Son of Frankenstein, released in 1939, was already the fourth Frankenstein film to be made (including Edison's Frankenstein, 1910). Amazingly, this film marked the fourth time the material was used reverently, too. All the adaptations up to and including this movie miraculously avoid exploiting the monster for its own sake, instead providing dynamic, intelligent, and moving cinematic experiences that to this day are considered genre essentials. This movie, though not as good as its predecessors, keeps that tradition alive and is worthy of the Frankenstein name. Son of Frankenstein continues not only the story of the monster and the Frankenstein family but the theme of caution and responsibility, of the consequences paid by a man who jumps too optimistically into a world that is far too big for him.

Whereas Bride of Frankenstein (the first sequel of Universal's Frankenstein films) was actually about the bride of Dr. Frankenstein's monster, Son of Frankenstein is truly about Dr. Frankenstein's son, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein, who has inherited his father's estate. Unfortunately, the townspeople hold nothing but contempt for the Frankenstein name, so when Frankenstein, his wife Elsa, and his son Peter arrive, they are not welcomed warmly. Frankenstein is warned by the townspeople not to take up his father's work, and he has no intent to do so (even though he's sympathetic with his father's pursuit), but as you can probably guess he ends up getting dragged into it anyway, and before you know it he has secretly revived our old friend the monster in the name of science. Of course the monster, along with Ygor, the original Dr. Frankenstein's lab assistant, proves once again to be more than a man can handle, and Frankenstein is plunged into a series of events that he has no control over but for which he is undeniably responsible.

He should have listened to the voice of reason, yes, but he also should have paid attention to many other things. That is the downfall of Wolf von Frankenstein -- he is blindly optimistic. While riding on the train to his new home, for instance, all that surrounds him is a desolate wasteland: a storm-ridden environment with a deathly gray sky and nothing to adorn the landscape but scattered, leafless trees. Despite this, Frankenstein is as dumbly cheerful as ever. "It's exciting, isn't it?" he says, "Out there in the darkness, a new life lies before us. Haha!" From the very beginning, the film makes it clear that Frankenstein is a foolhardy optimist. Of course this recklessness builds to the moment he decides it will be smart to revive the being that, he is told, was responsible for the deaths of many men. It is the trademark weakness of the Frankenstein family.

The theme of a man getting himself involved in something that is way too big and complex for him is emphasized by the film's set design and cinematography. Many of the rooms are so large that they seem to swallow their inhabitants. The camera contributes to the expansiveness by remaining at a distance, showing just how small the characters are compared to the place in which they have put themselves, or, rather, the place in which Wolf Frankenstein has put them. There are also many shots of large walls with small openings through which the characters are seen -- not only Frankenstein, but the monster and Ygor as well. It is not only the mad scientist who has thrown himself headlong into something so oceanic, but Ygor has, too, and the world -- the whole world -- is intractably massive to the monster just as it is to all infants. This visual technique is one that brilliantly applies to all three main characters.

Further compounding our experience of these endeavors is the film's expressionism, which is more pronounced than that of its two predecessors. Its purpose here is to convey the feeling that Frankenstein has gotten himself into a situation he does not fully comprehend. At some points in the film, I feel like I'm watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The castle's facade widens near the top as if to emphasize its own presence, the shadows are so big and bold that they appear painted on, and the main stairwell has such large features and harsh angles that it looks designed by someone working with a yard stick instead of a carpenter's rule. This all works to create a world that we feel unused to, emphasizing the unfamiliarity of the situation Frankenstein is in but in which he nevertheless proceeds to play carelessly. That's not to mention the inherent attractiveness of the visuals' dynamics themselves. The expressionism both helps to evoke the appropriate feeling and to spice up the film's surface.

James Whale does not direct this film, as he did the previous two; instead we have a guy named Rowland V. Lee, who got his start in the silent era (in fact, Son of Frankenstein was one of his last several films). This likely accounts for his ability to tell the story better with images than he does with words and actions, and his direction is just as effective as the aforementioned cinematography and set design. When Frankenstein arrives at the village, the party awaiting him is portrayed essentially as a crowd of umbrellas. Frankenstein, however, simply stands in the rain, getting drenched as he cheerily talks about how great of a man his father was -- not a good idea when you're talking to a group of people who hate him, and especially not a good idea when those people are your new neighbors. It is a very succinct and poignant way of showing that this guy simply doesn't take regular precautions. Lee is no James Whale, but he really knows how to tell a story cinematically.

On that note, the title mad scientist is played by Basil Rathbone, who is no Colin Clive but who is more than adequate (and has a slightly cooler name). He portrays well a man who is as foolish as he is ambitious. With his elegant articulations and his pencil mustache, he looks and sounds perhaps not as mad as Clive but at least as quirky. He never finds the chance to sweat and scream like Clive did, but that is because this is a different, somewhat more subdued character. He provides about as good a performance as you could ask for given the character he has to work within.

Boris Karloff once again plays the part of the monster, and he once again nails it, despite a diminished role. If you've seen the previous two films, there's nothing new here, except for the fact that he's gone back to grunts and moans instead of base articulations of phrases, which is probably for the best as his partial ability to speak would be off-putting to anyone who had not seen Bride of Frankenstein. There are no moments as grand as his slow coming to life in Frankenstein or the hermit scene in the first sequel, but that is only because he is not given a chance. This film is more about Frankenstein than his monster (the previous two had treated the two characters roughly equally). The monster's role in this film is merely functional (but still not exploitative). It is good that Lee didn't give the monster more screen time just for its own sake, but it is still a shame that his role isn't a little bigger.

The remaining spotlight left by the monster is filled by the ever-depraved Ygor, played by Bela Lugosi, no less. As far as my Lugosi-viewing experience has taught me, he seems to whiff about seventy-five percent of the roles he plays, but the other twenty-five he knocks right out of the park. This is one of those twenty-five percent. He is creepy, often merely staring in at characters from behind windows, and in this installment he plays master to the monster, bidding him to do his dirty work. "He ... he does things for me," he says. But his performance goes beyond insidious gazes and evil commands. He is surprisingly able to hold his ground dialogically against the more sophisticated characters (which is every character besides the monster). If you think his ability to do so lies more in the script than in the acting, consider whether you would be able to convincingly hold the high ground in any conversation if you were made up to look like a homeless, dirty fiend (though he really looks more like the Wolf Man, complete with fangs, even) with a broken (yes, broken) neck. Even when he is interrogated by the town officials, one gets the impression that he is just an iota smarter than his interrogators. When he laughs at them, it manages to come across as condescending rather than insecure. There is no denying that this is one of Lugosi's good performances, and a "good" Lugosi performance is more than most actors can dream of.

There are several notable shortcomings of the film, but none are devastating. The script, while strong overall, occasionally veers into melodrama. Shortly after the Frankenstein family first arrives at their new home, Frankenstein and Elsa are talking. It is still storming outside, and Elsa says the most unrealistic and stereotypically girlish thing ever: "What a dreadful storm. What awful lightning." The ending is also rather clumsy. After a climax involving a cheap fake-out scare, some Superman invulnerability (or perhaps just ridiculously bad marksmanship), and a strangely out of place Tarzan moment, we get absolutely no falling action, followed literally by a forty-second ending that is as forced as it is quick. It's as if they were nearing the end of production and an exec ran in and told them they had ten minutes to shoot the rest of the film.

But Son of Frankenstein vastly succeeds. Instead of giving us a derivative movie with the Frankenstein monster as its only pull, director Lee made a genuinely good film that continues not only the Frankenstein saga but the theme of meddling with things you shouldn't touch. With the cinematography, set design, direction, and acting all far above adequate, this movie provides on all fronts -- an essential part of the Frankenstein mythology, and required viewing for all Frankenstein fans.