Frankenstein (1931 film) in "The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942) after his apparent murder in the earlier film). This character — a deranged blacksmith whose neck was broken and twisted due to a botched hanging — befriends the monster and later helps Dr. Wolf Frankenstein, leading to the "hunchbacked assistant" called "Igor" commonly associated with "Frankenstein" in popular culture. Frye also appears in later films in the series, such as in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1943). Guillermo del Toro had expressed interest in directing the reboot film for Universal. Del Toro said his "Frankenstein" would be a faithful "Miltonian tragedy", citing Frank Darabont's
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