Comparison between the US version and the German version (taken from German television).

Mel Welles - probably rather known as an actor - made the movie "Lady Frankenstein". Originally, he wanted to call the movie "Lady Dracula" but there were some copyright issues that forced him to change the movie quite a bit. The script was written within 2 weeks because the set and the actors for the original movie were already rented resp. hired. The result is a surprisingly good movie which mixes motives of the original Frankenstein story with gothic-horror elements; Rosalba Neri plays Tania Frankenstein who is quite an emancipated character. Even though the plot gets quite ridiculous at times, the movie is still fun to watch. Besides Rosalba Neri (who was hired for numerous Italian movies) the movie also offers other great actors: Joseph Cotten (of Citizen Kane fame) and the Austrian actor Herbert Fux. Mel Welles himself took the part of a voice actor to dub all of Herbert Fux's lines for the English version.

In terms of quality, the German TV version is the best and most complete version to be released, yet. Still, this version has problems, too: film tears that were cut out as good as possible (will be mentioned in a more detailed way throughout the report) and 2 missing scenes. One of them (where Zack talks to harris and mentions that the anger of the citizens focuses on the murders commited by Frankenstein) is definitively an important plotpoint. In an earlier scene Peter talks to the citizens and is able to calm them down as well as denounce them as deedless. When the citizens in the end storm the castle with torches, the scene seems to be a little odd and coming out of nowhere without the conversation between Zack and Harris.

In the USA the movie is a public domain film and was released several times. The original runtime of over 90 minutes probably was too long for the film distributors at that time; as a result, it was trimmed down to 83:38 minutes. Interestingly enough, most of the cuts edit plot scenes out - most of the sex and "gore" still made it into the shorter US version. The awful image quality and the wrong aspect ratio really are quite a pain in the ass.

It's completely legal to download the movie from archive.org - too bad that they only provice the US version, however, the English dubbing is quite good.


Those parts of the report which are marked red refer to those scenes which are only included in the US version and were not included in the German version.

The time designations refer to the US version.
Comparison of the images:

German TV version ~1.90:1

US version 1.33:1

Runtimes:

US version: 83:38 min. (NTSC)
German version: 89:27 min. (PAL)

The US version misses out on 11:05 minutes of footage while the German version only misses out on 1:48 minutes. Film tears and alternative scenes were ignored.

[00:05:48]

A missing dialogue between Charles and Baron Frankenstein. When Charles asks what Frankenstein is going to tell her, the latter replies that he won't say anything. He thinks that it's better to finish their work rather quickly, also out of consideration for her. Charles agrees.

21 sec.


[00:06:41]

Charles and Tania walk along a hallway. Charles says that he thinks it's too bad about Thomas; he says that he's a handsome guy, physically fit but unfortunately mentally retarded. When Tania sks if he was retarded from birth, charles replies that this wasn't the case until he suffered a dangerous fever which affectet Thomas' brain. Still, he thinks that he's a nice guy and very fond of animals.

13 sec.


[00:08:01]

At this point, the US version is longer.

During the conversation between Tania and her father there's a missing sentence towards the beginning.

Frankenstein: "But you heard the story many times before."

7 sec.



[00:10:16]

Thomas is inside the shed when Tania calls for him. he picks up a lamb and leaves the shed.

Tania says that Thomas startled her. Then she wants to know what the lamb's name is. Thomas replies that it has no name. When Tania asks Thomas if he likes her father, she has to repeat the question because Thomas didn't get it the first time. After the repetition he nods. Tania wants to know if he likes him despite the fact that he takes the animals away from him. Thomas is slightly scared and Tania has to explain that she doesn't want to take the animals away but that it is the baron who takes them away. Thomas says that this isn't true and Tania asks what the matter is.

Lynch's carriage passes them. (This is the only scene which is included in the US version. 2 sec.)

When Tania points at Lynch, Thomas says that he's an evil man.

Lynch gets off the carraige and enters the castle.

When Tania asks if he is an evil man, Thomas repeats himself and says "evil".

1:32 min.


[00:11:50]

The US version is longer.

A part of the conversation between Lynch and Tania was cut out:

Lynch: "How can somebody so lovely be such a bitch?"
Tania: "Depends on the company I'm with."

8 sec.


[00:15:21]

There's some more dialuge during the execution. Harris wants to know who's being executed and one of the assistant says that he doesn't know the woman but will try to find it out. Harris replies that this won't be necessary.

7 sec.


[00:15:41]

2 missing cuts to Lynch and his 2 assistants.

5 sec.


[00:16:05]

After the execution there are a few missing cuts to the commisioner, Lynch, and his assistants.

3 sec.


[00:16:53]

Parts of the dialogue after the corpse was unloaded were cut out. Frankenstein asks if Lynch trusts these men. Lynch replies that he trusts nobody, especially not those who drink alcohol. However he thinks that the baron doesn't have to worry - no one will shed a tear over Jack Morgan's empty grave because the rascal killed the only person who was ever good to him. Then he wants to know if the baron has some special assignments for the next week. Frankenstein replies that he doesn't know yet - he might not even need their hepl anymore. Lynch dislikes to hear that because of the great payment - they will really miss the baron's money. When Frankenstein says that they will figure out to get along, Lynch is not too sure about that. Then he bids goodbye.

39 sec.


[00:17:46]

Tania closes the door to the secert passage behind her.

13 sec.


[00:24:22]

Frankenstein walks along a hallway and calls for Charles.

Frankenstein urges to hurry. The two of them run into the lab.

The following tracking shot towards the brain was cut out.

The US version continues when you see the brain.

24 sec.


[00:27:59]

Charles opens the window. Then we see Frankenstein again.

7 sec.


[00:29:41]

Alternative scene during a shot of the objects inside the lab.

US Version: 2 sec.
German Version: 2 sec.


[00:30:03]

A missing tracking shot over glasses filled with obscure liquids. Then we see the monster again.

15 sec.


[00:30:38]

Charles closes the attic window.

6 sec.


[00:33:03]

Alternative scene.
In the US version Frankenstein gets his hearing instrument out and checks the heartbeat.
The German version, however, shortly cuts to the monster. For this, they used a little trick: there probably was a film tear at this point and in order to smoothly edit the scene, theys added this cut to the monster. The exact same shot was already shown a few seconds earlier.

US Version: 3 sec.
German Version: 2 sec.


[00:38:36]

At this point, they used a little trick in the US version. The following dialogue was added during the tracking shot towards Tania:

Tania: "Didn't you love him?"
Charles: "You know, I did."
Tania: "So do it for him."

Sicne Tania doesn't move her lips in this scene, this (of course) does not fit at all.

In the German version you see the correct scenes. Additionally, the dialogue is a little longer - Tania begs Charles to do it for her.

US Version: 7 sec.
German Version: 21 sec.


[00:39:26]

The scene with the inspector begins a little earlier.
When Harris asks if they found him, Charles replies that they find him in exactly this position. Harris thinks that this is really interestign because this is the first time that he ever could have a look at the most famous citizen's place of activity. Before this incident, the lab's doors were always clsoed.

22 sec.


[00:40:47]

Parts of the dialogue during Charles' interrogation were cut out-
Charles explains that he secluded himself an hour before the events because he was tired; however, he wasn't able to sleep. Then he heard someone passing the door of his room. Harris replies that this could also have been the baron or Mrs. Tania. Charles replies that this is impossible because the steps seemed to move towards teh lab while the baron was still here and Mrs. Tania would not have disturbed him at this hour. For him it's obvious that it had to be a stranger.

21 sec.


[00:42:21]

Lynch lies in his bed. Then there are knocks at the door.

Lynch is annoyed and asks who it is. He walks to the door and opens it. Harris enters teh room and Lych ironically says that Harris is all he needed.

Lynch lies back down on the bed.

The US version continues when you see the commissioner.

19 sec.


[00:45:03]

Harris leaves Lynch's apartment.

Just when he went through the door Peter calls for him. Harris wants to know what he wants and Peter replies that Sarah Wirts and Fred Benson were killed. John Masters was with Sarah and claims to have seen the murderer - apparently he was not human. When Harris wants to know what else it was Peter tells him that it was a huge one-eyed monster. He tells him to talk to Masters.

Then the movie cuts to the police station.
Harris says that he would be able to figure everything out if he knew what happened inside castle Frankenstein. A police officer enters teh room and tells harris that the townsmen crowd together because they're very angry. He says that they want to talk to Harris. The latter tells Peter to talk to the townsmen because he himself is too busy to do it. Peter is supposed to calm the people down and Peter agrees to do so.

Peter leaves the police station to talk to the angry mob of townsmen.

Peter calls for silence because he can't talk to them unless they're more quiet. He wants to know if someone could explain what happened. Zack shouts that John should tell him what he saw and the latter says that it was no human being but rather a monster. Zack says that if the police doesn't do anything, the townspeople will deal with the problem themselves. The townspeople approve this by yelling. Peter asks who is brave enough to fight against a monster. Suddenly, the mob gets more quiet and Peter says that he knew it. He calls for some calming and tells them to go home to let the police handle this problem.

The next scene inside the castle begins a little earlier.
Tania is sitting at the desk and looks through some papers. Then there's a knock on the door.

Tania tells the guest to come in.

Charles enters the room.

The US version continues when he approaches Tania.

1:53 min.


[00:46:59]

The dialogue between Tania and Charles is slightly longer - Tania asks him if he would help her if she was to find the monster.

5 sec.


[00:48:17]

Tania leaves Lynch's house and leaves with the carriage.

8 sec.


[00:51:24]

A complete scene of Lynch and Thomas was cut out. Lynch wants to go to Tania, however, Thomas keeps him away from the gates. Lynch asks him to tell Mrs. tania that Mr. Lynch was there. Thomas doesn't want to and tells Lynch to leave. The latter replies that he won't leave and that Thomas is supposed to go to Tania. Again, Thomas disagrees. Lynch says that he will be back tomorrow. Thomas tells him to go. Lynch asks him if he's heard that Tania wants to marry the marshall. Again, Thomas only tells him to leave. Lynch says that it's impossible to get any information out of this idiot and Thomas for the last time tells Lynch to leave.

18 sec.


[00:52:28]

The sex scene of Lynch and a girl is a little longer (probably due to a film tear).

4 sec.


[00:52:44]

When Charles watches Thomas, the scene starts earlier.

12 sec.


[00:56:10]

Charles walks Harris out.

9 sec.


[01:02:39]

A longer film tear in teh German version:

Tania is shown a little longer. Then we see teh carriage passing in the background.

7 sec.


[01:04:07]

Tania watches the carriage.

Cut to the police station.
Harris tells Julia to stay inside her room because he's worried about the murderer and what happened to Thomas. Julia tells Paul to find him and Harris replies that he gives his best. Julia says that she doesn't trust Mrs. Marshall and says she knows that type of woman. She says that she would love to destroy a man. When she wants to move on talking about men who are as senistive as Tommy, Harris interrupts her and tells her not to get so upset because everything is fine. Julia tells him that she would love to believe it but is unable to do so. Harris tells her not to be scared.

Julia leaves the room.

Peter says that the girl is really likeable and definitively no Mrs. Marshall. He adds that this woman and her father's animal testings really give him the chills. Harris replies that they at least claim only to have done animal testing. When Peter wants to know why Dr. Marshall should deny this, Harris wonders where the corpses have gone - he says that they absolutely have to find that out.

55 sec.

In the German version we now see the scene of Tania sounding Charles on the operating table. The US version at first shows another scene.

[01:04:07]

Charles and Tania are inside the operating room. On the table we see Thomas' corpse.

Tania: "Tonight, you and I will help Thomas to become a whole human being. And my father, he will live again, with the fame he was went to have. Charles?"
Charles: "I liked him, Tania. I really did."
Tania: "Think of tonight, Charles. Only of tonight."

Cut to the monster wandering around.

Cut to Harris who talks to Zack.

Zack: "People are talking. They are saying, that Baron Frankenstein was responsible. They we're saying that he created."
Harris: "He killed him, remember?"
Zack: "But he didn't kill his daughter."
Harris: "What does she have to do with it?"
Zack: "You know, how people are, Captain, especially when they are scared. Right now, they are so scared, they may do anything. Something real crazy maybe. To them the name Frankenstein is six leages below satan himself. They don't care who were it. Come on, John."

Now, the 2 versions are back in synch - Tania sounds Charles on the operating table.

1:22 min.


[01:07:43]

The dialogue between Tania and Harris goes on a little logner.
Tania wonders why he's so interested in Thomas and harris replies that a friend of him asked him to say hi to Thomas. Tania asks if it was her sister who asked him to search for him. She adds that she thought that yesterday's conversation would have clarified her standpoint but apparently she was unable to convince her sister. Harris agrees. Tania wants to know if the captain believes her and he replies that he can't figure out a reason for her to lie. When Tania asks him if he was never lied to by a woman, Harris replies that this actually happened several times.

29 sec.


[01:07:47]

Tania fell asleep at the desk. The ringing of a bell wakes her up.

Tania: "Charles."

She walks to the operating table. She says that this is their only chance to be saved and that she has to try.

Cut to the monster.

The US version continues when she wires Charles' shirt.

36 sec.


[01:08:57]

Tania stops giving him electric shocks. She says that they're almost finished and that Charles only has to stick it out one more time.

She puts the wires back into the liquids.

10 sec.


[01:10:08]

The scene with harris and Julia begins a little earlier.
Julia asks him if he really thinks that she believes this nonsense.

3 sec.


[01:16:43]

Tania walks Harris out.
Harris tells her that it isn't necessary for her to walk him out and she replies that she didn't even plan on doing this.

She walks back upstairs.

14 sec.


[01:20:59]

The German version misses out on an additional cut to the monster. Then follows a cut to the severed arm.

4 sec.

[01:20:59]01:29:54

The US version misses out on the soldiers, Peter, and Julia arriving.

Peter tells them to follow him.

They see Harris' body.

Julia: "Paul."
Harris gets up and asks what Julia is doing here. Peter tries to explain but Harris interrupts him and tells him that they have time to talk this out later - they have to get the monster first. A soldier says that Zack and his men stormed the castle and that they're mad as hell. Harris calls them maniacs and tells Julia to stay here.

Harris and the soldiers dash off.

When they enter the castle, the US version continues.

31 sec.


[01:23:07]

A missing shot of the sex scene and a missing cut to Julia and Harris (the scene with Julia and harris follows a little later in the US version; see next cut.).

8 sec.


[01:23:11]

The US version now shows the scene with Harris and Julia.

The german version does not include a cut - the sex scene goes on.

4 sec.