MovieChat Forums > Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) Discussion > The Castle on the Island

The Castle on the Island

posted 17 years ago by steverebbry2002
9 replies | jump to latest

The castle that was used reminded me of the castle in the 1931 Dracula and it reminded me of the Frankenstein castle. Did anyone else think so?

[–] raypdaley182 17 years ago

I was trying to decide where the castle was. Very odd to have a gothic castle in America, no?

[–] rpetry 16 years ago

Hello,

The Castle used in that movie is located in Haledon, New Jersey. Lou Costello was originally from Paterson, NJ which is right next to Haledon. So, I'm guessing he had knowledge of the castle and may have had something to do with the reason it was chosen. It was known in the area as the Serbin Castle which was the last name of the owners at the time. I was actually in that area today and took a picture of it to add to my scrapbook of Haledon, the town I grew up in. It is a very beautiful building on the outside and as little girls, my sisters and I would often wonder what it looked like inside.

[–] one4now4 16 years ago

I'd love to visit this place someday.

"All humans are fools to some extent. At least, I'm a clever one." - me

[–] haristas 16 years ago

I'm sorry but you're wrong. The castle in this movie is merely a matte painting and several studio sets. The production never left the Universal lot! Many people used to think the castle was really in Florida, but there's no such place.

[–] ANDREWEHUNT 16 years ago

I agree with haristas. I've seen the movie -- oh, Lord... -- probably close to a hundred times, and I'm certain the castle is a matte painting. It's sort of like the castle in Citizen Kane. You can tell it's not real (which is one of the drawbacks of an otherwise superb film in both movies). I also agree with an earlier poster that it's highly unusual to see a castle like this one in the United States. Europe, yes. But not the U.S. To the credit of the film, I didn't really think about this until about the 49th time I saw A&C Meet Frankenstein. The rest of it holds up so well....

[–] Emerg0 14 years ago

I'm sorry but you're wrong. The castle in this movie is merely a matte painting and several studio sets. The production never left the Universal lot! Many people used to think the castle was really in Florida, but there's no such place.

It could have been a painting of an actual castle.

[–] JosephQCat (706) 7 months ago

It might have been a matte painting but the castle in NJ may very well have been the artistic influence.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] millsey72 (9594) a year ago