Frankenstein The Monsters Iconic Walk Is Due To A DecadesOld Continuity Error

Frankenstein: The Monster’s Iconic Walk Is Due To A Decades-Old Continuity Error

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The “Frankenstein walk” is one of the horror icon’s most enduring physical traits, but the shamble is due to a continuity error that lasted decades.

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Frankenstein The Monsters Iconic Walk Is Due To A DecadesOld Continuity Error

The “Frankenstein walk” is one of the most recognizable traits in the history of horror monsters, yet the iconic shamble is actually the result of a continuity error that occurred during the filming of Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, the fifth entry in Universal’s classic Frankenstein film series. The monster always moved stiffly, but his signature look of having his arms outstretched was because, at one point, he was blinded. The series never explained that he got his sight back, and the creature’s blind walk became a quirk that pop culture lovingly adopted for ages.

In part, the confusion over the walk was because of the confusing and constantly changing casting of Frankenstein’s monster. Out of all the actors to have played the monster, Boris Karloff is remembered for being the most authoritative. However, Karloff wasn’t the only person to have solidified the monster as one of horror cinema’s most enduring characters. The zombie-like shuffle that most people associate with the undead icon was first performed by Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Ghost of Frankenstein, the fourth movie in the franchise and the first in which Karloff did not play the role.

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Chaney was most known for his portrayal of the Wolf-Man, one of Universal’s other classic monsters. In fact, the actor would reprise this particular role in the next film in the series, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. Meanwhile, Frankenstein’s monster duties got handed off to Bela Lugosi, who previously played Dracula and, in The Ghost of Frankenstein, Igor. It was Igor’s brain that was transferred to the monster’s body at the end of Ghost, but an incompatible blood type turned him blind, and thus the Igor-monster was left stumbling around to destroy the laboratory around him.

A Continuity Error Caused the Frankenstein Monster’s Iconic Walk

The inconsistencies between scripts within the Universal monster productions were notorious, but none of these continuity errors were as long-lasting as the transition from The Ghost of Frankenstein to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man. According to screenwriter Curt Siodmak, the monster is still supposed to be blind from the previous film, hence Bela Lugosi’s clumsy shuffling around with his arms stretched in front of him. However, studio executives apparently thought Lugosi’s Hungarian accent was unintentionally funny and too ridiculous to be included in the final cut, so the explanatory dialogue was edited out. Audiences were left scratching their heads and ironically laughing at the monster’s strange, awkward shamble.

The mockery made the Frankenstein walk a central aspect of parodies to the point where people imitated the movement regardless of their knowledge of the original films. Bela Lugosi looked like a joke for following continuity, but the actor nevertheless left an indelible mark on the legacy of Frankenstein. He was even on set to play Dracula in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein while the comedy duo playfully showed off their impressions of the monster, complete with stiff, extended arms. The mishap is an example of how much public perception of a studio blunder can impact a cultural legacy, especially one as enduring and influential as Frankenstein.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/frankenstein-monster-walk-classic-movie-error/

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