The FRANKENSTEIN that could have been!

Every Monster Kid no doubt knows the poster depicted below, an early publicity image for FRANKENSTEIN when it was still slated to star Bela Lugosi under Robert Florey’s direction.

I had seen the poster in books since I was a child, usually with a caption or commentary that the Monster’s look hints at Lugosi’s physical appearance in THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE. I had never been able to find the image on the internet, and had not seen it in decades.

Marcie Carpenter found it for me last night, right after we watched the above mentioned superb Florey/Lugosi film the two made instead of FRANKENSTEIN.

My first thought was that the Monster in no way resembles Lugosi or Dr. Mirakel. I was then stunned that the Monster isn’t holding a scantily clad woman. In fact it is a man in white… holding a syringe. Then I looked at the face!

You take a look too, and tell me what you see!

I know Robert Florey wanted Lugosi to play the creator, not the Monster. But never suspected the plan got as far as making it into the Universal Publicity Machine.

OH!!! What Could Have BEEN!?!