Rowland V. Lee

Director of a billion old movies.

Son of Frankenstein (1939) -- Better than you'd expect for yet another Frankenstein movie that wasn't done by James Whale, but still lacking the heart and humor that made The Bride of Frankenstein so good. In this one, the villain is Ygor (played by Bela Legosi) who hypnotizes the monster with a flute, which doesn't really give much life to the monster himself. The son becoming as obsessed as his father is interesting to a point, but goes on for too long. (The entire movie is an hour and forty minutes--a long time for one of these.) In spite of its faults, it remains more or less entertaining, and the sets (reminiscent of German expressionism) are great for the eyes. (See James Whale for the predecessor, The Bride of Frankenstein. See Erle C. Kenton for the sequel, The Ghost of Frankenstein.)