After American International Pictures, one of the greatest providers of cheap, classic 1950s cinematic fare was Allied Artists which began as Monogram Pictures in the 1930s and morphed into Lorimar in the 1970s before calling it a day. In 1958 the company spent more bucks than usual to come up with a fascinating double feature. They used big name stars and the films were shot in Cinemascope. One was the QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE with Zsa Zsa Gabor (shot in color) and the other was this B&W movie with Boris Karloff.
FRANKENSTEIN 1970 was shot in 8 days on the Warner Brothers lot and utilized impressive sets from the 1957 Diana Barrymore biopic TOO MUCH, TOO SOON. The rest of the cast consists of primarily young no-names with a few notable exceptions. One is tough guy Donald “Red” Barry as the movie director. Another is German actor Rudolf Anders who plays Karloff’s old friend and confidante. They have 3 extended scenes together, each done in one take, which are great to watch. Two old pros showing us how it’s done.
The plot features a then contemporary setting with Boris as the crippled Baron Frankenstein (he was tortured by Nazis) , the last of his line who allows a movie company to film a horror picture in his castle. Unknown to them he is using the latest technology, including atomic radiation, to create a new monster. The influence of Hammer’s THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, made the year before, is clearly evident. The fact that he’s a Baron, the look of the bandaged creature, and the emphasis on the technical side of its creation, is very similar.
The movie was the brainchild of producer Aubrey Schenck and director Howard W. Koch whose Bel-Air productions gave us such 1950s B movie horror staples as THE BLACK SLEEP and PHARAOH’S CURSE along with crime melodramas like BIG HOUSE USA and THREE BAD SISTERS. The print used for this Blu-Ray is the same one used in Warner’s 2009 Karloff & Lugosi DVD Collection. It is absolutely pristine and in the original widescreen. Too bad it doesn’t include QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE so we could recreate the original double feature.
After American International Pictures, one of the greatest providers of cheap, classic 1950s cinematic fare was Allied Artists which began as Monogram Pictures in the 1930s and morphed into Lorimar in the 1970s before calling it a day. In 1958 the company spent more bucks than usual to come up with a fascinating double feature. They used big name stars and the films were shot in Cinemascope. One was the QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE with Zsa Zsa Gabor (shot in color) and the other was this B&W movie with Boris Karloff.
FRANKENSTEIN 1970 was shot in 8 days on the Warner Brothers lot and utilized impressive sets from the 1957 Diana Barrymore biopic TOO MUCH, TOO SOON. The rest of the cast consists of primarily young no-names with a few notable exceptions. One is tough guy Donald “Red” Barry as the movie director. Another is German actor Rudolf Anders who plays Karloff’s old friend and confidante. They have 3 extended scenes together, each done in one take, which are great to watch. Two old pros showing us how it’s done.
The plot features a then contemporary setting with Boris as the crippled Baron Frankenstein (he was tortured by Nazis) , the last of his line who allows a movie company to film a horror picture in his castle. Unknown to them he is using the latest technology, including atomic radiation, to create a new monster. The influence of Hammer’s THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, made the year before, is clearly evident. The fact that he’s a Baron, the look of the bandaged creature, and the emphasis on the technical side of its creation, is very similar.
The movie was the brainchild of producer Aubrey Schenck and director Howard W. Koch whose Bel-Air productions gave us such 1950s B movie horror staples as THE BLACK SLEEP and PHARAOH’S CURSE along with crime melodramas like BIG HOUSE USA and THREE BAD SISTERS. The print used for this Blu-Ray is the same one used in Warner’s 2009 Karloff & Lugosi DVD Collection. It is absolutely pristine and in the original widescreen. Too bad it doesn’t include QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE so we could recreate the original double feature.
The Capsule Critic 