Universal Monsters - Part 1

Halloween is just a couple of weeks away, and if, like me, you enjoy watching the old "Universal Monsters" movies, you may be making connections between some of those movies and various adaptations of "A Christmas Carol."

For example, the great Claude Rains, who recorded a version of "A Christmas Carol" for Mercury Records in 1954, starred in a few of the monster movies earlier in his career.

In fact, his movie debut was in the title role of 1933's "The Invisible Man."

Rains gives a great performance in that film, which is all the more impressive since (SPOILER) you don't actually even see his face until the very end!

Since this was his first film, he doesn't get top-billing (as seen in the poster at the top), but later reissues emphasize his now-famous name:

I wonder where the little inset photo of a visible, pistol-packing Rains came from?

He also headlines a sort-of all-star cast in 1941's "The Wolf Man" (my favorite!), in which he portrays Sir John Talbot, the father of the lycanthropic Larry Talbot.

I hear/read all the time about the lack of a familial resemblance between Claude Rains and Lon Chaney, Jr., which can't be denied, but do cinematic families ever really look alike? And Rains lends a ton of gravitas to the proceedings, so I'm really glad he's there!

Rains had the title role (but was third-billed) in Universal's big 1942 remake of the "Phantom of the Opera":

I think this one is somewhat underrated. Modern viewers don't think it's monster-y enough, but you need to watch it as mid-1940s entertainment and not worry about how it fits into the whole "Universal Monsters" scene!

Of further note is that Universal actually dabbled a bit with Dickens adaptations back at that time, including "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" starring Claude Rains from 1935:

Universal also produced a version of "Great Expectations" in 1934:

Of even further note is that the adult Pip in that movie was portrayed by Phillips Holmes, who was the son of Taylor Holmes, the Scrooge from the 1949 TV version of "A Christmas Carol" hosted by Vincent Price!

It all comes back around!