MovieChat Forums > Son of Frankenstein (1939) Discussion > Why do so many think Ygor was a shepherd...

Why do so many think Ygor was a shepherd?

posted 18 years ago by Doghouse-6
8 replies | jump to latest

In his comments, Brandt Sponseller refers to Ygor as a shepherd, and this myth has been around for decades. In synopses or casual references to this film (or Lugosi) in any number of books, it's very common to see Ygor described as a "crazed shepherd."

I have no idea how this mistaken notion ever got started, but just for the record (though I'm sure most commenters and posters here already know it), Ygor was a blacksmith. He wears a long leather apron that holds his tools, most notably the hammer which Wolf tells Krogh "he tried to murder me with."
Oh, yeah, there's one other subtle clue: he says so! When Krogh is grilling him about Wolf's activities, he says, "I'm no doctor; I'm...blacksmith."

Well, this has driven me crazy (okay; overstatement) for nigh unto 45 years, and now I've gotten it off my chest. And to anyone who disagrees, as Wolf says to Krogh, what are you gonna do about it?

BTW, anyone notice how much Ygor's grooming improved by "Ghost Of..."? His hair and beard are combed, he wears a natty little jacket and even appears to have had some dental work! He's also mostly gotten over that frog in his throat.

I can understand Lugosi preferring to be buried in his Dracula costume rather than either of Ygor's, but, yes, I think "Son Of..." contains his best work. He was also quite droll in "Ninotchka" that same year.

[–] sssaint_2002 18 years ago

Maybe Ygor held down more than one job (a jack of all trades); given how slimy a bastard he was, maybe old Ygor had to ply many trades.

Or maybe the whole "shepherd" thing derives from his relationship with the monster; Karloff certainly follows and obeys him like a sheep.

[–] Doghouse-6 18 years ago

Well, you may have a point there. Indeed, after he describes himself as a "blacksmith," one of the councilmen accuses, "Bodysnatcher, you mean." Because he stole bodies...uh, they said.

We also know, from his interesting little horn, that he had musical talent, though it's doubtful, what with all the bad feelings, he could've made the cut with the Village of Frankentsein (or Goldstadt or Visaria or wherever) Symphony Orchestra.

That would've left, what...soloist at local coffeehouses? Perhaps a little existential poetry ("His mother was the lightning!") in between sets?

Ygor: the original beatnik (Yeah, I know; he looks more like one of them damn hippies).

Poe! You are...avenged!

[–] jquirk-1 18 years ago

Good job, Doghouse-6. Somebody needed to point this out. One of the culprits is TV Guide. Know how I know? Back in the 1970s shortly after I learned to read, the first thing I ever read outside of a school book was TV Guide Magazine. Guess what the first listing was? You guessed it — "Son of Frankenstein." It went something like this: "Third and most elaborate of the famous monster shows. The doctor's son (Basil Rathbone) returns home to find the monster (Boris Karloff) tended to by a crazed shepherd (Bela Lugosi)." "Shepherd" was the key word there.

[–] WoodrowTruesmith 17 years ago

One reason why Ygor was wrongly called a shepherd: Instead of the black jacket the Monster wore in all other films in the series, in SOF he wears what the studio described as a "shepherd's coat". This was due to the plan to film in Technicolor; color photos and test footage survive of Karloff in this costume, and green makeup (which photographed deathly gray in black-and-white, but which also echoed the green tinting of sequences in the original film.) As interesting as a color version of Karloff's Monster would be...I think they made the right choice to stick with black-and-white. For one thing, in the color tests, when Karloff opened his mouth, the pink insides of his mouth showed, causing the makeup to look fake and cartoonish.

Where did a blacksmith get a shepherd's coat? Well, knowing Ygor, we can assume the shepherd had no further use for it.

[–] salvin 17 years ago

Ygor is one of the best characthers in any Universal movie. And indeed, in my copy of Pyramids book "Karloff and co" he was also described as a shepherd. He is a blacksmith for gods sake! What would a shepherd do with all those tools?
Bela Lugosi is so goddamn god in this movie, he even made us feel sorry for old Ygor.

[–] jns-guchrin 17 years ago

Despite the direct references to his actual occupation(s), it's possible that a lot of people, or critics, if they belong to the category "people", remember the image of Ygor playing his reed pipe in "Ghost of Frankenstein". The reed pipe, a kind of a primitive oboe, is considered the traditional instrument of shepherds (they may have referred to it in the movie as a horn, like it was a cor anglais, english horn, but my memory fails me here). For example, Act III of Tristan und Isolde begins with a shepherd playing a plaintive air on his reed pipe. Lugosi is seen in "Ghost" playing the pipe to the sulfur-encased monster and as we all know, images always trump dialogue. BTW, Lugosi didn't request to be buried in his cloak, it was a decision made by his son and Lugosi's last wife.

[–] tedeadite 17 years ago

if i am not mistaken,the shepherd thing was how he was described in the 'famous monsters'mags from the sixties.although it is nearly forty years ago,this was one of my favourite movies at the time,so i read a lot about it.these mags were very popular at the time.

[–] tepista 16 years ago

A sheppard who stole bodies....they said.