MovieChat Forums > Son of Frankenstein (1939) Discussion > A Very Odd Question

A Very Odd Question

posted 16 years ago by exchronos
12 replies | jump to latest

I'm not sure if anybody on here can help me with this, but can anybody identify the make, year, and/or model of the car used in the film?

This is one of the few Universal Horror films to actually use a car in it, and have other hints as to what year the story takes place. The first two Frankenstein films are ambiguous of what time period in which they occur, but I believe it's possible to work backwards from "Son Of Frankenstein" to put everything, the entire Universal continuity, into a yearly time frame.

I am certain that "Son Of" occurs after World War I, but knowing the year of the car's model can narrow it down considerably. At least it helps with getting an approximation.

After the Laemmles lost Universal and the horror cycle stopped and restarted with its new owners when they needed more cash, they got sloppier and sloppier in making the settings ambiguous year-wise. Even in "Bride Of Frankenstein" there are dates on crypts and tombstones which give a good estimate of the time frame. Also, starting with "Son Of" the Universal Horror continuity was created. It introduced Ygor who was then in "Ghost Of", and "Meets The Wolf Man" is a direct sequel to both "Ghost Of" and "The Wolf Man".

So any help in findiing out the make, year, and model of that car would be greatly appreciated. It may be the key to solving the mystery of WHEN the story may have occurred, and then align the Universal continuity in place!

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] exchronos 16 years ago

Nevermind, I found out the make, model and year, and the car was NOT a 1939 model! Thus the film does take place before 1939! Or at least it can, so after I figure out the timeline...well, I need to start crunching numbers!

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] Doghouse-6 16 years ago

Well, don't leave us hanging; what WAS it? (I've always wondered myself). That scene with the car is also the only place I recall ever seeing a square umbrella.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] exchronos 16 years ago

The car was a 1936 Peugeot 302. It's a French car, and that made the search difficult. One would assume being an American studio that an American car would be used, especially with Universal's financial trouble at the time, or even a German car since the film is set in Germany. Yet there is a part of Germany that's flip flopped from Germany to France over centuries, and many in that region tend to speak both languages. There were other French tinges/references in the film, but to go as far as using a french car means that they really paid attention to detail.

I already knew that the medical babble was actually real medical terms, just some terms are so old or outdated that they're harder to find nowadays.

My next research will be in finding out the make, model, and year of the car used in "The Wolf Man".

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] Doghouse-6 16 years ago

Well done, Exchronos, and thanks for the info. Hopefully, the "Wolf Man" car will be easier to find (most likely British, right-hand drive and all). Even when I first saw the film as a tyke, the sight of a liveried chauffeur at the wheel of a sporty roadster seemed somehow incongruous.

I was going to say "happy hunting," but guess what? Just before posting this, I hopped over to IMCDB.org and searched on "The Wolf Man," and they ID the car as a 1933 Isotta Fraschini* Tipo 8A SS Sports Tourer Castagna (obviously not British).

They also ID Sir John's open phaeton as a 1932 Essex Terraplane.

*Norma Desmond's favorite car.

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] exchronos 16 years ago

Thanks for the heads up! Especially that website, www.IMCDB.com ...that certainly makes it easier!

My search was trying to figure out which limo/sportscar had the triple lightning bolt logo on the grill.

Also, for the car in "Son Of Frankenstein" somebody might argue it was a different model of the Puegeot, because there were a good 2-3 variation models from 1935 to 1940. They mostly look the same, but the 1936 302 model has one feature that proves the "Son Of" car is that model. You never see the most defining feature at the bottom of the grill, but the 302 has three protrusions on the side near the front. The 202 only has 1 protrusion, and the 402 seems to only have one as well. The car in "Son Of Frankenstein" (after some very nifty pausing and screen capturing) has the three protrusions on the side. Also if you're curious its licensce plate reads 7424-RK2.

Unfortunately, the cars from "Wolf Man" don't help too much. That means the film could occur anywhere from 1933 to 1941, while "Son Of" can occur as early as 1936. I'll have to re-watch "Ghost Of Frankenstein" to see if there's a time differential between it and "Son Of". "Meets Wolf Man" occurs 4 years after "The Wolf Man", and most likely it and "Ghost Of" happen in the same year.

It took a lot to find that car from "Son Of Frankenstein" mainly because you want to look in the wrong directions. To me it was so visually stunning to see the headlights underneath the grill that it'd be so easy to find a car which such a unique feature.

Now with the dating of the films. Larry had been away from home for 15 years. He'd worked on the Mt. Wilson Observatory telescope. The Hooker Telescope was set-up there in 1919. If "Wolf Man" took place in 1933, then Larry would've been in the USA in 1918. Yet if that happened in 1933, "Son Of" in 1936, then "Meets Wolf Man" would've been 1937. If "Ghost Of" happens directly after "Son Of", it might work, yet in "Meets" it's inferred that years have passed since the incidents of "Ghost Of". Of course, Larry could've done other things at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, but finding a good repairs list is going to be quite hard to come up with!

Thus I'm getting steps closer to the timeline of the Universal Horror continuity events! I had hoped that "Wolf Man" had used more contemporary cars than what it did!

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] Doghouse-6 16 years ago

Well, I did some image searching on the Puegeot after you named it, and I think you nailed it.

Couple notes about Larry; I think they said he'd been gone for 18 years. Of course, I could run downstairs and pop the disc in to verify, but, also of course, I'm too lazy for that (but I will check it later). And as far as Mt. Wilson's concerned, I'm sure you know that maintaining/upgrading telescopes and astronomical instruments is usually an ongoing task. And also, since Larry must've been, what, 18 or so when he left, it probably took him a while get the job with the optical company, work his way up and so forth, so the work he did might have occurred at any time. I don't know if that helps or not, but it at least might allow you some flexibility.

Trying to work out the chronology of these things may drive you to distraction; there are so many apparent contradictions and inconsistencies. I'm sure by the end you will have given the matter more thought than Faragoh, Fort, Hurlbut, Balderston, Cooper, Darling and the rest ever did!

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] exchronos 16 years ago

You're right, it was 18 years! I should've looked at my notes again! When I first did my notes I popped in the DVDs, turned on the English subtitles and started pausing and writing like crazy. I lost those notes, but recently took them again while on the computer. My original plan was to save me time by screen capturing the scenes with the subtitles, but alas the subtitles don't show up that way, so I typed everything out. Yet I also did screenshots of the cars, tombstones that are shown (which do have dates on them, but watching it on TV you barely notice!), and so on.

The main problem is that a solid continuity didn't start to happen until after the Laemmles lost Universal. "Son Of" led into "Ghost Of", and the Frankenstein continuity got better. Tying in the Wolf Man and Frankenstein Monster was where the combined continuity started. The real oddball selection is "Son Of Dracula" and how it fits into everything, unless you have it happening after "House Of Dracula".

I doubt that they ever really thought that over 50 years later anybopdy would be trying to figure this out!

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] TobyTyler10 12 years ago

N.B. The website is www imcdb.org, not.com.

"It's not an old movie if you haven't seen it." Lauren Bacall

[–] fdellostritto 15 years ago

There are a couple of clues in the movies about when the Frankenstein saga takes place.

When Pretorious and the graverobbers break into the girl's tomb, we see that her plaque says "died 1899." So, the story is sometime after 1899--but presumably not too long after since Dr. P would want fresh parts.

Of course the only way that Mary Shelley herself could narrate a story set in 1899 or after, is that she must be telling a story set in the future!!!

In one of Wolf's solilquies, he mentions that his father worked before the discovery of cosmic rays. That's ~1900. So, the first two Frankenstein films are turn of the century. Wolf must have been born shortly thereafter, and his apparent age suggests that he was born 30-40 years afterwards. And thus the right age to be driven in a 1936 car (which may or may not be particularly new).

FRANK

[–] jbirtel-1 15 years ago

No cause for anyone to rattle their brains because the time-line numbers are un-crunchable...and here's why! For one thing, several years lapse between the stories even though some of the sequels were released only a year apart.

There are cars featured in Dracula, Son of 'F', Son of 'D' and the Wolf Man. After the Wolf Man, Universal deliberately shifted the story's timeline to the past (or past like environment before technical auto advances) and all future entries into the canon were reverted back to the time of the horse, the cart & carriage...beginning with Ghost of 'F'. The studio reasoned that the appearance of cars disrupted the timeless fairy-tale-like spell these movies offered; and the night, fog and horror would work better without the shining chrome, the exhust pipes and the honking horns. The autos would not reappear till the Monsters met Abbott & Costello...and Dracula got to make his get-a-way in a boat with a suped-up in-board motor.

Universal did the same thing with Sherlock Holmes 'The House of Fear'; the studio's 8th entry, even though their previous entries took place in the 40's (20th Century Fox made the 1st two Rathbone & Bruce entries that were faithfully set in the late 19th century).

Author Jules Verne did an inconsistent timeline with '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea' which begins in 1866. It's sequel, 'Mysterious Island' begins in 1865, even though the prior events of Captain Nemo's odyssey was 16 years earlier (in the 1961 movie, it was 8 years earlier).

[–] Picador66 12 years ago

Never mind the cars, the clothes that the young Frankenstein family wear are current fashions from the time the film was made, placing it in 1938 or '39.

[–] millsey72 (10947) a year ago

No. This movie takes place 30+ years after Bride of Frankenstein. Dr Frankensteins kids are all grown up. And the son in Ghost of Frankenstein looks to be at least 55 years old