New Life With Father

In error a "son" he has wrought
A terror begun without thought
From frightening parts
With lightning it starts
From this heir he would run but he's caught.

Colin Clive and Boris Karloff in the daddy of them all, Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931).

Wishful Stinker

Despite all the bumps and the bruises,
Our Dwight with the humpback enthuses
This men-making's fun!
But when it is done,
This nightmarish chump always loses.

Dwight Frye and Colin Clive in Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931)--and is that Boris Karloff's arm?

The Hunchback of Nutty Drama

This bounder, this quack, necrophilic
Digging ground, hires a jackass, a pillock
This torch-wielding servant
Likes to scorch, gets quite fervent
With a mound on his back like a hillock.

David Cairns


Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and hunchback Fritz (Dwight Frye) get to work in Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931). Limerick lexicon: Pillock: a stupid person.

Organ Finder

 A spare part in a jar goes "tick-tock"
Some poor tart in the dark had a shock
The deceased left no clues
"A police case" ain't news
 "Have a heart," remarks Karl to the doc.

David Cairns

Dwight Frye as Karl, with Colin Clive and Ernest Thesiger, the mad doctors in Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale; 1935).

Clods and Monsters

High windows glow bright in the dark
Huge engines ignite with a spark
Though God disapproves,
The body...it moves..!
The minion delights--what a lark!

Dwight Frye is the hunchbacked assistant to Colin Clive, reacting to the arm of Boris Karloff or his stand-in in this scene from Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).

Ready, Set, Gofer!

The Bride needs a functioning ticker
To provide, here's a punk who's much sicker
Send Karl off at once
He's a gnarly old dunce
Played by Frye, finest flunky of flicker.

David Cairns

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

The Thin Dwight Crook

When the gallows is robbed in the night
And the hallowed earth's lobbed out of sight
There's one creep, lame and halt
That's to blame and at fault
It's that callow and hobbling Dwight!

David Cairns

Colin Clive and Dwight Frye excitedly eye the hanged man in Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931).

Henry and Goon

My irksome assistant's complaining
The jerk seems resistant to training
A bent-over fool
Demented and cruel
From work he's dismissed for bad-braining.

Dwight Frye, Colin Clive, and Boris Karloff or his stand-in in Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).

Tease Play

 

This fright film is morbid and haunting
Its lightning-fueled horror most daunting
The "it" they create
Grows bitter, learns hate
Or might just be sore from the taunting.

Colin Clive and Dwight Frye face the off-camera Monster of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931).

Working the Thing Shift

When making a monster at crunch time
No breaks, no such nonsense as lunchtime
There's bodies to nab,
Odd jobs at the lab...
Mistakes? Just move on, ‘cause it’s hunch-time!

Hunchback Fritz (Dwight Frye) is given instructions by Henry (Colin Clive) in Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931). Title and assist by shifty Donald B. Benson.

Gaffe Riot

You sigh...you would weep but you laugh
Your guy is a creep and a half
He fetches a brain
That's wretched, insane
Just why do you keep him on staff?

The Three Oddfathers: Surly Hack, Donald B. Benson and David Cairns

Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931): Colin Clive as Henry, Dwight Frye as Fritz, and some poor guy's legs.
LimerWrecks is going on vacation. See you in a few weeks.

Working the Dwight Shift

Not too bright, the defective Fritz lurks 
What a frightful collection of quirks
He's a creep and a slob
And to keep his new job  
He works nights resurrecting dead jerks.

John Boles, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye and Colin Clive in a quiet moment from Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931). Title by shifty Donald B. Benson.

Straighten Up and Fly, Dwight

The poor sap can't command their respect
Takes their crap, reprimands, and neglect
Wouldn't heed his existence
But they need his assistance
Perhaps if he'd stand more erect?

Edward van Sloan, John Boles, hunched Dwight Frye, Mae Clarke, and Colin Clive, in Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931). Title by upstanding Donald B. Benson.

The Inconsistent Assistant

Ever wonder why plans go awry?
Naught but blunders and panic? Here's why!
Cuz your henchman, Doc Feelgood,
Ain't J. Dench nor J. Gielgud
It's that dunderhead, manic D. Frye!

Surly Hack and David Cairns

Dwight Frye as Fritz, Boris Karloff as the Monster, and Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931). Just another Dwight Frye-Day at LimerWrecks.

The No-Goodnik, the Mad and the Pug-Ugly

While the storm is the pits, cold and rainy,
True to form, hunchback Fritz plays it zany
When the creature restarts
It lacks speech and all smarts
It's abnormally witless, bad-brainy.

Dwight Frye, Colin Clive, and the monster of Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931).

Fritz Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Like the biblical saviour, but stranger
Robbed from gibbets by knaves at great danger
'Twas a nightmare nativity
Into Dwight Frye's captivity
My crib was the grave, not a manger.

David Cairns

The Monster (Boris Karloff) narrates his birth, with Dwight Frye as Fritz, and Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931).

Whelp Wanted

Going mad, into secrets they pry,
Create addled, sick freaks that won't die  
When the work and the gore
For these jerks proves a chore
They place ads for a sneak like D Frye.

Your friendly neighborhood mad doctor is at it again. Boris Karloff as The Monster, Dwight Frye as Fritz, and Colin Clive as the doc, Henry Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931). Title by David Cairns, wanted in North and South Dakota.

It's a Clive! IT'S A CLIVE!

Colin Clive tends to rant when he's manic
"It's alive!" we will grant, it's galvanic
Yes, it twitches its digits
And in stitches, it fidgets
When it thrives he'll recant in a panic.

David Cairns

Bois Karloff is the Monster, given new life by Colin Clive, Henry Frankenstein (James Whale; 1931).

Frankensteinway

Colin Clive's dashed to bits in a crash
He's alive! But his mitts are now hash
With his fists gone astray
His poor wrists cannot play
This deprived Horowitz ain't a smash.

David Cairns

Colin Clive is Stephen Orlac, a concert pianist who undergoes a double hand transplant in Mad Love (Karl Freund; 1935).