Todd’s Serial Blog

For my first blog on serials I decided to launch a concept that had been floating around in my head for the past couple of years. A fictional series of articles highlighting serials that were never done but could have have been. This will to be an ongoing weekly series as I detail how the serials came to be made and then give a chapter by chapter breakdown, while keeping the flavor of the specific studio I’m immulating.

For my first Greatest Serial Never Made, I thought I would rewrite history a little bit and have Universal decide to end their serial producing unit with one final big blow out of an action extravaganza by combining their monsters and the serial in a last ditch attempt to halt the flagging interest in both (much like the real studio would do in 1948 with Abbott and Costello). So lets return to late 1946 where the new heads of Universal are planning to put the final nail in the horror movie coffin and pump some much needed coin into the company’s coffers in the bargain.

The announcement of Universal’s final serial offering for 1946, Dracula Returns, a sequel to the earlier feature film House of Dracula (1945), is met with mixed reactions. Young serial fans are ecstatic that the beloved monsters are going to be featured in a chapter play. Die hard horror fans are less enthusiastic, feeling that having the monsters in a serial will cheapen the characters. Parents groups and the Hays Office are up in arms that such gruesome and violent characters are to be featured in a children’s film. After many assurances that the horrific elements from the features will be considerably toned down, and a script is approved by the Hays Office, Universal goes ahead with pre-production. Producer Morgan B. Cox assigns veteran serial director Lewis D. Collins to direct with a script by Universal serial screenwriters Joseph F. Polland, Paul Huston, and Barry Shipman that greatly eases the budget by utilizing many sets and footage from earlier horror films.

Glenn Strange quickly agrees to return as the Frankenstein Monster, as does Lon Chaney, Jr. for the role of Larry Talbot. Many are surprised by Chaney’s decision as he was just let go by the studio the previous year. Though he says it is because of his great affection for the character, most believe that he is already short of money and needs the work. Trouble comes when John Carradine refuses to again take on the role of Count Dracula. He sites prior commitments, but most have heard him say why should he work several weeks on a serial when he can get the same money on a low budget horror film and work only a week. Ian Keith is again approached as he was in 1931 but he turns out to really be too busy for the role. With no where else to turn, the studio reluctantly gives the role to a gushingly grateful Bela Lugosi.

Another snag comes when Jon Hall flatly refuses to reprise his role of Frank Raymond from Invisible Agent (1942), saying he’ll never make a serial. Casting around quickly, the studio hires veteran actor Milburn Stone to supply the voice of the Invisible Man. Feeling that Chaney can’t play both Talbot and Kharis the Mummy, Universal manages to recast Western character actor Tom Tyler in the role he himself created. The rest of the cast quickly comes together as Martha O’Driscoll, Jane Adams, and Skelton Knaggs all sign on to reprise their roles from House of Dracula and Dennis Moore agrees to play his character from The Mummy’s Curse (1944).

Trouble brews back stage as the studio heads are not going to put up with make up expert Jack Pierce’s tyrannical insistence on the lengthy time it will take to apply his make up which the short shooting schedule of serials cannot permit. Plans to drop Pierce at the end of the year are crystallized and he is removed from the project and newly hired make up man Bud Westmore is given the task of coming up with a quicker way to do the famous Universal Monsters that will look the same. Westmore comes through in the pinch (pioneering the technique he would later use in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)). Principal photography commences on September 2, 1946 and finishes September 30, 1946, a full three days ahead of schedule.

The serial is kept back from immediate release. Due to the theme, the studio wisely debuts it to theaters the last week of October in time for the build up to Halloween to help gather interest in the production. The serial proves a smash with serial fans, and even some horror fans admit it was better than they expected. Though a box office winner going into 1947, the studio goes ahead with it’s plans and closes the serial unit, ending their company’s horror and serial eras in one fell swoop.

NEXT WEEK: DRACULA RETURNS—CHAPTER ONE THE MYSTERIOUS VISITOR