This Week in Fright Film History March 11 - 17, 2018

Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; is best known for directing  Nosferatu (1922), an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Murnau died on March 11, 1931 at the age of 42 form injuries he received in a car wreck. His last film Tabu premiered the following week.  Murnau was one of the most influential German film directors of the silent era.

The Ghost of Frankenstein, (1942) Released on March 13, 1942, The Ghost of Frankenstein was the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.  The film featured Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Monster, the role from Boris Karloff had played in the first three films of the series.  Béla Lugosi made his second appearance as Ygor in this film.

 

Val Lewton, film producer and screenwriter, noted for a series of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s, died March 14, 1951 at the aged 46.

 

 The Monster  (1925) starting Lon Chaney, Gertrude Olmstead, Hallam Cooley and directed by Roland West  was released theatrically on March 16, 1925.

Film actress Brigitte Helm was born on March 17, 1906 as Brigitte Eva Gisela Schittenhelm in Berlin.  Helm made over thirty other films during her career including Metropolis (1927) and Alraune (1928). Helm was at one time considered for the title role in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) before Elsa Lanchester was given the role.