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
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 film) at that time Universal's prized "name" director after the successes of "Blind Husbands" and "Foolish Wives". However, Stroheim was fired by Thalberg from Universal before production on "Hunchback" commenced -- ironically, due to Thalberg's fears that Stroheim would incur cost overruns on his own separate production, "Merry-Go-Round". "Universal Weekly" thus announced Wallace Worsley, pending approval from his then-home studio Paramount, as the likely director of "Hunchback" in late November. Worsley's status as director, on loan from Paramount, was confirmed in the following issue, though such confirmation ran alongside an advertisement that stated Tod Browning would direct. Due to Worsley's prior