Who’s that Dummy Showing “Ghost of Frankenstein” Tonight?!

It's a classic movie from Universal's Frankenstein series- PLUS a classic Sven show featuring a certain varnished sort of version of Sven - PLUS some fun new content, including someone who's dealt with the "Evil Dead"- it's a spirited Sven presentation of "Ghost of Frankenstein"!

Outraged citizens  (sound familiar?) are tired of the curse of living in the shadow of tragedies that the Frankenstein family have inflicted on their home- and opt to destroy what's left of the Frankenstein castle, where the less-than-beloved Ygor still resides! As they storm the castle, Ygor tries to dodge their wrath by escaping via the castle's catacombs- where he discovers the Monster, preserved in sulfur (after his fall into the sulfur pit in  "Son of Frankenstein")- and still alive! He helps the weakened Monster make his way out of the castle, and away from the mob destroying it- when a freak lightning storm  helps to energize the undying creature! Ygor knows of yet another Frankenstein offspring who can help restore his "friend" to his powerful self- and they set off to find Ludwig Frankenstein.

They arrive in Vasaria ,where Ludwig has arrived at a major breakthrough in brain surgery- being able to remove a damaged brain- repair it- and then put it BACK in the patient's skull - totally cured! He's been assisted by two colleagues- Dr Kettering, and  Dr. Bohmer- who was originally  his teacher, but was disgraced after a surgical error. Naturally, havoc ensues in the village when the Monster innocently tries to help a young girl retrieve her ball- but is perceived by the townspeople as having snatched the child! Ygor watches in dismay as the Monster is taken into custody- and decides he must get Dr Frankenstein to help save his family's creation. This coincides with the town authorities feeling that perhaps the doctor can help them deal with the huge silent brute they have restrained. Ygor threatens the doctor with revealing his family history to the locals  if he doesn't step in to help the Monster.

This all leads to the Monster  escaping from the police, aided by Ygor- the doctor's lovely daughter finding out the truth about her father's family- and Ludwig finding himself at odds with destroying the monster through dissection- or restoring him to his previous power, as he is urged to do by- his father's ghost! (Hence the title of this movie...) Bohmer's jealousy and yearning to have his name restored leads to some double-crossing as he aligns himself with Ygor  to pull off a dastardly plan that can only make the Monster even more deadly!

This 1942 film, which falls in the Frankenstein series between 'Son of Frankenstein" and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man", again benefits from Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the wily Ygor- as well as Cedric Hardwicke as Ludwig, Lionel Atwill as Bohmer, and  Evelyn Ankers as  Elsa Frankenstein- with big Lon Chaney Jr. as the Monster. We'll talk about the cast and the production, and  provide a couple new special segments, including a fun conversation with Ted Raimi, brother of Sam, and actor in films like his brother's "Evil Dead II", the first round of Marvel's Spider-man movies, and currently,  Bruce Campbell's "Ash VS Evil Dead" TV show- as the whole movie is framed  around a visit from  Sven's "brother" Fraido- who may be even more of a dummy than Sven!

"Ghost of Frankenstein" materializes on MeTV tonight at 10pm eastern/pacific, 9 central/mountain, or- check local listings and/or the info at www.metv.com for time and channel in your area. Chicago viewers are fortunate to get a second look at our highly successful show from last week on the network- Steven Spielberg's "Duel"- at 11 am on WCIU, the U !

Speaking of which, thanks to you viewers for again making our program one of the top 3 shows on MeTV for all of last week! Your continuing support is making people take notice of our show all across the nation.

Join us tonight for another chapter in the Frankenstein saga- and a somewhat wooden performance by  Sven's supposed "brother"!