Frankenstein (1931 film) the deliberately farcical "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948). Though it is unrelated to the Universal series, the later "Frankenstein 1970" has the scientist Frankenstein, here played by Karloff, animate the Monster using a nuclear reactor. Although Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant is often referred to as "Igor" in descriptions of the films, he is not so called in the earliest films. In both "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein", Frankenstein has an assistant who is played both times by Dwight Frye who is crippled. In the original 1931 film the character is named "Fritz" who is hunchbacked and walks with the aid
Frankenstein in popular culture Giovanni Drivetti. The film is also now considered a lost film. The first sound adaptation of the story, "Frankenstein" (1931), was produced by Universal Pictures, directed by James Whale, and starred Boris Karloff as the monster. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Its sequel, "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) was also directed by Whale with Karloff as the monster. It was followed by "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), the last of the three films with Boris Karloff as the monster. "The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942) marked the Universal series' descent into B movie