Bela Lugosi’s role of Ygor in Son of Frankenstein and Ghost of Frankenstein is a character study in evil. Not just run of the mill random acts of ill will, but cold and calculated malice to kill all of the jurors who had originally convicted Ygor for death.
Profile in Deceit
In Son of Frankenstein, “Old Ygor” is introduced lurking around the town of Frankenstein. Yes, that means “Frankenstein” is used interchangeably with a person, a town, and the Creature. Ygor introduced himself to Baron Wolf von Frankenstein by spying on him. These acts would be an invasion of privacy, which is when a person physically and knowingly, “enters onto the land or into the airspace above the land of another person without permission…or familial activity and the invasion occurs in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person.” Cal. Civ. Code § 1708.8(a).
Ygor appealed to Dr. Wolf von Frankenstein’s ego in securing the doctor’s help in reviving the comatose Creature. Ygor represented only that the Creature “does things for me.” The specific definition of “things” was killing the jurors who had convicted Ygor. By the time of Dr. Frankenstein’s entrance, the Creature had killed six out of eight jurors by striking them so hard their hearts burst.
The failure to define “things” was fraud in convincing Dr. Frankenstein to heal the Creature. Ygor suppressed the fact that the Creature had committed six murders, which was material information that Dr. Frankenstein should have known about before reviving the Creature. See, Cal. Civ. Code § 1710(3).
A Conspiracy for Murder
Ygor and the Creature worked together in performing three additional murders. These murders included Frankenstein’s butler and the two remaining jurors. Ygor played music where he was publicly visible, giving himself an alibi for the deaths.
A conspiracy is when two or more people conspire to commit a crime. Cal. Pen. Code § 182(a). Coconspirators can be responsible for the criminal harms “they have naturally, probably and foreseeably put in motion.” People v. Luparello, 187 Cal.App.3d 410, at p. 439 (Cal. Ct. App. 1986). For Ygor and the Creature, they intended the two jurors to be killed. The Creature even went so far to make one of the murders look like an accident (which goes to show the Creature understood the wrongfulness of his actions).
The death of the butler was not planned by Ygor working with the Creature, so at best, Ygor could be charged with second degree murder.
Kidnapping of Children
The children Peter Frankenstein (Son of Frankenstein) and Cloestine Hussman (Ghost of Frankenstein) were placed in mortal danger by the Creature. The facts for each are radically different.
The Creature kidnapped Peter Frankenstein (Wolf’s young son) after Wolf had shot Ygor. Ygor was believed dead, as the way the story ended showed there were no plans for a sequel. Kidnapping is the forcible taking of a person. Cal. Pen. Code § 207(a). The Creature picking up Peter and carrying him to the lab meets the required acts for conviction. However, as Ygor was incapacitated and had not planned a kidnapping with the Creature, the kidnapping is not a natural and probable consequence of their conspiracy.
The Creature took Cloestine Hussman from her room and wanted her brain put in his body. Ygor stated that the Creature taking the child was something he could not stop the Creature from doing. While Ygor and the Creature were clearly collaborators, Ygor is best classified as an accessory-after-the-fact. Nothing was done to return Cloestine to her family, meaning everyone in on the plan to give the Creature a new brain had assisted in the kidnapping of a child.
If I Only Had a Brain
Dr. Ludwig von Frankenstein planned to transfer the brain of his slain associate Dr. Kettering to the Creature’s body. This would have been cosmic justice, with the victim taking the body of his killer. However, Ygor convinced Dr. Theodore Bohmer (Dr. Frankenstein’s colleague who had once been his professor) to switch Dr. Kettering’s brain with Ygor’s brain. This would be the worst case scenario of the amoral murderer getting an undying body.
The musical brains are again fraud. Dr. Frankenstein was intentionally misled to place Ygor’s brain in the Creature’s body. Unfortunately for Ygor, his blood type was not compatible with the Creature’s body and he immediately went blind.
Ygor’s Opus
All of Ygor’s actions were based on revenge for those who had sentenced him to death. His ability to hoodwink both sons of Frankenstein was impressive, since one would have expected Ludwig to have learned from both his father’s and brother’s mistakes.
