You want Frye with that?

Digging holes, and then raising the buried,
Frye to trolls, crooks and crazies was married
For once cast, he was typed
And his nastiness hyped,
So the roles that he played weren't varied.

Dwight Frye as Karl in Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935). We dig up Dwight Frye-Days every week.

Wedding Bell Boos

As his bride from the slab was unstrapped,
The groom eyed her, romantic'lly rapt
But his chances grew slim
When she glanced toward him
And, inside of her bandages, crapped.

Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The Mummy's Hand...in Marriage?

Once his bride was unwound he grew chummy
There beside her, he found the view yummy
But excitement proved hasty,
And his sight not too tasty
Though she'd died, above ground she's no dummy.


Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The Bother of the Bride

Hank presided -- the loon had consented!
And the bride to the groom he presented
With her lightning bolt streak
She's a frightening freak
But the pride of a goon who's demented.

Elsa Lanchester and Colin Clive, in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Child Rearing Its Ugly Head

The monster now faced his creator,
His papa, and pasty-faced pater
His demand wasn't great:
Just the hand of a date
To fondle, embrace and then mate her.

Boris Karloff and Colin Clive in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Master of the Louse

While Drac on a dame nightly binged,
His lackey became quite unhinged
With the master's seduction
Some poor lass suffered suction
And the crack-pot, off-frame, rightly cringed.

Helen Chandler was Mina, Dwight Frye was Renfield, and Béla Lugosi was Dracula. Title by not-at-all louse-y David Cairns.

He's Just a Jugular-o

To Count Drac, all you young 'uns are prey
Just a snack to keep hunger at bay
Don't expect him to nuzzle
From your necks he will guzzle
Till, lips smacking, he's flung you away.

Béla Lugosi was Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931). Title by nekkid Norm Knott for Vampire Weekends.

BOLD TYPE-Casting

Poor Dwight, as an oddball was typed
Cast as nightmarish clods, the guy griped
But the fact's undisputed
Frye to "cracked" was well-suited
Looked just right when dead bodies were swiped.

Dwight Frye in Bride of Frankenstein. Here's Frye in the early 1930s on his typecasting in Hollywood: "If God is good, I will be able to play comedy, in which I was featured on Broadway for eight seasons and in which no producer of motion pictures will give me a chance! And please God, may it be before I go screwy playing idiots, half-wits and lunatics on the talking screen!"

Ham on Writhe

Dwight Frye will go over the top
He tries not to but No! he can't stop
With his weakness for hamming
Acting chic he's just shamming
It's the cry of a showboating fop.

David Cairns and Surly Hack



Dwight Frye brought his mad antics to Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Dracula (1931).

The Stiff That Keeps On Giving

This poor bastard and dunce, forced to roam,
Had at last found a wonderful home
Before long though, he fled,
'Cause he's wrong in the head:
There's a platform where once was a dome.


Boris Karloff and O. P. Heggie in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at LimerWrecks. This season let's all give thanks for our friends, family and homes, and let's also remember those who've lost theirs.

Unchained Malady

The monster, out-manned, had been chained
But in bondage he can't be restrained
At escape and survival
The big ape has no rival,
Off he'll wander, though scantily brained.



Boris Karloff as a Christ figure in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Hobson is Choice

Henry's bride seemed a prim, proper pip
Roped and tied by this grim little drip
Just a trifle too formal
For a life so abnormal
But she tried for a stiff upper lip.

David Cairns

Bride of Frankenstein: Dwight Frye is cretinous Karl, and his hostage is lovely Valerie Hobson, Mrs. Henry Frankenstein.

After Dinner Drunk

From heaven he thought it a sign:
A new friend, who he's taught to drink wine
But the chop-shop-made hunk
Just gets sloppily drunk
And his benders are never divine.



O. P. Heggie and Boris Karloff as hermit and monster, in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Title by sober-as-a-drudge Norm Knott.

In the Realm of the Censors

His staking's entirely off-screen
They're faking dire actions unseen
His fangs are forbidden
All angst remains hidden
Forsaking the ire of Joe Breen.

David Cairns

Lugosi is a fang-free Dracula (1931). Says David: In fact Breen didn't become censor until 1934, but I'm sure they forsook his ire anyway.

Charmed to the Teeth

Here's a gent who's demented yet dashing
He's both bent and presentably smashing
He's a fink in nice threads
And he drinks bloody reds
When prevented, his dentia he's gnashing.

Béla Lugosi makes a dapper Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931). Title by clothes-horsey David Cairns. Vampire Weekends is dressed to chill.

A Dwight For Sore Eyes

Frye could trade on his cave-dweller looks,
Ply a spade to play grave robbing crooks
Though he'd plead for good parts --
For the lead with the smarts --
He portrayed the depraved little schnooks.

Dwight Frye as 'Karl' in Bride of Frankenstein, (1935). One twist on Frye's type-casting was The Crime of Doctor Crespi.

Frankensteinski

Foregoin' his aftermeal stogie
he lowers and squats like a yogi
The monster's not prayin',
it's the onset of pa-in
that's owin' to lots of pierogi.

Norm Knott

What if the blind hermit and the monster were Polish? O.P. Heggie and Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Sing it with me: "Roll out the per-il..." 

The Goood, the Baaaad and the Butt-Ugly

This fellow's a generous host
His welcome, more gentle than most
He's kind as can be
But so blind he can't see
That his dwelling will end up as toast.


The blind hermit and the monster: O.P. Hegge and Boris Karloff share a brief respite from the horrors of Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The Bride Stripped Baron

Once more, he will take from the storm
To restore a forsaken dead form
He was pushed and was prodded,
Then he finally nodded...
It's a chore, but a break from the norm.

Ernest Theisinger and Colin Clive, Dr. Pretorius and Baron Henry Frankenstein in Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935).

Baron Essentials

Though to bury the morbid he's sworn,
The poor Baron is tortured and torn
This alliance could kill him,
But the science would thrill him...
Should he marry two corpses, reborn?

Dwight Frye, Ernest Theisinger and Colin Clive in Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935).

Cape Cad

In he glides with an air of suspense
His eyes widen, his stare is intense
While his manse falls apart,
He looks handsome and smart,
But his sidekick seems terribly dense.


A commanding Béla Lugosi and a cowering Dwight Frye, in Dracula (1931). Title by post-cad Norm Knott for Vampire Weekends. You'll find the latest essay by Norm (Jim) for The Third City blog, here.

Accent Grave

Rascal Drac can persuade any chick
Has the knack, like some playboy Old Nick
But this leech on the loose
Can't use speech to seduce
'Cause his accent is laid on too thick.

Helen Chandler and Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931). Vampire Weekends is putting on the moves. Title by lady driller David Cairns. 

Schnook-Ends

Fritz was fractured, spine bent, all a-gnarl
And his actions were met with a snarl
By the neck he was hanged,
But by heck, I'll be danged!
Frye came back, as demented, as Karl!



Dwight Frye played both Fritz and Karl, the twisted assistants in Frankenstein and its sequel, Bride of Frankenstein. Enjoy a double-dose of Dwight, here on Dwight Frye-Days.

Quack of Doom

He's a snide sort of snake and he's snooty
And the dried up old flake's a bit fruity
His ex-student he curses,
And quite rudely coerces
Though the bride that they make is a beauty.

Ernest Theisinger is Dr Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Title by ducky David Cairns.

Medico-Conspirators

Seems this bonehead's been willed many lives
He was thrown from the mill, yet survives
One might think he would learn,
And his tinkering spurn...
With a crony he's building new wives!



Dr. Pretorius pulls Henry F back into the monster-making biz: Ernest Theisinger and Colin Clive in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Title by doctor of limerickology, David Cairns.

Cad-avarice

He is meddlesome, irksome and rude
And in medical circles is booed
Call him Doctor Pretorius,
An old crock who's notorious
Into bedrooms the jerk will intrude.

Valerie Hobson and Colin Clive are the Frankensteins, and Ernest Theisinger is Dr. Septimus Pretorius in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Title by sleep-deprived David Cairns.

Chip Off the Old Doc

Henry's mad, but insanely impassioned,
And plays dad to his bane, which he fashioned
He empowered this spawn
And endowed it with brawn,
But it's addled by brains being rationed.

Colin Clive and Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931). Next up is Bride of Frankenstein. Title by abnormal Norm Knott.

A Screw Louche

Looking chic, that's no hick in the tux
He's a freak -- virgin victims he plucks
In the white of their necks
The guy bites and he pecks
In their knees they go weak when he sucks.



Bela Lugosi sinks his teeth into Vampire Weekends. With Helen Chandler and Francis Dade in Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931). Title by screwballer David Cairns.

Bey Watch

Such characters Turhan would play...
Savvy Arab, suave sir from Bombay
In a tassel draped fez
He would wrassle Montez
While preparing some verbal cliché.

R.I. P. Turhan Bey, March 30, 1922 - Sept. 30, 2012. In his Hollywood heyday in the 1940s, Bey was dubbed the "The Turkish Delight." Of course it was usually Jon Hall who got to manhandle Maria Montez.

Broken Window Dressing

Do beware of this dude in the cape
It has flair but gets used as a drape
He's the dapper undead
And likes lapping up red,
Though it's rarely the juice of the grape.

Helen Chandler and Bela Lugosi in Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931). Wrap yourself around Vampire Weekends.

Fritz the Rat

The hunchback (he's there on the left),
Fritz bungled the daring brain-theft
This goniff and fool
To the monster was cruel,
And was hung in the dungeon, bereft.

Karma catches up to hunchback Fritz in Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931). Top: Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, John Boles, Mae Clarke and Colin Clive. Relax, Dwight Frye-Days will be hanging around.

Meat, Your Maker

I'm a schmuck and a bubblehead chump,
And I'm stuck with a troublesome hump
But if not for fair Fritz
Then your various bits
Would be yucky old rubbery stumps.

David Cairns

Addressing his captive audience, Fritz speaks of himself in the third person:  Dwight Frye and Boris Karloff  in Frankenstein (1931).