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 House of the Seven Gables (film) dollars), but was still considered one of Universal's "prestige" horror films. Screenwriter Lester Cole says it was unclear why Universal chose to make the film, although it may have been because the book was in the public domain. Film historian Don G. Smith, however, argues for an economic reason: Horror films were popular again. A national outcry against the gruesomeness of the 1935 film "The Raven" had convinced Universal Studios executives to place a ban on the production of horror films at the studio. But a New York City movie theater ran a triple-bill of "Dracula", "Frankenstein", and "Son of