Lon Chaney Jr. stepped in to play the Monster after Glenn Strange was injured on the set of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Chaney had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance as Frankenstein's monster!

Everett Collection

No one gets anywhere without hard work. Even a silly and absurd film like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein had quite a serious production process. Of course, with so many monsters on set, it's almost as though director Charles Barton was inviting misfortune.

The low point during the shooting process was recounted in It's Alive! The Classic Cinema Saga of Frankenstein, written by Gregory William Mank. Mank explained that one stunt scene seriously hurt actor Glenn Strange, who was playing the Monster.

"One of the serious accidents that plagued the Frankenstein series arose, almost causing a potential temporary production shutdown," wrote Mank. "For the scene where the Monster hurls Dr. Mornay to her deserved end through a window, the crew attached an invisible wire to the rather ample Miss Aubert to help Strange lift her and to help ease her fall onto the cushion-covered platform out of camera range. There was a foul-up with the wire. When Strange tossed the actress through the window, she suddenly swung back into camera range, kicking and screaming like a spastic Peter Pan. Strange gallantly lunged to catch her, fell, and broke his foot."

With their monster injured, it seemed as though the shooting schedule would have to be put on hold until Strange regained his strength. But when co-star Lon Chaney Jr., who originally played The Wolf Man, learned of Strange's injury, the actor selflessly offered to stand in Strange's place.

"Lon said, 'I'll put the makeup on. I'll do it," said director Charles Barton. "He had done it before, and that was a hell of a job to put the makeup on and everything. No quarrels...just as happy as he could be to do it."

Chaney had saved the day! More importantly, the incident became a little-known piece of film trivia. For a brief moment in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, it's actually Chaney under all that makeup, playing the role of the Monster to help his friend.

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6 Comments

Runeshaper 7 days ago
Sad accident, but fun fact! Strange and Chaney Jr. were both cool guys.

Thanks for sharing, MeTV (-:
BrittReid 13 days ago
One of the funniest and terrific movies ever made.
Jacki 14 days ago
That was very nice of Lon Chaney Jr. stepping up to help out his friend. I've always liked watching Lon Chaney Jr. and of course Abbott and Costello. 😊
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