Friday, June 24, 2016
LON CHANEY'S 1940s UNIVERSAL MOVIES!
Welcome back!.. Today we gots the major 1940s Universal movies starring Lon Chaney, they do not include the Inner Sanctum titles. Lon was a force in the forties, and, when he was not being a monster, he was a cowboy in a ton of westerns. We love Lon, here at The Dungeon...
Lon played 'Dynamo' Dan McCormick in MAN MADE MONSTER, aka THE ATOMIC MONSTER in 1941. This movie inspired THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN in 1956, starring Lon.
What put Lon at number one was THE WOLF MAN in 1941, I can hear the French horns now!
In 1942, Lon got to play Frankie in THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN. What paid off for him in this role was his 6' 2" frame, he was a monstrous force to be reckoned with.
So, later in 1942 Lon played Kharis in THE MUMMY'S TOMB. A little trivia... With THE MUMMY'S HAND taking place in 1940, this film should have been set in 1970, as the frequent mention is made of thirty years having passed. However, there is no attempt to create a futuristic setting and the film includes contemporary mentions of the ongoing Second World War!
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN from 1943 is one of my very favorites, there's so much atmosphere, you can cut it with a spaz chop!
Lon then gets the chance to play Count Alucard in SON OF DRACULA in 1943. Not one of my favorite flicks, but, Lon does bring on the menace. Great poster!
Lon's back as Kharis in THE MUMMY'S GHOST from 1944. This time, an Egyptian priest travels to America in search of the bodies of an Egyptian princess and her living, mummified guardian. This is my favorite poster of the bunch.
Lon is the Wolf Man again in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN in 1944, it's time to bring in all the Universal monsters in one exciting, over the top movie. Glenn Strange is Frankie.
Lon plays Kharis one last time for the final Universal mummy movie in THE MUMMY'S CURSE in 1944, a very busy year for him.
1945 finds Lon in HOUSE OF DRACULA, another Universal monster fest of horror and mayhem.
We'll end on a humorous note with ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN from 1948 (btw.. a great year!). With the world quickly descending further into Hell, we could use a laff or two...
I thought Lon was miscast in Son of Dracula, and was wasted in the Mummy series (any stunt man or extra could have played Kharis, since all he ever did was shuffle around). But I guess Universal wanted a star whose name would be recognized by horror movie fans.
ReplyDeleteLon stood in for Glenn Strange as Frankenstein's monster in one or two scenes in Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, after Glenn was injured in an accident during filming.
I remember seeing Lon in low budget Westerns like Apache Uprising and The Law of the Lawless. And in the Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Western spoof, Pardners, along with several other familiar faces from "B" Westerns.
And in Bob Hope's My Favorite Brunette, he played a parody of his character from Of Mice and Men, while Peter Lorre played a spoof of his creepy characters from a zillion horror and suspense movies. They both looked like they were having fun.