MovieChat Forums > Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) Discussion > The despicable villain in this piece...

The despicable villain in this piece...

posted 13 years ago by bengt-ove
10 replies | jump to latest

...is neither the monster of Frankenstein nor the Wolfman. They were both cursed with a fate not of their own choosing, and as for Wolfman, all he wants is to die. No, the really despicable villain is Dr. Mannering. First he promises the inhabitants of Vasaria to rid them of both monsters. Then, just out of curiosity, he decides to welch on his promise just because he wants to see the monsters at their worst. The thing that really bugged me with the ending is that he gets away scot free with the Baroness, while the monsters presumably drown. If anyone deserved to get caught in the flood, it was he.

[–] fritzfassbender 13 years ago

In terms of the script, Dr. Mannering does turn out to be a bit of a worm. The character himself is actually rather interesting, a basically good man who is corrupted when taken out of his normal element and given real power over extraordinary elements.

But since he's played by Patric Knowles, who was a pretty bland leading man, he gets lost in the shuffle. I think John Carradine would have been great casting; he really would have brought that extra dimension to the forefront.

[–] TorontoJediMaster 12 years ago

He's not only a worm but an idiot.

He's been warned about what the Monster is capable of when at full strength, as well he has to have realized that Talbot was dangerous at full moon. So, he waits until full moon and then decides to play around a little.

[–] www1125 11 years ago

It is surprising that Mannering didn't really receive any type of punishment for his actions, as most mad scientists do in these movies. Personally, I would've been fine if Elsa escaped the flood alone, though I do wonder why nobody bothered to get Maleva out of there(I know why in real life, I'm just talking about within the movie itself).

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] www1125 10 years ago

The actress, Maria Ouspenskaya, was injured. I believe a carriage ran over her foot. So she was unavailable when it came time to film the climax.

[–] porfle 9 years ago

I think the worst villain in this movie is Vazec.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7954) 7 years ago

"I think the worst villain in this movie is Vazec."
I agree. I like to think he was arrested just like the Mayor warned him would happen if he blew up the dam.

[–] millsey72 (10914) 3 years ago

Agreed. If he didn't blow up the dam, we could have seen a winner in the fight. This is why Dracula vs Frankenstein is the best monster versus monster movie because we have a clear cut winner

[–] jsk32870 8 years ago

The ending is similar to the conclusion of "Son of Frankenstein." In that one, Wolf Frankenstein restores the monster, and it resumes its killing spree of Ygor's accusers. However after both Ygor and the monster are supposedly dead, all is forgiven and the townspeople see Wolf off with cheers at the train station. In reality Wolf should have been arrested for 'accessory to murder' at the very least.

In this one the doctor's meddling didn't result in any more deaths, but you're right he is still a cad for going back on his word. What exactly he thought would happen after restoring the monster to 'full power' apparently never occurred to him...

[–] HorrorMetal (873) 5 years ago

Agreed. He sort of reminded me of Pretorius in a way.