I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
1957 film by Herbert L. Strock
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (U.K. title: Teenage Frankenstein) is a 1957 horror film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway. It was previewed by American International Pictures (AIP) in November 1957 as a double feature with Blood of Dracula (1957). It was the follow-up to AIP's box office hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf, released less than five months earlier. Both films later received a sequel in the crossover How to Make a Monster, released in July 1958. The film stars Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates, Robert Burton, Gary Conway and George Lynn. Philip Scheer did the Makeup, Jerry Young was the Editor, Lothrop Worth was cinematographer, Paul Dunlap did the music and Leslie Thomas was Art Director.
Plot
Professor Frankenstein, a guest lecturer from England, talks Dr. Karlton into becoming an unwilling accomplice in his secret plan to actually assemble a human being from the parts of different cadavers. After recovering a body from a catastrophic automobile wreck, Professor Frankenstein takes the body to his laboratory/morgue, where he keeps spare parts of human beings in various drawers. The professor also enlists the aid of Margaret, as his secretary, to keep all callers away from the laboratory.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein” is 1957 film by Herbert L. Strock. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Teenage, Frankenstein and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1957 film by Herbert L. Strock” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1763031. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1957 and 1958.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow I Was a Teenage Frankenstein primary sources, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein archive and Teenage research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.