Super Mates 74: House of Franklin-Stein Part 1

Welcome back to The House of Franklin-Stein! Chris and Cindy kick off their annual Halloween Horror event by taking a look at a genuine classic, 1954’s Creature From The Black Lagoon!

Then we hop ponds to Fantastic Four #97, where the FF encounters “The Monster from the Lost Lagoon” by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby!

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Clip credits:

Creature from the Black Lagoon directed by Jack Arnold; music by Hans Salter, Henry Mancini and Harry Stein

Opening wedding march by Marc Shaiman from Addams Family Values

Fantastic Four (1967) animated series opening by Hoyt Curtain

Music from Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer by John Ottman

“Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dracula” by The Diamonds

17 responses to “Super Mates 74: House of Franklin-Stein Part 1

  1. Wonderful episode, as I expected!

    I’m glad you brought up the Orson Welles connection to CFTBL, it’s still sort of amazing to think the guy who drives the plot in CITIZEN KANE ended up directing so many monster movies.

    The Creature is such a strange creation, he fits so well along the classic monsters even though he came along a good 15 years after the others. He’s kind of like Wolverine in that way. I didn’t know about the FF issue that’s a sort of team-up, good pairing.

    So odd that Abbott & Costello, who by the 50s were grasping for movie ideas (The Keystone Cops? really?) didn’t just do a full on “Meets” movie. At least we have that TV gag.

    I came thisclose to creating an Aquaman Shrine-esque blog for the Creature. I even registered a name, which I still own. The Creature pinball game is probably the most beautiful piece of monster merch ever created, and if I was a millionaire I’d own one for sure.

    One final thing: I had the goo fortune to meet both Ricou Browning and Ben Chapman at a monster con, where they signed my custom Creature movie poster. I’m not a big auto hound but that was a big deal for me!

    The audio drama-esque intro was fantastic, great episode all around.

    1. Thanks Rob! I like the Creature/Wolverine comparison. Late comers who stand shoulder to shoulder with the pioneers in their field.

      My guess is that Abbott & Costello were loosing steam by the time the Creech was through his three-movie cycle. It is kind of odd they went outside of Universal’s classics for Jekyll & Hyde, and a decade back for The Mummy, though.

      Yeah, that Pinball game is a beaut. Animated Julie Adams in the score board!!!

      Awesome story about Browning and Chapman! Your poster (like ALL your Universal Monsters posters) is fantastic, by the way. They should pay YOU to create the next set of Blu-Ray sleeves, because they issue new ones every Halloween, and no offense to Alex Ross, I like yours better!

      Big thanks to Rya…er…PJ for stopping by for the intro!

      Chris

  2. Hey it’s always great when couples share their love for geeky treasures, such as the love you and Cindy have for this film. Unfortunately, my wife watches the trilogy a couple times a year, and I’m like “Sigh, these again…”.

    As always, a great listen!

    1. It’s all relative, Ted. I know plenty of geeky guys who would love for their wives to partake of their nerdy passions. But on the other hand, I’m nowhere into Harry Potter as Cindy is, and I haven’t even seen all the movies, so I can relate.

      Chris

  3. Hurray for the return of the House of Franklin-stein. I will admit, last year I got a kick out of Chris snarling ‘The house of Franklin-stein returns from BEYOND THE GRAVE!!!’ I was sort of bummed when that wasn’t part of the new opening.

    I love CFTBL for all the reasons you say. The design is perfect. The whole research vs fame vs respecting mother earth angle is great. And the brutal way the creature dispatches people is disturbing. That is why I find the sequels so awful. There is none of these themes!

    There is no forgetting that three note creature info … ”Dun dun DUNNNNNN”

      1. I re-watched Revenge of the Creature with Dani, and she got so upset with the Creature’s horrible treatment she walked out of the room. She did come back, but I’m not sure she can handle The Creature Walks Among Us, although I think the story itself is actually pretty decent, even if they did change the Creature into Frankenstein’s monster.

        I will be sure to sneak a snarl into the next episode for you Anj!

        Chris

  4. Great episode, I have to say that I consider CFTBL to be a near perfect example of the classic monster movie. I love the cast of characters with their different personalities and motivations, and how those differences affect their relationships as they react to the growing threat of the creature. I’m also blown away by the underwater scenes with the creature. That’s beautiful stuff.

    As an aside, I can address the question of whether rotenone kills of simply stuns fish, because I actually have some experience with the use of the chemical from my time working as a research technician at an aquatic ecology lab after I finished my undergrad degree. Rotenone is generally lethal to fish. It is easily absorbed through the gills, and interferes with the fish’s cellular respiration (i.e, the process by which cells create the energy they need to live). Without going into the gory details (which I would need to look up, any way), rotenone causes fish to swim to the surface in an attempt to gulp down air as they basically suffocate. Not a pleasant way to go.

    I would guess that the creature survived the rotenone, because its large size may have prevented it from receiving a lethal dose, or because movies.

    1. Wow Brian, thanks for the SCIENCE report! Interesting, but actually disturbing. It seems our hero’s concerns only start and end with intelligent creatures, like the Gillman. Normal fish are just collateral damage.

      Chris

  5. I’m going to try and leave more feedback, but I just want to say, Chris, before I forget that I freaking love all the cover art you’ve created for the House of Franklinstein episodes. Amazing stuff every year!

    1. Thanks for noticing! I almost didn’t do it this year, just to save time, but I couldn’t stand myself. The idea is to make it look like a Famous Monsters-style cover, hence the little issue # box in the corner.

      Already thinking of what I want to do with next episode, and there’s ANOTHER monster magazine I plan on partially apeing there!

      Chris

  6. I laughed out loud when I heard PJ Frightful. My first time in the House of Franklinstein, and enjoyed it! I like hearing the behind-the-scenes insights as well as the movie analysis. One thing about the F.F. story, which I’ve not read, look at what Kirby drew and be your own Stan. If there had not been any, or much, plot discussion, Stan had to take those pages and write some dialog to try and explain them. That was his great skill as a wroter and editor.
    At first, I was disappointed that the closing music was not Dave Edmunds’ “The Creature From the Black Lagoon,” but I really liked the song you played! It was obviously NOT Rob Kelly.

    1. Yeah, Tracy is definitely NOT the girl the singer is talking about in The Diamonds song…although Cindy actually could be!

      If we do any of the Creature sequels, I’ll have to use that Dave Edmunds song. I had honestly forgotten about it!

      We do go pretty obscure with our closing song for the next episode!

      Thanks to Ryan for letting PJ stop by. Of course, he can’t find the guy much work nowdays…;-)

      Chris

  7. I’m REALLY far behind on my podcasts, but just wanted to tell you how happy I am to see the HOUSE OF FRANKLINSTEIN return!! It’s become a Halloween tradition! I’m not actually a big monster movie guy. I don’t actively dislike them, but I don’t usually seek them out. However, your coverage is always enjoyable and the trivia presented is always fascinating! And of course the comic coverage is a joy.

    And “Wa-cool-a Springs”?!? It’s 45 minutes from my house. Wa-Kull-a. Geez. Dang hillbillies. 😉 Creature from the Black Lagoon. Airport ’77, and Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan. We go down there probably once a year.

    And that opening with PJ Frightful had me genuinely laughing out loud!!! Can’t wait to listen to the rest of the episodes! I may need to shotgun the rest before Halloween!

    1. I think we need to stop by the Shag household and check out Wa-Cool-a Springs. Hey, that’s how they pronounced it on the DVD documentary, so don’t shoot the hillbilly messenger!

      Shag’s giving me crap about mispronouncing something. Okay, Mister Nu-cle-ur Man!

      Chris

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