| This week, we’ll look at two "versus" films that don’t have the word versus in the title. In each, one combatant has a physical handicap he must overcome in order to win – or does he?
Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943): This nicely atmospheric horror sequel bears historical interest as the first time a film studio combined two separate horror film franchises. Lon Chaney Jr. returns as Lawrence Talbot (a.k.a. the Wolf Man) who awakens in a hospital, and realizes that he is still cursed to prowl the moonlit nights as a werewolf. His noble act of self-sacrifice at the end of The Wolf Man (1941) was all for naught. Talbot’s quest to bring an end to his cursed existence leads him to the frozen-but-alive body of the Frankenstein monster (Bela Lugosi), setting the scene for a titanic monster battle.
This is a visually marvelous film, particularly in the first half. Light, shadows, faces and wonderfully imposing sets evoke a powerful, almost film noir mood, while the textures alone could fascinate an audience into quiet awe. This is one of those films that puts viewers into a nostalgic "They don’t make ‘em like that anymore" reverie.
Sadly, the film’s greatest flaw is a significant one: Bela Lugosi’s performance as Frankenstein’s monster. Displaying none of the grace and cunning Karloff brought to the role, Lugosi stumbles around with his arms outstretched, unwittingly establishing the cliché Frankenstein impression still popular in charades to this day. Still, it’s not really Lugosi’s fault.
Lugosi, of course, had famously turned down the role of the Frankenstein monster 12 years earlier. To him, a non-speaking part that required being buried under a mountain of makeup was beneath his talents. In the ’40s, as Karloff’s career skyrocketed while Lugosi’s sputtered, he could no longer afford to be that choosy. Besides, the creature had been capable of speech since Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and it now possessed the transplanted brain of Lugosi’s hunchbacked character Ygor, since Ghost of Frankenstien (1942). Surely it made sense that the creature would now speak with Ygor’s voice?
Unfortunately, test audiences couldn’t accept Bela’s Hungarian accent coming from the creature’s lips. Many audience members laughed. As a result, all of Lugosi’s lines were cut from the film, along with a subplot explaining that the creature was blind. Now, Lugosi’s blind performance looked simply like a clumsy foolishly interpreted pantomime. In addition, it now seemed as though the creature and the Wolf Man suddenly turned on each other for no reason, after an entire movie in which they appear to be allies. Would a snippet of excised dialogue have provided justification for the fight? It seems likely. We won’t know for sure until the original film has been restored, and as far as I know, film historians are still searching for the deleted footage.
One Armed Against Nine Killers (1981): Old school martial arts superstar Wang Yu (aka Jimmy Wang Yu) established himself playing handi-capable ass-kickers in films like One Armed Swordman (1967) and One Armed Boxer (1971). The former was the first Kung Fu film to earn a million dollars at the box office, establishing the genre as financially viable. Both films have had numerous sequels, including cult favorite Master of the Flying Guillotine (a.k.a. One Armed Boxer 2)(1975).
Yu is clearly playing two different one-armed men in two unrelated film series, since we get to see him with both arms at the start of each film, along with the expected violent amputation, followed by extensive martial arts training, and the defeat of the villains. So then, which one is he playing in the coyly titled One Armed Against Nine Killers – the boxer or the swordsman?
Neither one, actually. I suspect that this film isn’t really a sequel at all, although it clearly disguises itself as such. The proof is in the film’s mind-bending finale.
Spoiler warning – you’ll probably never find a copy of this rare film, but if you don’t want to know what happens in the end, read no further.
Having defeated all other opponents, Yu faces off against the ninth and final killer of the title. In a supremely shocking turn of events, he gets his remaining arm ripped off by the killer. Dazed and in agony, the one-armed boxer-swordsman-whatever stumbles around, while his opponent laughs at his plight.
Then it gets weird.
Jimmy’s other arm shoots out of his shirt, and he punches the bad guy – a death blow.
The so-called one-armed warrior had two arms the entire time. Holy crap! He looks down at his bested foe, and walks off into the sunset, a genuine one-armed fighter for the first time. |
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