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Toaster_bath13 t1_j2bc5q1 wrote

Reply to comment by OuttatimepartIII in TIL Frankenstein did not have a hunchback assistant called Igor in either Mary Shelley's novel or the original Universal and Hammer films. The character is a pastiche of multiple characters across several movies. by BringsHomeBones

Wait... who thought he was blind?

I assumed the arm thing was just like rigor mortis or him being stiff when he walked I guess.

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OuttatimepartIII t1_j2bhdq7 wrote

Nope. It happens in Ghost of Frankenstein (the fourth movie)

Ygor in this movie is the devious mastermind, sending the Monster out to kill. The son of the original Dr. Frankenstein is forced by Ygor to perform an operation that will give the monster a new brain, his own. Ygor has his own brain placed inside the monsters body. Unfortunately for him he knows nothing about science and the blood types turn out to be incompatible. The Ygor Monster goes blind.

In the 5th movie, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, the Monster is discovered alive. He is still blind and lumbers around with his arms out because this is how has had to learn how to walk. Coupled with the fact that the Monster is played this time by Bela Lugosi (the original Dracula) who at this time was getting on in years and substance abuse. The kicker is that the studio demanded any and all reference to the Monster being blind removed from the film. So now audiences just seen a stumbling lumbering growling oaf on screen. People parodied the look so hard it became engrained in the culture.

These movies get weird man

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MmmmMorphine t1_j2c7u6r wrote

Woah. That's hilarious. Did you just know that off the top off your head? Cause it's seriously impressive knowledge.

I realize that sounded sarcastic, but it is not intended as such...

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OuttatimepartIII t1_j2cfjxs wrote

Lol it's all good. Yes, this was just off the top of my head. I find cinema history fascinating

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Greene_Mr t1_j2cof9y wrote

They cut all of Lugosi's lines because (apparently) test audiences couldn't take Lugosi's voice coming from the Monster's body seriously.

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Greene_Mr t1_j2coq25 wrote

You forgot to mention the kicker -- one of the reasons they had Lugosi play the Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.

In The Ghost of Frankenstein, the Monster was played by Lon Chaney, Jr., since Karloff had refused to play the part any more times. All well and good... until you get to putting the Monster together with Larry Talbot, a.k.a. the Wolf Man... who was also played by Lon Chaney, Jr.

The solution? Have Chaney, Jr. play Talbot and Lugosi play the Monster (since Lugosi had voiced the Ygor-in-Monster's-body part of the climax of The Ghost of Frankenstein over Chaney, Jr.'s performance).

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OuttatimepartIII t1_j2dflp6 wrote

I know it was a conplete happenstance but I love that Lugosi played the Monster after hia brain was put into it. Lugosi finally playing the role he had been approached to take back when they made the original in '31.

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Greene_Mr t1_j2fka48 wrote

What's even weirder is that, from the cut script segments for Lugosi in Meets the Wolf Man I've seen recreated on YouTube, the Monster is apparently not meant to be Ygor, but instead the Monster with a better brain and Ygor's personality/voice -- in direct contradiction to what you'd think the end of Ghost of Frankenstein depicts, with the Monster's personality completely obliterated by Ygor's.

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OuttatimepartIII t1_j2fm23l wrote

I've seen a lot of debate about the context of that deleted material. Some really philosophical stuff. Like which aspect of the Monster is considered the original monster? In Ghost, it's Ygor in there for sure. But in the deleted Wolfman material, the Monster talks about these events objectively

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SpookyMobley t1_j2d2v9d wrote

And I love them all so much

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OuttatimepartIII t1_j2dgu4x wrote

Which ones your favorite? I have a soft spot for Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman

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SpookyMobley t1_j2elsyu wrote

Bride is my all time favorite but I have a soft spot for them all as well.

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BrokenEye3 t1_j2c0obv wrote

Is it just me, or does Ygor seem like a bit of an antisemetic caricature?

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