Super Mates 89: House of Franklin-Stein Part 3

Franklin-Stein created podcast about Frankenstein Created Woman! Chris and Cindy discuss the fourth Hammer Frankenstein film, starring Peter Cushing as the cunning Baron, with Susan Denberg as his most beautiful creation. But she’s got two souls trapped inside her, hungering for murderous revenge!

Then it’s off to the comic crypt and The Invaders #31, by Don Glut and Chic Stone to meet yet another Frankenstein, and another monster, this one forced to work for the Third Reich! Can Captain America, Namor and the Human Torch stop this demented descendant from building an army of the undead?

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Infogothic: An Unauthorised Graphic Guide to Hammer Horror by Alastair Hughes

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Clip credits:

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) directed by Terrence Fisher, music by James Benard

“The House of Franklinstein” by Terry O’Malley

“Frankenstein” by The Edgar Winter Group

Theme from The Marvel Super-Heroes by Jacques Urbont

Music from Captain America: The First Avenger by Alan Silvestri

Theme from Captain America (1979) by Mike Post

“Long Black Veil” by Johnny Cash

36 responses to “Super Mates 89: House of Franklin-Stein Part 3

  1. Gonna listen in bit… but as an aside… does it strike anybody else as weird that the Super Axis in Invaders are based on the Aquaman, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman archetypes?

      1. Apologies I f everyone knows this, but at exactly the same time in 1979, over at DC, Bob Rozakis and Dick Ayres had the Freedom Fighters face The Crusaders… Americommando, Barracuda, Fireball and Rusty!

  2. What a fantastic episode Chris and Cindy!
    One of the best analyses of this film I think I’ve ever heard – you’ve just raised it in my own list of favourites.
    I’ve actually been wracking my brains to come up with a Hammer film to watch with my wife over Halloween, which she hasn’t seen before and might enjoy. Hearing Cindy’s reasons for why she likes Frankenstein Created Woman has convinced me that it will be the perfect choice.
    A piece of useless trivia I’d like to offer is that Derek Fowlds (Johann the ‘droog’) is famous to British viewers as ‘Mr Derek’, who appeared for seemingly decades on television playing harassed second fiddle to a cheeky puppet fox called Basil on ‘The Basil Brush Show’.
    I’d say ‘Johann’ finally got his comeuppance …

    1. Thanks Alistair! Considering you literally wrote a book on Hammer…we will take that as a high compliment!

      I hope your wife enjoys the film. I think there must be some satisfaction from female viewers to see these slimeballs get it.

      And it is nice to know Johann got his!

      Chris

  3. Great needle drop at the end of the episode! As you were describing the plight of Hans choosing to let himself be executed rather than bring dishonor to Christina, I thought, “Boy, ‘Long Black Veil’ would be a good song for this one.” Lo and behold…

    “The judge said ‘Son, what is your alibi?
    If you were somewhere else than you won’t have to die.’
    I spoke not a word, though it meant my life
    For I’d been in the arms of my best friend’s wife”

    1. Any time I can sneak a little Cash into the podcast, I will! This fit too well to ignore.

      For an even more haunting version of “Long Black Veil”, check out Johnny’s duet with Joni Mitchell from his 60s TV series. Beautiful stuff!!!

  4. Tushie-butt.
    There are many things that made this episode worth a listen, but my main takeaway is this wonderful turn of phrase by Cindy. I shall endeavor to use it in my everyday life. As in: those tushie-butts Rob & Shagg better get around to covering the Marvel pocketbooks in Digest Cast…

  5. Really enjoyed the show.

    I always thought of Frankenstein Created Woman as a fine Hammer entry, but never considered it a precursor to 70s revenge films like Hannie Caulder, I Spit on Your Grave or Ms. 45. I think I need to rewatch it. It was a lot more fun than any of those movies I mentioned, the last two of which were positively depressing.

    As for Don Glut, Chris, you may want to steer Cindy away from his films. I’ve only seen Blood Scarab (comic connection, Dave Stevens’s ex-wife, Brinke, is in it). It was terrible. If it and Abominable Dr. Phibes were the last two movies left on the face of the Earth, I’m willing to bet Cindy would rather watch Dr Phibes.

    That is not to knock Glut’s comic writing. If you’ve never read the What If Rick Jones had become the Hulk issue, it is a hoot! It is one of the funniest comics I’ve ever read, although it may not have been intentional. Where else to you get to see the Hulk say Groovy! I didn’t know about Glut’s fascination with dinosaurs, so thanks for sharing. My main memory of Glut: he wrote a Big Little Book (remember those) starring the Hulk where Hulk travels through time and fights Dinosaurs. Who doesn’t want to see the Hulk fight dinosaurs?

    Thanks for picking something as relatively obscure as an Invaders issue to feature.

    1. Yeah…beyond “Tales of Frankenstein”, I’m not sure Glut’s film work would be our cup of tea. But to each their own.

      I was aware Glut wrote several What Ifs…but I haven’t read the Rick/Hulk issue, although I have heard it’s a doozy before. Love the original What If series in general.

      Hulk fighting dinosaurs sounds awesome! I love the BIG Little Golden books! I picked up a Superman one a few months back written by E. Nelson Bridwell and drawn by Joe Staton, which is clearly a Superman II tie-in, or coat-tail rider, anyway!

      Chris

      1. You’re making me feel old Chris. I bought that Superman Big Little Book when it came out! It is a lot of fun, though!

        I think the illustrations in the Hulk Big Little Book are Herb Trimpe but don’t quote me on that! It is a lot of fun and I recommend picking it up if you come across one.

        Ok, Chris, get Cindy over here to the comments board and close your eyes for a minute: Cindy, get Chris “What if Rick Jones Became the Hulk?” for Christmas.

        1. Oh, I was old enough to get that Superman Big Little Book, I just somehow missed it! I still have my childhood copy of Batman in “The Cheetah Caper”. I was 6 in 1981.

          And I won’t look at the bottom part of your message!

          Chris

          1. Yep, I’ve still got my Batman : Cheetah Caper, too. Did you get the Lone Ranger Big Little Book? I remember at the end when Lone Ranger was smoking the peace pipe with Native Americans. We later learned in school that marijuana was often used in peace pipes. I was really disappointed to find out the Lone Ranger had been getting high.

            Well, I’m 48, so you aren’t that much younger than I am.

  6. Gurgi! I’m happy to find that there are other Black Cauldron fans out there. Llyod Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain was a staple of my early fantasy reading, as well as my introduction to Celtic mythology. I rank it right up there with The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. I still own a VHS copy of Disney’s The Black Cauldron, which I, sadly, no longer have the means to watch. 🙁

    As for Frankenstein Created Woman, I haven’t seen this one before, but I have seen some of the earlier Hammer Frankenstein movies. You can count me as one of those who is confused by the different assistants named Hans. I started out assuming they were all supposed to be the same person, but clearly this is a different Hans. I’m not even sure, any more, if the Hans in Revenge of Frankenstein is the same Hans that is in Evil of Frankenstein. Sounds like a good excuse to rewatch those films. My current theory is that Frankenstein seeks out men named Hans to serve as his assistant, because he can reuse the same employment paperwork. Less time spent on paperwork means more time to spend on mad science experiments.

    Thanks for another spine-chilling episode. Now, I’m off to find some crunchings and munchings.

    1. I have never read The Chronicles of Prydain, unfortunately, but I have a soft-spot for the often-maligned Black Cauldron film from Disney. I remember going to see it with my Mom and enjoying a darker, edgier Disney film. I had no idea it tanked so hard, and that didn’t matter to me!

      I want to subscribe to your Frankenstein/Hans theory. That makes PERFECT sense. The Baron clearly has no time for interruptions, especially legal ones. I bet he had some folks legally change their name to Hans on their own time, just to free his time up!

      Chris

  7. Another excellent episode! Okay, I wasn’t sure to comment on this one because I have a dark secret to admit…… I’ve never seen a Hammer film. I know this takes down my nerd cred down a notch, but I just have never got around to it. I knew of the films, I am interested in the films, but I always just ended up watching the old Universal Monster movies whenever I got that “monster” itch. So hearing this episode definitely makes me want to watch this one, but I do have a question for you both as well as anyone else here; what would you recommend as my first Hammer film? I think I would finally like to watch a Hammer film for this Halloween so I will take any suggestions!
    Also, I didn’t look at the music credit list so was pleasantly surprised to hear “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter, by far my favourite Winter. Take that, Johnny!

    1. It’s okay Mike. This is a safe place. We’ll only throw tiny pebbles at you for never seeing a Hammer film.

      Seriously, I would start at (or near) the beginning with either The Curse of Frankenstein, or The Horror of Dracula (just Dracula in England). Frankenstein came first, but I think Dracula is the slightly better film, but both have the Hammer magic combo of Cushing, Lee, director Terence Fisher, script by Jimmy Sangster, score by James Bernard, and production design by Bernard Robinson. The first Hammer Dracula is my favorite Dracula/vampire movie period. Heck, just go with that one, then Curse.

      Chris

      1. I can handle the tiny pebbles, it’s the snide remarks by the trio of Johann, Anton, and Karl that would take me down. Sticks and stones and all that.
        And thanks for the recommendation! The Horror of Dracula will be the one to hunt down for this Halloween!

        1. At one time, there was a cheap DVD set that had 4 Hammer Draculas on one disc from Warner Bros. I know Horror is on there, as well as Dracula Has Risen From the Grave, Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Cindy’s favorite (not), Dracula A.D. 1972 (which I love). I think it was one of those $10 releases. If it’s still available, you can’t go wrong there!

          Hey, I found it! Amazon has it cheap!

          https://www.amazon.com/Film-Favorites-Draculas-Dracula-D/dp/B000U1ZV7G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1N7Y7JIP2YHNH&keywords=4+film+favorites+dracula&qid=1571851674&s=movies-tv&sprefix=dracula+4+film%2Caps%2C151&sr=1-1

          Dracula 4 Films

          Chris

          1. Oh wow, that looks amazing! Thanks for the find. I might have to take the plunge.

            And quite the spectrum of film ratings: Not Rated, G(!), PG and R.

          2. Wow, I watched Horror of Dracula this weekend and it was fantastic! All those sets looked great, the costumes were beautiful and the acting was amazing! I could watch a series of just Peter Cushing and Michael (Alfred!) Gough talking back and forth. And Christopher Lee was terrifying! I like Bela Lugosi’s Dracula but his is definitely a more mysterious and dark character. Lee is just bone-chilling scary and evil. So great!
            I feel like that high-school kid who has “discovered” Led Zeppelin for the first time and wants to tell everybody about it. What have I been missing out on this entire time?!?!
            Thanks again for the great recommendation. I now have some catching up to do……

          3. Mike, so glad you loved Horror of Dracula! I agree on all your points there. I also think it has one of the best climaxes in cinema history. That music, the action, and Peter Cushing improvising how he’d take Dracula out…that’s all him! Love it!!!

            I need to watch it before Halloween slips by. I might pop it in tonight!

  8. When folks mention the difficulty of finding Hammer or Corman Poe cycle films, I feel better about collecting them back then, even though there are one or two of each I haven’t gotten around to watching. Unlike Universal, which can come out in box sets, the rights of Hammer movies in the U.S. are owned by whichever distributor was interested at the time; my Frankenstein collection spans disks by WB, Sony, and Universal. (F Created Woman is on Anchor Bay, but I think it was sub-licensed, in a sort of, “The profit margin wouldn’t interest you, but it’s what we live on,” kind of way.)

    Cushing, Lee, Fisher, Sangster, and Robinson, but substituting Franz Reizenstein for Bernard on score gives us The (We Really Should Have Put a Malign Word Here To Differentiate It from the Other) Mummy. Hammer’s Mummy doesn’t get enough love, probably because their other mummy movies are unrelated, and… well, I find them boring, whereas any of their Frankensteins or Draculas have at least a little of what I liked about Horror and Curse.

    Back to Frankenstein Created Woman. When I got a chance to see And God Created Woman, I took it because of this film. Basically only the titles are similar. Well, three men do get their lives torn apart by a beautiful woman, but it wasn’t her plan, or revenge, just that none of the four would win any awards for good decision-making. No good decision-making by anyone in this movie, either. Herr Doctor, you can heal the lame and remove scars, and it never occurred to you to help out fellow? Or even for money? Even if cosmetic surgery can only be performed on dead tissue, you could inject your patients with botulism toxin, doesn’t that sound like fun?

    Thanks for another great show.

    1. Hammer’s original “The Mummy” is my favorite Mummy film, hands down. It has the pathos of the first Karloff film with the action of the Tyler/Chaney Kharis pictures. Lee is the most intimidating Mummy in all of cinema, and Cushing is great in that. Great score too, as you said!!! We covered that on HoF a few years back. Love it!!!

      Chris

  9. What a fab show, but I shouldn’t be surprised by now, I just loved your knowledge and chemistry and the mind of Logic Lass.

    What is this ‘zee’ cars of which you speak, Chris? It’s ‘ zed’, ZED, I tell you – it refers to the call signs of the police cars. It’s the series which made Brian Blessed’s name.

    I which I could remember the exact context, but at one point someone DOES say Hans is in Christina’s body, but not all the time – I went back and listened to the quote a few times.

    Chris, your impressions are fantastic.

    1. “Gordon…ALIVE!?!” If you could hear me, I’m doing a Brian Blessed impersonation. And if Z Cars…or Zed Cars gave us our beloved Vultan, well, it’s alright with me!

      It just occurred to me if Frankenstein had gotten one more soul in Christina’s body, with the surname of Anderson, we’d have…Hans Christina Anderson. B-dump.

      Thanks as always for listening Martin! And Logic Lass thanks you too, I’m sure!

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