10 Movie Re-Castings That Ruined Iconic Characters
3. Frankstein's Monster - The Ghost Of Frankenstein
Original - Boris Karloff
Recast - Lon Chaney Jr.
Boris Karloff was so unknown when he portrayed The Monster in James Whale's Frankenstein, he wasn't even credited. By the time Bride of Frankenstein was released though, he was one of the biggest stars on the planet. Without uttering a single word, Karloff found the humanity in the square-headed creature, turning him into a defining character in cinema.
When Karloff moved onto new projects, people were still desperate to see more of The Monster, forcing the studio to find a replacement. Fresh off the success of The Wolf Man, Lon Chaney Jr felt like the perfect substitute and so, was cast as The Monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein.
Sadly, Chaney removed all the subtle complexities of the character, turning him into nothing more than a lumbering creature. In the original, Karloff could convey so much emotion with a mere look. But here, Chaney's face is motionless and his eyes are glazed over, making him look half-asleep. (The fact Chaney was drunk during most of production probably didn't help.)
The first three Frankenstein films are worth checking out purely because of Karloff but the fourth entry deserves to be skipped due to Chaney's less-than-stellar performance.