Bride of Frankenstein : So wait Henry never died…

I also thought he died in one of these films, but is this the last time he was around?
He got a happy ending

He was thrown from the windmill in the first movie and was originally supposed to have died at that point, but the studio wanted a happier ending and added the scene with Henry making a recovery in bed and his father drinking wine with the maids.

By the time of the third movie (Son of Frankenstein), Henry is deceased. The third film takes place years later, with the title character being Henry's adult son, Wolf von Frankenstein, who even visits the tombs of Henry and Henry's father (old Baron Frankenstein from the first movie).

So yes, Bride of Frankenstein is the last movie to feature Henry Frankenstein. His death happens somewhere offscreen between Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. The cause of his death is never stated, so I presume this means he died of natural causes as opposed to meeting a violent end, such as the ones from which he narrowly escaped at the end of each of the first two movies.

And poor Elizabeth -- they never mention her again either.
Of course, seeing how emotional and "over the top" she got over a dream she had of Henry being taken away from her -- she probably died young of a heart attack!
😉

At least Henry and his legacy gets mentioned again (and he even makes a brief appearance as the title character in Ghost of Frankenstein).

Elizabeth is never mentioned after BoF. We do know their marriage produced two sons. Interestingly, there was no tomb for her in Son of Frankenstein, which would seem to imply she was either a) still alive at that time or b) deceased, but chose to be interred elsewhere, away from Henry.

Didn't they have a daughter too? In one of the werewolf movies Lon Chaney goes to the castle, finds the monster, then learns that Frankenstein's daughter is visiting in the village.

I think that Elizabeth is probably still alive. It was pretty common for men to have wives who were considerably younger. Especially Noblemen. They needed HEIRS, SPARES and DAUGHTERS as bargaining chips...to marry into other families.


It even happened in ordinary families: I had an ancestor who was 30, and married an 18 year old. It took 4 years for the wife to get pregnant, and then she and the baby died. What does the 34 year old widower do? He marries his late wife's youngest sister, age 16. Family has 3 sons and two daughters, and the line goes on.

Going by the age of the two stars at the time of BOF, Henry Frankenstein was 34, and Elizabeth was 17.

In SOF, when Wolf finds his father's tomb, there is no mention of Henry's Date of Death, or age at death. Wolf von Frankenstein, is married to a young woman named Elsa, and they have a son named Peter, who appears to be about 5. Wolf and his family are never heard from again.

With regards to GOF and FMTWM, I think that the "NEW" UNIVERSAL just made up an alternate "Universe" as they went along. There was no way that Basil Rathbone was going to come back, as he was busy with the SHERLOCK HOLMES Films. What do they do? They create another Frankenstein, , called LUDWIG, Played by the much older Cedric Hardwicke. Ludwig has a DAUGHTER, called Elsa, and played by Evelyn Ankers.

Ludwig is not heard of again. In FMTWM, Elsa von Frankenstein is now played by Ilona Massey, and is portrayed as a heroine who loathes her family background. The scientist is played by a talented young Brit named Patric Knowles. I love Patric Knowles, and he did the best he could, but the film was all Chaney and Lugosi as the Monsters, and the Scientist is like a Visarian "Dr. Kildare".






I do hope he won't upset Henry...