.
Well, let's get Ygor here
and make him tell us.
ALL: Yes!
Yes.
Yes.
(HANDS CLAP)
All right, Ygor,
make it fast.
Ready?
YGOR: Ready!
(CHAINS RATTLING)
No!
What's the matter with you?
What are you doing?
He cannot come in here.
No one.
Oh.
You want me to
make him well?
Very well, then.
I'll need some help.
This man is not
just my servant.
He's been with me
for years,
helping me with
my experiments.
I need him now
to make notes.
All right,
I'll not make him well.
But if he tells...
(KNOCKING)
All right,
come along, Benson.
Get your notes,
Benson.
Iris contracted.
Marked sclerectasia.
Mental abnormality.
Considerable osteodermia
in the frontal region.
Apparently these are
the exterior electrodes.
The means by which my father
inducted the vital energy into the body.
Systolic pressure,
over 300.
Diastolic, over 220.
Three times normal.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Definite hyperpituitary.
Minus 65.
That accounts
for his great size.
No human heart
could possibly function like that,
especially in
his condition.
It's beating at
over 250 to the minute.
(TAPPING)
He's completely
superhuman.
Get your notes,
Benson.
Left ventricular
preponderance.
And look here, Benson,
look at this.
Do you know
what those are?
BENSON: No, sir.
Bullets. Two bullets
in his heart.
But he still lives.
BARON: I've never seen
blood like that before.
Polymorphocellular.
Extreme hemachrosis.
The alpha leukocytes
apparently do not dissolve.
The entire structure
of the blood is quite different
from that of
a normal human being.
The cells seem to be
battling one another
as if they had a conscious life
of their own.
What was
in those boxes?
All kinds of things.
Machines.
What kind of machines?
All kinds.
Wheels turn around,
electric lightnings come out.
Bottles,
big ones, little ones.
Medicine. All kinds.
He doctor. I don't
understand his business.
I, uh...
I am blacksmith.
Body snatcher,
you mean?
Yes.
Has he asked you
to rob any graves?
To get him a body?
No!
Tell us the truth,
or we'll hang you again
and make a better job
of it next time.
No, you no can hang me again.
Can they?
No, that's been settled.
You were hanged and pronounced dead.
But he was not dead.
He was pronounced dead
by Dr. Burgher.
And all the others Burgher's pronounced
dead for the last 30 years
have been dead,
haven't they?
If Ygor came to life again,
it's the devil's work, not the court's.
You mean to say that if he commits another
crime, he can't be hanged again?
- Well, yes, but...
- I do nothing.
I help Frankenstein.
He good man.
He pay me money.
Well, you watch him.
And if he starts
to do anything
like his father and
you don't tell us...
I'll see that
you hang again.
You? Alone?
(LAUGHS)
It took eight men before
to say I was to be hanged.
Well, the same eight will
find you guilty again.
So?
The same eight
aren't here, Weber.
No?
Well, I'm one
of the eight,
and I'll be one again
with pleasure.
You.
You, Neumuller.
You were one.
And I, too.
Yes. You, too, Lang.
That's right.
I remember.
That's all here now, eh?
BURGOMASTER: Yes.
The other six
are all dead.
(LAUGHING)
They die. Dead.
I die. Live.
Quiet!
That'll be all, Ygor.
Go back to Castle Frankenstein
and be careful.
(COUGHING)
Hey!
You spit on me!
I am sorry. I cough.
You see,
bone get stuck in my throat.
(CONTINUES COUGHING)
(LAUGHING)
The results of my extensive examinations
establish beyond doubt
that the creature
was brought to life originally
by an electrical impulse
of terrifying potency.
It appears that
my father thought
that he could extract
from lightning
some super-violet ray
of life-giving properties.
From a careful analysis
of his electrical hookup,
I've learned that he actually
attracted cosmic rays
which neither he,
nor anyone else
in the world of science
at that time
even knew existed.
Of course, since then,
many of our most profound scientists
have come to believe
that these rays
are actually the very source
of life itself.
This creature is
indeed a monster.
There is not one part
of his physical being
that's like that
of human beings.
From his warped brain,
down to the tiniest argumentative cell
of his huge carcass,
he's unearthly.
Every fantastic
story told of him
by the people
of Frankenstein,
I now believe to be
absolutely true.
I, as a man...
Should destroy him.
But as a scientist...
I should do
everything in my power
to bring him back
to conscious life
so that the world can study
his abnormal functions.
That would
vindicate my father
and his name would be enshrined
among the immortals.
Benson,
turn on the generator.
(GENERATOR POWERING UP)
(CRACKLING)
Stop!
Quiet, you fool!
(MOANING)
(GROWLS)
It's no good, Ygor.
I've done everything I can.
I'm afraid we'll never get him
out of this coma.
Come on, Benson.
Take off these electrodes.
I'm not going to work
at Castle Frankenstein any longer.
I've seen enough to make me suspicious.
I'm going to quit.
No, you're not.
You'll stay there and report to me
everything you see and hear.
I'll call there
myself this afternoon.
You'll be well repaid.
Now go back and don't tell anyone
you've seen me.
Understand?
Yes, sir.
I'd like very much
to visit the village,
but I'm ashamed to
say I don't dare.
I think you're
very wise, madam.
There's a definite feeling
of tension there
and I'm sure you'll
be much better off
not to risk the discourtesy
of the villagers.
Yes,
that's what Wolf said.
I suspect the Baron, too,
finds time heavy on his hands here.
Oh, no, never.
He's almost constantly
in his laboratory.
- Laboratory?
- ELSA: Yes.
He's fixed over
his father's old one, you know.
He's deep in
some experiment.
I see. What sort
of experiment?
I'm sure I don't know.
I never bother him
at times like this.
He's terribly
preoccupied now.
But as soon as his
problem's solved,
he'll be as gay
as a lark again.
He's like that.
Is he in his
laboratory now?
No.
He came in to lunch
looking gray as a ghost.
I could see he was
on pins and needles,
so I suggested that he go out into
the open air for a while.
He's been gone
for hours.
KROGH: You don't mind
being left alone?
ELSA: Well, not in
the daytime, but at night...
Good afternoon,
Inspector.
Good afternoon,
Herr Baron.
I trust you enjoyed
your walk.
Yes, very much.
There's nothing like a good walk
through the woods
for clearing
one's mind.
- Won't you sit down?
- Thank you.
Yes, you scientists must have to have clear
minds and steady nerves.
The Baroness has
just been telling me
that you're knee-deep
in experiments.
Yes.
And working in your
father's old laboratory?
The villagers call it
"the Monster's home."
Haven't seen him
stalking about by any chance, have you?
No.
I fear he'll
never stalk again.
Well, that's a relief.
But I'm curious to know
why you chose that place to work.
It was my father's.
But without a roof?
Oh, I sealed it up
with some heavy canvas.
Don't the sulfur
fumes bother you?
No, no, no, not at all.
Sulfur fumes?
Oh, uh, forgive me, Baron,
perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that.
I thought madam knew.
Tell me.
Well, you see, darling,
our family history states
that the structure was built by the Romans
over a natural sulfur pit
and used by them
as mineral baths.
One of the first
health resorts, perhaps.
(SCOFFS)
Health resort.
(LAUGHING)
Yes, possibly.
But during
the succeeding centuries,
the boiling sulfur
increased in its intensity,
until now, I believe,
it is over 800 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Exactly.
- Even the stoutest Roman
couldn't venture
into that today
without being parboiled to the bones
in just a few moments.
(LAUGHS)
Wolf, you do pick
the strangest places.
I'd like to see
how you fixed it up.
I'll have you come there some time
and parboil you.
(BARON CHUCKLING)
Well, hello!
Mother, may I come in?
Come on in, son.
Peter,
this is Inspector Krogh.
How do you do?
How do you do, sir?
You're not supposed to shake hands
with a left hand.
- Peter.
- I'm sorry. That was very rude of me.
You're not supposed to wear gloves
in the house, either.
- BARON: Son.
- Sorry about that, too.
But, you see, I only have one real arm.
This one isn't mine.
Well, whose is it?
You see,
Inspector Krogh lost his other real arm...
In the war.
He's a soldier.
Oh! Are you a general?
BARON: No, he's something
more than a general.
He's an inspector.
Well,
I'm a soldier myself,
and I've been
hunting all day long.
Hunting?
Did you get anything?
Oh, yes, a few elephants
and a few tigers.
Did you have a nice
long nap, darling?
No, not a very long nap.
A giant came in here
and woke me up.
AMELIA: A giant?
(LAUGHS)
What an imagination.
PETER: No, Amelia,
it wasn't imagination.
It was a giant
and he woke me up.
And when I got up,
he had a hold of my arm.
ELSA: Did you chase him away
with your gun?
Oh, no, he was
a nice giant.
I gave him my picture book
and then he went away.
Are there lots of
giants around here?
Only one that
I ever heard of.
PETER: That must
have been him, then.
Perhaps.
You're pretty much of a giant yourself,
aren't you?
Aren't we getting heavy?
(LAUGHS)
Excuse me, Inspector.
I, uh...
I'll take him up
to the nursery.
It's almost
his suppertime.
Here we go.
It must be that book
Jack the Giant Killer
that's got into his head
with his great imagination.
Here we go
up the big mountain.
(EXCLAIMS)
Duck your head.
BARON: Hold tight.
We're almost there.
Here we are.
Now, Peter...
I want you to tell me all about
the elephants, the tigers
and that giant.
Well...
Really, Daddy, there weren't any
elephants and tigers.
- I just made-believe that.
- Oh!
But what
about the giant?
What giant?
The one you gave
your storybook to.
Oh, he's real.
Well, what did he look like?
Ooh!
He was a great big man
with a hairy coat on.
And he walked
like this.
(AMELIA LAUGHING)
What an imagination!
Yes.
See you later, son.
What a boy!
Oh, going out, Herr Baron?
Yes, I just remembered
a thing I have to check in my laboratory.
I almost forgot the time.
I'm getting sort of absent-minded.
I'll have to hurry,
if you'll excuse me.
Ygor!
Ygor!
Ygor!
Ygor!
(GASPS)
(GRUNTING)
(GROWLING)
(GRUNTING ANGRILY)
(GRUNTING)
(GROANING)
(GROANING)
Ygor!
No.
No! No.
No, no.
How did he
get out of here?
You make him well
with your lightning.
After you go,
he get up and walk.
Now he's
all right again.
(LAUGHING)
Come.
Good man.
Good man.
(LAUGHING)
He must never
get out again. Never.
No.
He just do what
I tell him, always.
See?
Go.
Go.
(LAUGHS)
No one must know
that he's here.
No one know now,
but you and Benson man.
Oh, he'll never tell.
No, he will never tell.
(GROANS)
Come.
Ygor.
Ygor, I made him walk,
but I haven't made him well.
He isn't well here.
You understand?
I must continue
my experiments.
He's well enough
for me
and you no
touch him again.
Oh.
If you want him
to be well,
you must keep him
here always.
Understand?
I keep him here.
(LAUGHING)
You sent for me, sir?
Yes, Benson.
Inspector Krogh is still in the library.
I can't stand his suspicious look,
so I called you in here.
Yes, sir.
Benson, it's alive!
Alive? You mean...
Yes, alive! Alive!
But you said
our experiment...
I know. I, too, at first
thought that we failed,
but Benson, I've actually
seen it walk.
- Walk?
- Yes, it's like...
It's like
some huge animal.
Never in my life have
I known cold fear
until that moment
that I felt his hand on my shoulder.
I was like a child's doll
in those huge hands.
He could have crushed me
as I would have crushed an eggshell.
But how did you
escape him, sir?
Ygor came in.
It's amazing the control he exercises
over that thing.
It's hypnosis,
or something more elemental perhaps.
What are you
going to do about it?
Do? Continue
my experiments.
- But what if he...
- I'm not worried.
He's dangerous, of course,
but he loves Ygor and obeys him.
My problem is how
to make Ygor obey me.
But what about madam
and Master Peter, sir?
Huh?
Oh, yes, yes.
I'll have to send them away.
I'll suggest tonight
that they make a trip to Brussels.
And they leave on
the noon train tomorrow.
Get some tickets
in the morning.
I hope you forgive
me speaking my way, sir,
but I've served you
for a great number of years.
I think it would be better
if you called in
Inspector Krogh and
told him everything.
No, no, no.
I will not!
I have begun this thing
and I'll finish it.
I'll not be
halted by anything,
until I'm the complete
master of this living,
breathing,
intelligent creature
my father dreamed
of creating.
Herr Neumuller.
How are you?
Fine, Schmidt. Fine.
(SPITS)
(NEUMULLER YELLING)
(MONSTER GROWLING)
(HORN PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE)
Thank you.
I hope you don't feel
I'm an intruder, madam.
Not at all,
Inspector.
(LAUGHS) Well, I practically invited
myself to dinner, but I...
No, of course not.
It's a great pleasure
to have you.
You're our first guest.
I never thought that
I'd have the privilege
of being entertained
at Castle Frankenstein, Baron.
No, it's a great pleasure
to have you here.
You see,
you're our first guest.
Oh, you just said that,
didn't you, dear?
Well, you are.
Fritz, where is Benson?
Why isn't he
serving dinner?
We don't know, madam.
He went up to the nursery
for the baby's supper tray
and we haven't
seen him since.
Have you seen him,
Wolf?
(STUTTERING)
Yes, dear.
I sent him over to the laboratory
to get some notes for me
that I want to work on
after dinner tonight.
But how long ago?
Oh, perhaps my instructions
were a little complicated
and he may have
become confused.
You know, he hates
to make mistakes.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
That awful knocker.
Fritz, will you see
who it is, please?
Wolf, couldn't we install
an old-fashioned doorbell?
That boom almost makes me
jump out of my skin.
Yes, dear,
I'll have a bell put in.
The knocker must have been used
in the old days
to arouse
the entire household.
A sort of call to arms
in times of danger.
It's one of your men,
Inspector.
There has been
an accident in the village.
A sudden death.
He requested that
you come at once.
Oh, I...
I'm terribly sorry.
Please excuse me.
What a shame to leave a delicious
dinner like this
for so sordid
a thing as...
I trust that nothing has happened
to your butler, madam.
- Thank you.
- Good night.
Baron.
Wolf, I really think
you ought to try and find Benson.
I'm terribly worried
about him.
- Yes, yes, I will.
- But don't go alone.
Oh, silly.
I'll be all right.
(LAUGHING)
(GRUNTS)
What's the matter
with him?
He's asleep.
Have you seen Benson?
Yes.
- When?
- About two hours ago.
- Where?
- Here.
He say you tell him
monster walk again.
He came to see.
Monster walk.
Benson run, run, run!
Where did he run to?
He isn't at the castle.
He just run away
in the woods.
That thing's enough
to scare anyone.
I didn't think
Benson would come here.
Are you telling me the truth?
You didn't kill him?
No, no, no.
Why, I scare him
to death.
I don't have to
kill him to death.
(LAUGHING)
(GRUNTING)
(MONSTER WAILING)
Where does the ladder
into the sulfur pit lead to?
A cave.
A cave?
It's warm.
We stay there in winter.
Oh.
Where does the cave
lead to?
Just cave.
(GROANS)
My deepest sympathies,
Frau Neumuller.
How did it happen?
He must have been asleep
and fallen off his wagon.
The wheels passed over his legs
breaking them,
and crushing his chest.
See here?
Now, would you all
please leave while Dr. Burgher and I
make out
the death certificates?
(MRS. NEUMULLER SOBBING)
Any other marks
or bruises?
Examine the back
of the neck.
- You don't think that...
- Perhaps.
We won't know
until you perform an autopsy.
Examine the heart,
and report to me at once.
Wolf...
What happened
to Benson?
I don't know,
really, dear.
I've been working
him pretty hard lately.
(CHUCKLES) Maybe he just wanted to
go out and get drunk.
But Benson
doesn't drink.
Oh, well, perhaps
he does sometimes.
But he'll be back in the morning bright
and early. You'll see.
Don't worry about him.
It's you
I'm worried about.
You aren't yourself.
Are you keeping
something from me?
No, darling.
Is this place
getting on your nerves?
I hate it here, Wolf.
I'm terribly afraid
all the time.
I'm sorry, dear.
I'm going to send you and Peter away
in the morning.
I want you to take
a trip to Brussels,
and I'll follow you
in a few days.
I've tried so desperately to
match your bravery, but...
Oh, my dear.
(SOBBING)
I'll be all right.
There's a good girl.
Where are you going?
To get Peter.
I'll feel better having him
in here with me.
(HORN PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE)
LANG: No! No!
(YELPS)
(BELLS TOLLING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Good morning,
Inspector.
You're up rather early,
aren't you?
You're early
yourself, Baron.
I came to inquire
about your butler.
Have you found him,
dead or alive?
No. No, but he'll be back.
He's done this sort
of thing before.
You know, these sudden disappearances.
Oh, can I give you a light?
KROGH: Thank you, no.
He was in the war,
you know.
He was wounded
in the head.
It make him, sort of...
Well, rather funny at times.
But don't worry
about him.
I'm going down
to the village.
Will you come
along with me?
The village?
There's not a shop open.
No, I'm going to
the railroad station.
My wife and child are going away
for a slight holiday.
So?
Yes.
So, you see,
I have to do all the arranging myself,
now that that
stupid Benson's gone.
I'm afraid I must ask you
not to go, Baron.
Neither you, nor your wife,
or child.
That accidental death
that called me from your dinner last night
was another burst heart.
Listen.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING ANGRILY)
(HORN PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE)
MAN 1: Inspector Krogh!
MAN 2: Ygor, shut up!
MAN 3: He's been playing
that thing all night.
There's a mob
at your gate.
They have a strange notion
that you had something to do with it.
Silly, isn't it?
Silly? They're mad.
I'll go down there
and tell them so.
No, you won't go, Baron.
Why?
We'll talk it over,
inside.
All right,
if you like.
(HORN PLAYING CONTINUES)
Inspector.
Madam.
My dear, I assume
from the Inspector's
attitude and
pointed implications
- that I'm under arrest.
- Arrest?
It appears we've returned to
the Middle Ages.
The villagers have laid siege
to the castle
and are crying out
for blood, blood, blood!
Madam, I...
A man is murdered
a mile away,
and do you know
what killed him?
My name.
The very name of Frankenstein
burst his heart.
And now the happy little villagers are
clamoring for my blood!
I'm afraid the Baron is in a humorous mood
this morning.
I suppose it has
its humorous side,
but you're not
under arrest, madam.
I'm merely here to
guarantee you protection
against any
unprovoked assault.
Unprovoked assault!
Wolf!
Inspector, you mean it isn't safe
for us to leave?
I'm afraid not,
madam.
But is there any reason
why you shouldn't be perfectly safe here?
If one simple-minded villager
as much as sets foot inside that door,
I'll shoot him
like a dog!
And you can
tell them that for me,
as long as you won't allow me
to tell them myself.
Wolf.
I've never seen
him so violent.
Madam, last night
I missed my dinner,
and this morning
I've had no breakfast.
Now, do you think...
Certainly. I'll order
some at once. If you'll...
Herr Baron,
shall we go into the library?
I prefer to remain here,
thank you.
Shall we go
into the library?
I don't mind
telling you, Inspector,
that as a guest
in my own house,
you'll find me
extremely disagreeable.
(SCREAMING)
♪ Sailing, sailing,
over the bounding main ♪
May I come in?
Come in,
Inspector, please.
Thank you.
Hello, young man.
Your mother said
I could call on you.
Hello, General.
I'll be back in a moment, darling.
Excuse me, please.
You see, I have no
young son of my own.
Oh, that's too bad.
(CHUCKLES)
Have you done any more hunting lately?
Yes.
Has the giant paid you
any more visits?
Yes.
Huh!
He's a great
big fellow, I imagine.
Yes.
So big, possibly, he can hardly get
through that door?
Oh, no, he doesn't
come through the door.
No? Where does he
come in, huh?
Through the window?
Through the fireplace?
Through the wall.
Through the wall?
- Where?
- Over there.
Huh!
That's very interesting.
You're not afraid of him at all,
are you, Peter?
Oh, no, he's a nice giant.
He gave me a watch.
- A watch?
- Yes.
Would you like
to see it?
Very much.
Thank you.
Yes, it's a very
nice watch. A very...
Nice watch.
Well, Peter,
shall we go downstairs
and have some
nice hot chocolate?
PETER: Yes.
If the General will
come with me.
I'll be very
pleased, sir.
(CHUCKLING)
Here we go.
Gently.
Hurry up.
All right,
I'm coming.
Superstitious,
blundering idiot!
Prying, insinuating,
accusing.
I'll kick him
out of the house!
I'll not be heckled by a stupid,
intolerable policeman.
Wolf, the way
you're carrying on,
if I were a policeman,
I'd be suspicious myself.
- You would?
- Yes, I would.
Mysterious things
have happened.
A murder
in the village.
Our own dear Benson
disappears for no reason.
They probably think you,
like your father,
have created
another monster or...
(STUTTERING)
Why, he's got even you,
my own wife, believing that I...
I believe nothing.
I don't care about Krogh.
But I'm afraid
for you, for Peter.
And only you, Wolf,
can restore my confidence.
Oh, please, darling, Elsa,
please have faith in me!
I'm sorry that
I lost control of myself.
I've no reason for
being nervous like this.
But I've been
working too hard.
A terrific experiment,
one that I wanted to surprise you with,
one that would establish me and
my work. My work...
As something outstanding
in the world of science.
But believe me, darling,
believe me there's nothing to be afraid of.
I wouldn't be
afraid if I hadn't,
for the first time,
sensed you were afraid.
Me? Oh, silly.
Everything's
under control.
I'll not lose my temper again.
You'll see.
(POUNDING ON DOOR)
Inspector.
Sorry, young man. I shan't be able
to take chocolate with you.
Tell your father and mother I'll be back
very soon. Very soon.
- Goodbye, General.
- Krantz, remain here on guard.
Now I can go
to the lab.
I mean, I must go to the lab.
Only for a minute, dear.
I won't be long,
really.
No touch him,
Frankenstein!
No touch him
or something happens to you
worse than dying.
- How long has he been here?
- All night.
You liar!
He was in the village.
You made him
kill Herr Neumuller.
Yes, why not?
Neumuller kills me.
Eight men say Ygor hang.
Now eight men dead.
All dead!
You crazy fool!
If Krogh finds him,
he'll kill him.
Then he won't be any good to
either of us.
You get out of here.
If I find you hanging around here again, I'll...
He's mine!
He no belong to you!
You go away, not me!
(MONSTER GROWLING)
(PEOPLE SHOUTING)
Get back!
POLICEMAN: Get back!
Where is everybody?
The Baron's in
the library, sir.
The rest of the family
are at dinner.
I've had to send to Bandleheim
for additional police.
Krantz, you report to Sergeant Schiller
at the lower gate.
The crowd is
becoming unmanageable.
Herr Inspector.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Come in.
Good evening, Inspector.
I thought that I'd see you sooner.
Sorry. I've been busy.
Very busy indeed, for me.
My job is usually
a rather sleepy one.
- Have a drink?
- Thank you, no.
I'm afraid I shall require all the wits
I've got tonight.
I've never seen you disturbed before,
Inspector.
You've even forgotten
to take off your hat.
Not forgotten,
Herr Baron.
Merely a matter of form.
My business tonight is
official, not social.
Rather a crude custom,
I agree...
But a custom.
Well, sir, what news
from the front?
Another death.
Another inquest.
When did it occur?
This afternoon?
No. Sometime last night.
It was only discovered
late this morning.
Herr Lang, this time.
The village apothecary.
A very old
and dear friend.
He'll be mourned.
Too bad.
Yes, isn't it?
BARON: Herr Lang, eh?
Never heard of him before. Oh, well.
I suppose the villagers will say I killed him,
just the same.
No, not that you killed him,
but that you know who did.
Really?
But of course
I know who did.
Haven't you heard?
The Monster!
(LAUGHS MANIACALLY)
Yes, that's
what they think.
Is it the old legendary monster
of my father's time
or am I supposed to
have whipped one up
as a housewife
whips up an omelet?
I've been here over a month,
you know.
Your wife and child
are in danger.
So? From what?
You tried to
send them away.
Yes, I will tomorrow,
in spite of you.
You forget
I have my hat on.
Meaning that
I'm under arrest?
Yes.
I promised your arrest
to the villagers
to keep them quiet
for the moment.
Huh.
For the murder of
Lang and Neumuller?
No. For the murder
of Benson.
A technical charge,
for the time being.
Why don't you search the laboratory?
You have my permission.
I've searched it already
without your permission
with two men
the other night.
We found nothing incriminating but
a very large table
fit for a giant.
Yes.
Yes, it was my father's.
I reconstructed it
out of curiosity.
Why don't you
search it again?
By George...
I think I know who
your monster may be.
Good. Who?
Old Ygor.
(CHUCKLING)
Of course. Why not?
Everybody wants to
hang old Ygor again,
yet he has
a perfect alibi.
He was constantly
under observation
when every murder
was committed.
It's curious that the entire jury
that hanged him is dead.
But he was never seen
at the scene of the crime.
Yet it would be too simple
to hang old Ygor.
Well, I don't trust him!
I'm gonna find him and kick him
off the estate...
With your permission.
Yes.
If you like.
(GROANING)
(SCREAMING)
Amelia, you can put Peter to bed at once,
but stay with him.
AMELIA: Yes, madam.
Inspector, I'm more
terrified every minute.
Madam, I personally
guarantee to get you
and your son out of here
in the morning.
And Wolf. He's a bundle of
uncontrollable nerves and...
Yes. I'm going in now
to comfort him.
Thank you.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Come in, come in, come in.
Well, did you find Ygor?
Yes, I got rid of him.
Have a drink?
How did you
get rid of him?
I killed him!
He tried to murder me
with his hammer,
so I shot him.
What are you
gonna do about it?
Compliment you.
For it is he who
undoubtedly killed Benson.
Benson?
He's dead. Murdered.
I just found his body in a secret
passageway off the nursery.
Here's his watch.
It was in the possession
of your son.
And here's a bit of chain
that was attached to Benson's vest.
But Ygor didn't
do it, nor did you.
Nor was it done
by any ghost.
There's a monster afoot
and you know it.
He's in your control.
By heaven, I think you're a worse fiend
than your father.
Where is this monster?
Where is he?
I'll stay by your side
until you confess.
And if you don't,
I'll feed you to the villagers
like the Romans fed
Christians to the lions.
I wouldn't
put it past you.
In the meantime,
will you have a drink?
Or would you like
to play darts?
(MOANING)
(YELLING)
(GRUNTS)
(GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
Amelia!
(SCREAMING)
Where is Peter?
Where is Peter, Amelia?
- Where is he? Where is he?
- (SCREAMS)
He's gone!
ELSA: (SCREAMING) Peter!
Peter!
What is it?
Peter's gone!
I'm going to
the laboratory!
Here we are.
ELSA: (YELLING)
Peter! Peter!
Peter!
(BANGING ON DOOR)
Open the door!
Peter!
(MONSTER GROWLING)
(GUN FIRING)
Daddy! Daddy!
(MONSTER YELLING)
(SIZZLING)
Oh, baby.
Herewith I deed to you the castle and
the estates of Frankenstein.
Do with them
what you will.
And may happiness and peace of mind
be restored to you all.
Goodbye.
(ALL CHEERING)
Goodbye, gentlemen.
ALL: Goodbye, Baron.
KROGH: Goodbye, Peter.
PETER: Goodbye, General.