Dwight Frye 1899-1943 By Jim Coughlin

Who is responsible for Count Dracula leasing Carfax Abbey and moving to England, for the Frankenstein monster having an abnormal brain, and for the "Bride" of the monster having a "fresh" heart? The answer, of course, is Dwight Frye, in his respective roles as Renfield in Dracula, Fritz in Frankenstein, and Karl in Bride of Frankenstein. Frye carved a niche for himself in horror films as the definitive henchman to either a mad doctor or vampire. Inevitably, the arch field in each film did him in as well.

What many people do not know about Frye was his background. How did one schooled in classical music and one acclaimed by theatre critics as equally adept at interpreting comedy and drama end up in films frequenting graveyards and crypts?

He was born Dwight Iliff Frye on February 22, 1899, in Salina, Kansas. (The -e was later added to his name for the theatre.) Dwight's parents, Charles and Ella Dodd Fry, moved to Denver, Colorado, shortly thereafter. Frye was schooled in piano and voice from an early age and, at nine, set his sights at becoming a concert pianist. He practiced up to eight hours a day over the next ten years and became quite accomplished, giving concerts throughout the western United States.

At the age of fourteen, Frye started regularly attending the performances of O. D. Woodward's stock company at the Denham Theatre in Denver. For five years he never missed an opening night show and became quite friendly with the director and players. Woodward offered him a bit role in one of his productions, but Frye, not wishing to star at the bottom, politely declined. Dwight graduated from high school and obtained a secretarial position for a Denver business, while studying acting under Margaret Fealy (who had also worked with the teenaged Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.).

Fry's parents convinced him to enrol in a fine arts curriculum at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was there only two months when he received word from O. D. Woodward that the company juvenile had entered the army and Frye was wanted as his replacement. Frye immediately returned to Denver and made his stage debut as Rufe Waters in "Salomy Jane." He finished out the stock season in Spokane, Wash. And, inspired by his success, decided to venture to New York City. Unable to find demand for his services, Dwight ended up spending forty weeks in a touring vaudeville sketch, "Magic Glasses" with Frances Nordstrom, which landed him back in Denver. Frye then performed in another vaudeville act as a singing comedian, but left the show in Pueblo, due to his other's coaxing, and returned to New York.

Frye landed the lead in the road company version of the musical comedy, "La La Lucille," which lasted ten weeks. Next he became a member of the Merkle-Harder repertoire company, which played small cities in the northeast. The company was performing in Pittsfield, Mass., in the summer of 1921, when Fry's talents became obvious to Mrs. John Hutton, socialite and noted theatre patron. She contacted her friend, Broadway producer Brock Pemberton, but he was unable to get away to see the young actor. Frye returned to Spokane and finished the season in Seattle doing stock. When Dwight returned to Pittsfield the following summer, Pemberton caught him in a small role in "Twin Beds." The producer's interest aroused, he came back the next week, saw Frye play the lead in "Broken Wings," and signed Dwight to a contract.

His first Broadway role in "The Plot Thickens" (9/5/22), as a boy reluctantly learning the burglary trade from his father, brought Frye to the notice of critic Alexander Woollcott. His review read, "… the accomplice being excellently managed by one Dwight Frye … Junior, he's called, fretfully whining, 'oh, papa,' as he goes rifling and filching under the scientific eye of the old jailbird."

Frye then assayed the character of the son in Pirandello's famous "Six Characters in Search of An Author" (10/30/22). That and his next three Broadway appearances were also produced by Pemberton. Frye's portrayal of Patrick Delaney, gifted composer and piano tuner, in "Rita Coventry" (2/19/23) enabled him to exhibit his keyboard skills. (Frye recorded some piano solos around this time and it would be quite a find if any of these platters still exist.) Heywood Broun said of his playing of the Parisian blackmailer and gigolo in "The Love Habit" (3/14/23), "Dwight Frye again shows himself as a brilliant young actor." After a season of stock, Frye came back to New York for a revival of "Six Characters" (2/6/24).

Frye's proficiency in song and dance was in evidence in the musical comedy "Sitting Pretty" (4/8/24), with Queenie Smith. Henry Miller's "So This is Politics" (aka "Strange Bedfellows") (6/16/24) featured Dwight as the stubborn, meddlesome brother of a woman running for political office. The "Herald Tribune" considered his Willie Marsden to be "one of the memorable funny characters of the season." Frye then returned to Brock Pemberton to portray piano-playing villain Frank Mohacz in "Puppets" (3/9/25), which starred Frederic March, Miriam Hopkins, and C. Henry Gordon.

"A Man's Man" (10/13/25), his first and only Broadway top-billing, brought Frye rave reviews for his characterisation of Melville Tuttle. The play dealt with an ineffectual little man who struggles in vain for success and happiness. In the end, he and his wife (Josephine Hutchinson) must deal with shame and failure and begin to view life realistically.

Following this success, Frye was signed by the Theatre Guild to appear in "The Goat Song" (1/25/26) and "The Chief Thing" (3/22/26). The former starred the Lunts, Blanche Yurka, and Edward G. Robinson and featured Dwight as the futile, unfortunate Mirko. In the latter, he played a student whose faith is restored after attempting suicide.

Frye prophetically appeared opposite Bela Lugosi in "The Devil in the Cheese" (12/29/26). In a fantasy set around an archaeological expedition at an old monastery, Frye was the inept Dr. Pointell Jones and Lugosi was the mysteries Father Petros, actually the leader of a band of brigands. Frederic March was the romantic lead. Dwight's humorous part was a welcome change after three straight tragic roles. Frye stated, "Mr. Hopkins (the producer) was the first person in two years to call me a comedian and when he said, 'I think he's funny,' I was overjoyed."

In the short-lived "Ink" (11/1/27), Frye was Clarence Jerome, a cub reporter. He then played the "unspeakably supercilious" (according to J. Brooks Atkinson) Prince William of Greck in "The Queen's Husband" (1/25/28), which starred Roland (Topper) Young.

On August 1, 1928, Frye was married to Laurette Bullivant in New York City. The Spokane-born actress was to achieve some success of her own on Broadway in "Congratulations" ('29) and "Her Majesty, the Widow" ('34). The Fryes (along with Dwight's mother, who had moved to New York) owned and operated a tearoom at 44 W. 69th Street that was frequented by many stage personalities of the time.

Noted film historian William K. Everson spotted Frye as a wedding extra in a Reginald Denny film made in the summer of 1928. Unless disproven, The Night Bird represents Frye's unofficial screen debut.

Following a cross-country tour with "A Man's Man," Frye was lured back to Broadway by producer David Belasco. He was enlisted to play Alfons, the spider, in the expensive flop "Mima" (12/12/28), with Lenore Ulric and Sidney Blackmer. After this closed, Frye left for the West Coast, as did many stage performers, to try his hand at the new rage - "talkies!"

Dwight was appearing in the play "Rope's End" with Noel Madison, when both were signed by Warners to appear in The Doorway to Hell (1930). Frye was a machine-gunning hood in this underworld melodrama starring Lew Ayres and James Cagney. Frye followed this with his first billed appearance as Vint Glade, a deceitful bank teller, in Man to Man (1930).

Frye is undoubtedly best remembered for his portrayal of Renfield, the real estate agent turned vampire's slave, in Dracula (1931). So strong is his identification with the character that rock star Alice Cooper recorded "Dwight Frye," which actually deals with the fly-eating loony from the film rather than the actor. Although this was probably Frye's greatest screen performance, it typecast him in roles from which he would never escape.

The early sequences were effectively shot by cameraman Karl Freund, with Frye arriving in the Translyvanian village of Bistritz on Walpurgis night - the night of evil. Renfield is warned not to go to Castle Dracula, but he just scoffs. He does, however, accept the offering of a crucifix from an old peasant woman, who requests he wear it "for your mother's sake."

A coach meets him at Borgo Pass, with Dracula (Bela Lugosi) at the reins, unbeknownst to Renfield. Soon the carriage is riding with no driver - under the guidance of a large bat. By the time the agent arrives at Castle Dracula he is quite unnerved. The initial encounter between Count Dracula and Renfield is one of the best scenes of the film. Renfield's bewilderment is enhanced as the peculiar nobleman passes through cobwebs without even disturbing them.

Renfield accepts that fatal glass of wine, as he and the Count discuss the lease on Carfax Abbey. Now he is the vampire's loyal henchman and he accompanies Dracula's coffins aboard the Vesta, which pulls into port deserted - except for a sinister laugh coming from a hatchway. It turns out to be Renfield, seemingly quite mad. He is taken to Dr. Seward's Sanitarium, which is not so coincidentally located adjacent to Carfax Abbey.

In an amusing scene at the sanitarium, Renfield beseeches Martin (Charles Gerrard), a guard, not to throw away his spider. Martin humorously inquires if flies aren't good enough for the inmate anymore. Renfield rebukes the guard, explaining the qualitative difference between the two bugs.

Renfield is introduced to Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) and agrees to cooperate with him. However, when the learned scientist produces wolfbane, Renfield exclaims, "You know too much to live, Van Helsing!" Later the Count speaks to him from outside the window, in the form of a wolf. Renfield is commanded to invite the vampire into the house, so that Dracula can sink his fangs into Mina Seward (Helen Chandler).

The tortured lunatic constantly escapes from his cell and, in a moment of sane conscience, he implores John Harker (David Manners) to take his fiancé Mina away from the danger. The next time Renfield gets loose and is recaptured, he gives a chilling oration about the rats promised to him by Count Dracula in return for his servitude.

Renfield meets his demise when he accidentally leads Harker and Van Helsing to Carfax Abbey. Dracula strangles him for his supposed treachery, as the poor fool pleads for his existence.

Prior to the release of Dracula (St. Valentine's Day, 1931), Laura Frye presented her husband with a son. Dwight David Frye, Jr., born on Dec. 26, 1930, was later to make a name for himself in the theatre, both as an actor on the California stage (in such plays as Arthur Miller's "The Crucible") and on the production end in New York (assisting on "Man of La Mancha," "Home Sweet Homer," and other Broadway shows).

Frye returned to Warners to appear in the first version of Dashiell Hammett's famed The Maltese Falcon (1931). Dwight was featured as Wilmer Cook, the neurotic gunsel who gives Sam Spade some bad times before escaping out a window after overhearing that he no longer fits in the plans of his partners-in-crime. Elisha Cook, Jr. essayed the role in the renowed 1941 remake. Ricardo Cortez, Bebe Daniels, Dudley Digges, ad Otto Matieson played the parts in the original, later made immortal by Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre, respectively.

Next, Frye was featured in the Hawaii-based tale, The Black Camel (1931), for Fox. Warner Oland starred as Charlie Chan and Bela Lugosi was Tarneverro, the fortune teller - a prime suspect, but only a red herring in the pattern of Chan films. Dwight was Jessop, the butler who actually did commit the murder for a change. Jessop slew Smith (Murray Kinnell) to protect Anna (Violet Dunn) who had killed Shelah Fane (Dorothy Revier), the person responsible for the initial murder. Only Charlie Chan could unwind a mess like that.

Another of Frye's memorable roles in the realm of horror was that of Fritz in Frankenstein (1931). That was the beginning of a long association with gifted director James Whale that would involve six films. Frye and Whale combined to give color and dimension to the character of the hunchbacked dwarf, a part that would later be burlesqued in countless horror films in the years that followed.

Fritz in initially seen at a graveyard with Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive), hiding in the shadows and peering over a spiked fence at a burial service. When the ceremony concludes, they hastily dig up the body and start back for the laboratory. En route they pass by a gallows and Fritz is instructed to climb up and cut down the hanging corpse. Dr. Frankenstein realises, however, that the brain is damaged, so Fritz is dispatched to Goldstadt Medical College, where Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan) is lecturing. Fritz watches through the window until the hall clears, whereupon he sneaks in and grabs the container marked "normal brain." In his nervousness, Fritz bumps into a suspended skeleton and drops the jar, which smashes on the floor. He hurriedly takes the abnormal brain and scurries off in the night.

Fritz is next in view during a terrific storm, helping Dr. Frankenstein make the final connections before putting his theories on life to their final test. They are interrupted, however, by a knocking at the door and Fritz ventures down the stairs to chase the intruders away. Herein you see Fritz mugging at his best. He mumbles to himself, yells at the interlopers to leave, and starts back up the stairway, pausing to pull up his sock.

Frankenstein decides to admit his "visitors" and they turn out to be his fiancé Elizabeth (Mae Clarke), Victor Moritz (John Boles), and Dr. Waldman. They watch in amazement as Henry and Fritz complete the arrangements for the "life-giving" process.

The sadistic side of Fritz comes into play following the creation of "the monster" (Boris Karloff). The dwarf torments the creature with a torch ("Here's fire for you!," he gleefully exclaims), but is murdered for his misdeeds. While Drs. Waldman and Frankenstein discuss what is to be done, a scream is heard offscreen. They run to find out that Fritz has been hung with the very whip that he had used on the monster. Between having supplied the creature with the brain of a criminal and having shown it human cruelty, Fritz is actually the one responsible for the monster's destructive nature. Dr. Frankenstein nonetheless laments the death of his assistant, knowing that Fritz was too limited to ever realise the implications of his actions.

After this interesting portrayal, Frye made his first of many features for Harry Cohn's "B-unit" at Columbia. The film was Attorney for the Defense (1932) and Dwight was John Wallace, who is sent to the electric chair by Edmund Lowe for a crime that he did not commit.

By Whose Hand? (1932), a murder mystery taking place on a train, had Frye as Chick Lewis. Lewis is on his way to prison when he is knifed by his supposedly dead pal, Killer Delmar (Nat Pendleton), on whom he had squealed.

Frye was featured as Dick Loomis in the Tim McCoy vehicle, The Western Code (1932). Dick and his sister Polly (Nora Lane) are duped out of their inheritance by their evil stepfather, Nick Grindall (played with his usual sinister glee by Wheeler Oakman). Dick is falsely accused of murder, as well, but McCoy rights all wrongs and wins Polly's love for a typical western ending.

Monogram signed Frye to appear in A Strange Adventure - aka The Wayne Murder Case - (1932), a low-budget, "haunted house" melodrama. Frye was Robert Wayne, moneygrabbing nephew of the murdered millionaire (William V. Mong).

Another noted fantasy role for Frye was that of Herman Gleib, the moronic bat-keeper, in The Vampire Bat (1933). Frye was stuck with some rather hideous dialogue in this film, like, "You give me apples … Herman give you nice soft bat." He does have his moments, particularly in an amusing scene with Maude Eburne in which she thinks he has turned himself into a dog. Gleib is eventually driven to his death by superstitious villagers, who believe Herman to be responsible for a series of vampire-like murders in the town of Kleinschloss. Terrified, Gleib leaps off a ledge and then is impaled with a ritualistic stake. The surprised villagers learn, however, on their return that another murder has taken place during their absence. Melvyn Douglas and Fay Wray finally unveil Lionel Atwill, in one of his many "mad doctor" portrayals, as the real fiend.

Frye was becoming somewhat disgruntled with the roles he was becoming mired in. He remarked to a reporter on the set of The Vampire Bat, "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!" Dwight appeared in two more films before returning to the stage for a change of pace.

The Circus Queen Murder (1933) starred Adolphe Menjou as Thatcher Colt and featured Frye as Flandrin, a stellar aerial performer who murders his unfaithful wife. Dwight then returned to Universal to do an unbilled bit as a reporter in The Invisible Man (1933), directed by his friend Jaems Whale. Frye has four lines of dialogue in one scene conversing with the Chief of Police (Holmes Herbert) about capturing the invisible menace. Dwight offers, "Why not put wet tar on all the roads - then chase the black soles of his feet?"

The gifted actress Pauline Frederick, a dear friend of Dwight and Laura Frye, presented them with the opportunity of touring with her in three plays during the spring and summer of 1933. Initially, Dwight appeared with Frederick in various cities from the West Coat to Boston in "The Criminal at Large." Frye portrayed the weak, demented son, Lord Lebanon. Muriel Elwood, in her 1940 biography of Frederick, commented, "Dwight Frye, that brilliant young actor whose metier for portraying weird and rather gruesome parts has not yet been fully appreciated, was shudderingly realistic in the part. He has a gift for conveying a naïve charm of manner and yet, at the same time, of sending shudders down your back!" Dwight and Laura were featured together in two other Frederick vehicles in 1933: "Amber" and "Her Majesty, the Widow." The latter eventually reached Broadway, but Frye was shooting Bride of Frankenstein at the time and was unable to rejoin the cast.

Frye made his final Broadway appearances during the 1933-34 theatrical season. First, Dwight played Ah Sing, a mysterious oriental, in the Charlie Chan mystery, "Keeper of the Keys" (10/18/33). William Harrigan, who had played Dr. Kemp in The Invisble Man, starred as the famous detective. Next Frye was Frank Carson, a forsaken husband, in "Queer People" (2/15/34), which starred Hal Skelly and Gladys George. When this closed, Dwight travelled to California to co-star with his wife in "The Pursuit of Happiness." In July 1934, Frye appeared in the Russian drama, "Squaring the Circle," with Frank Shannon (Zarkov from Flash Gordon), in Woodmere, L.I. Dwight starred at the Westport (Conn.) Playhouse in "The Country Wife" (6/35). Virtually all his theatrical work from hereon was done on the Pacific Coast, like "Meet the Wife." Of note was Frye's starring role as Danny in "Night Must Fall" ('36 - '37) at the Mason Operahouse. Dwight also resurrected the role of Renfield in various revivals of "Dracula."

Bride of Frankenstein (1935) provided Frye with the rather meaty part of Karl, a pathological killer and graverobber.  Few of his choice scenes, such as murdering his miserly uncle (Gunnis Davis) while the monster runs amuck, were cut at the last minute when Universal felt the film ran too long. Karl is still left with some good moments, however, assisting the eccentric Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger).

Karl is first seen amidst a crowd of villagers in the forest, as the monster (Boris Karloff) is temporarily captured. His initial introduction by Pretorius to Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive), wherein the basis of Karl's loyalty is explained, was excised from the final release print, along with the section of the film during which he kills and robs his uncle.

Karl next appears in an underground crypt with Pretorius and Ludwig (Ted Billings), another grave robber. After they open the tomb of a young woman, the two "resurrection men" leave, with Karl muttering, "This is no life for murderers." Back at Frankenstein's laboratory, Karl is dispatched to find a heart for the feamel body that the doctors are working on. He runs off, grumbling about his prospective victim, and returns with what he assures the doctors is a very fresh heart. Next, Karl is at the other end of a primitive telephone in a cave wherein Henry's wife Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) is being retained so that Frankenstein will complete his end of the bargain with Pretorius. Karl allows her to talk to Henry, but is forced to muffle Elizabeth to prevent her from giving away the whereabouts of the hiding place. In the original script, Karl was to have murdered Elizabeth and supplied her heart for the "Bride."

Karl's final sequence in the film occurs on the roof of the tower that houses the laboratory. He and Ludwig launch kites to attract electricity. The monster comes up to investigate what is going on and Karl wards him off with a torch. Fritz could have warned him that the monster would not take kindly to that, but, in any event, Karl is lifted up and hurled from the tower to his doom.

Frye's portrayal of Karl was a colorful one and fits in well with the mood of what many consider to be Universal's finest film in the horror genre. Film historian Gary D. Dorst opines that it was Frye's second greatest performance (next to Renfield), but sadly adds that it was also his last substantial role in a major film.

Frye revisited Columbia Pictures to appear with Lloyd Nolan and Nancy Carroll in Atlantic Adventure (1935). Dwight played Spike, a member of a gang of jewel thieves aboard a luxury liner.

In his review of The Great Impersonation (1935) for "The N. Y. Times." Andre Senwald cracked, "Dwight Frye makes it official by playing the bogy-man of the Black Bog." Frye was Roger Unthank, a crazed man supposedly killed years before, who had hidden all that time in the bog, providing the villagers with ghostly legends from his eerie cries and acts. Unthank is only seen briefly when the marshland is put to the torch and he is captured upon emerging. Frye benefitted from another excellent Jack Pierce make-up job, providing him with long tangled hair and beard, as well as the impression of wild, deep-set eyes and bony hands. In a conversation with Frye's son, he remembered his father coming home from the studio one day still in this make-up and giving Laura and Dwight, Jr. quite a scare.

Frye was listed second to Erich von Stroheim in the credits for The Crime of Dr. Crespi (1935), loosely based on Poe's The Premature Burial. Dwight was young Dr. Thomas, who is quite sceptical of his colleague, Dr. Andrew Crespi (von Stroheim). Thomas feels that Crespi has poisoned one Stephen Ross, the husband of Cerspi's former love (Harriet Russell). He confronts Crespi and a struggle ensues, leaving Thomas rather comically locked in a closet as Crespi leaves for the funeral. After Thomas is freed, he and Dr. Arnold (Paul Guilfoyle) unearth the body of Ross and bring it back to the hospital. As they're about to operate, the "dead" man sits up. Later, they all burst into Crespi's office and the insidious doctor draws a gun. Crespi reconsiders when he sees his old flame and surrenders. At the film's conclusion, Dwight Frye has one of his few cinematic romantic scenes, as Dr. Thomas asks a nurse (Jean Brooks) out.

The film was directed by John Auer, who shot it in New York City in eight days. It was one of the first Republic releases and a rather poor one. Von Stroheim referred to it as "The Crime of Republic." However, Bosley Crowther noted in "The N. Y. Times," "The only redeeming presence in the picture is that of Dwight Frye, as Dr. Crespi's assistant. Mr. Frye, once chosen as one of the ten best legitimate actors on Broadway, makes the best of a bad situation …" Frye had little choice anymore but to do so.

Florida Special (1936), starring Jack Oakie, had Dwight as Jenkins, who is murdered while guarding the jewels of an eccentric millionaire (Claude Gillingwater). In Alibi for Murder (1936), Frye played McBride, who is wrongly accused of killing his employer. Dwight appeared as a hood named Swanson in Beware of Ladies (1937), a tale of city politics and blackmail starring Donald Cook.

Frye's roles seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. He was the radio operator on the S. S. Paradise in Sea Devils (1937), which had Victor McLaglen and Preston Foster as brawling Coast Guarders. Then Dwight had a bit as a patient on a flying mobile hospital in The Man Who Found Himself (1937), with John Beal and Joan  Fontaine. Frye's son was also featured briefly in the film's climax as a youngster being pulled from the wreckage of a train.

James Whale beckoned again and Frye next appeared in The Road Back (1937), the long-awaited sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front. Unlike its predecessor, the film was a flop. Dwight was a villager in post World War I Germany who cautions the returning veterans about using terms like "comrade" and "liberty."

Frye then mugged it up as a studio make-up man in Something to Sing About (1937), made at Grand National during James Cagney's self-imposed exile from Warners. Easton (Frye) has rather campy dialogue, as when he remarks to Terry Rooney (Cagney), "When I look at that hairline, I could almost cry!" At the same studio, Frye was unbilled as a desk clerk in Renfrew of the Royal Mounted (1937).

Frye returned to Harry Cohn's "B" unit to appear in two films with Rita Hayworth. In The Shadow (1937), Dwight was Vindecco, a "twistbacked horse handler" for the magnificent rider Martinent (Donald Kirke). Vindecco becomes a prime suspect when Martinent is murdered because it turns out that he was the brutally mistreated brother of the rider. Before he can reveal the actual murderer, Vindecco is felled by a poison dart. Frye's role in Who Killed Gail Preston? (1938) was less substantial. Preston (Hayworth) is murdered during her night club act. Mr. Owen (Frye) is seen firing a shot and racing out the door. Chased by the police, Owen climbs a fire escape to a fourth-story roof, where he admits to the crime before leaping to his death. It is discovered that he was Preston's estranged husband, but also that his bullet wasn't the one that killed her. John Gallaudet did it.

Frye was reunited with his friend from the New York stage, C. Henry Gordon, in The Invisible Enemy (1938). Frye was Alex, henchman to Gordon, an unscrupulous international dealer in munitions. As Marshall, Dwight appeared briefly in Sinners in Paradise (1938), the fifth film he did with James Whale. Fast Company (1938) had Frye as Sidney Z. Wheeler, who fixes up rare stolen books for a fence (Louis Calhern). Calhern later shoots Wheeler to avoid implication in a murder mystery being investigated by Melvyn Douglas. Dwight then was featured in an MGM "Crime Does Not Pay" short, entitled Think It Over (1938). This concerned a gang involved in a fire insurance racket.

Frye portrayed Colley in The Night Hawk (1938), a story of rival gangs starring Robert Livingstone. Dwight then played Gravet in Adventure in Sahara (1938). Gravet is referred to as "the Jackal" for his not very popular habit of informing to the evil commandant (C. Henry Gordon) on his fellow legionnaires.

Richard Bojarski writes in The Films of Boris Karloff that Frye appeared as a villager in scenes shot in Technicolor for Son of Frankenstein (1939). These shots were later abandoned, however, when the producers decided to go with black & white. Quite a slap in the face to a man who was such an integral part of the first two "Frankenstein" features to be cut out of the third entry.

The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) marked Dwight's last appearance in a James Whale film. Frye was unbilled as the valet to the sinister Fouquet (Joseph Schildkraut). The valet readies Fouquet for Louis XIV's wedding, stating, "It may be His Majesty who is getting married, but you, your excellency, will be the most handsome man at the ceremony - certainly the best dressed!"

Conspiracy (1939), a tale of spies and revolution starring Allan Lane, had Frye as Lt. Keller. Dwight had scenes as a doctor at a clinic in MGM's disaster, I Take This Woman (1940), but none of his footage was included after the film was released following many revisions and changes of cast and director.

Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) proved to be Dwight's only appearance in a serial. He was featured in Chapter 5, "The House of Terror," as Professor Anderson, curator of the Historical Museum. Anderson is entreated by Allan Parker (Robert Kellard) to wrap a dummy package supposedly containing the Kardac Segment, a stone tablet sought by Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon). The trick fails, however, as Fu Manchu watches the incident via his water mirror and learns the true location of the tablet. Allan and Anderson are then attacked by four Dacoits (Fu Manchu's "men of murder"), who have been posing as wax figurines in the museum. The police come to the rescue of the two men and Allan rushes off to inform Sir Denis Nayland Smith (William Royle) of what has transpired. This Republic serial was released in feature form in 1943 and included some of the above described footage of Frye.

Frye was a gunman named Pinky in Gangs of Chicago (1940), starring Lloyd Nolan and Barton MacLane. He then played Eddie Anders in Phantom Raiders (1940).  This was the second of MGM's Nick Carter series, starring Walter Pidgeon, and the plot evolved around ships disappearing in the Panama Canal Zone.

Dwight showed up in his second "Renfrew of the Mounted" film as Speavy in Sky Bandits (1940). Speavy is the inventor of a mystery ray which destroys planes by wrecking their magneto. A gang headed by Morgan (William Pawley) brings in a scientist (Joseph Stefani) to increase the power of the ray to bring down a plane carrying a gold shipment. Speavy becomes jealous and later tries to use the ray to kill Renfrew (James Newill).

Frye had but one scene in The Son of Monte Cristo (1940) as the secretary to Prince Pavlov (Michael Visaroff - the innkeeper from Dracula) at the Russian Embassy. The secretary is coerced by Louis Hayward, Montagu Love, and Clayton Moore into opening a safe that contains a document that will expose George Sanders as a traitor.

Mystery Ship (1941) had Frye as Rader, one of a group of deported aliens who take over a vessel at sea. Paul Kelly, Lola Lane, and Larry Parks (in his film debut) starred. This was the third film that Frye appeared in for director Lew Landers.

The next four films contained very minor unbilled bits for Dwight. He was the jury foreman in The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941), The Blonde From Singapore (1941) had Frye as a barber. In The Devil Pays Off (1941), Frye was a radio operator for J. Edward Bromberg, who is involved in espionage. Dwight then had another of his many appearances as a two-bit hood in Judy Canova's Sleepytime Gal (1942).

Another role was found for Frye in Universal's crypt of horror, so he returned there to be in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). Although unbilled, he rushes forth at the beginning of the film to urge, "Destroy the Castle! Strike the last traces of these accursed Frankensteins from our land!" As to how, he offers his fellow irate villages, "We'll blow it up!"

Danger in the Pacific (1942) presented Frye the "magnanimous" role of a hotel desk clerk. While on the Universal lot, he was given a feature part in the fifth entry to the series, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). Dwight played Rudi, again a hostile townsperson. At least he has more than one scene in this film, as well as some colorful dialogue. Not knowing the Wolf Man is in town, Rudi comments scornfully, "What animals are around here that can kill people?" Later with some cronies, as they discuss plans to destroy the Frankenstein monster (Bela Lugosi), Rudi adds, "Much as I'd like to kill the monster, I'd hate to crawl around through those dark catacombs of Frankenstein's Castle in the black of night."

Finally, while smoking a pipe in a pub, Rudi has a peak moment of scepticism, reflecting, "But doesn't it strike you as strange that, ah, Mannering (Patric Knowles) and that Frankenstein girl (Ilona Massey) never tell us what they're doing up there?" Frye's last scene in a "Frankenstein" film comes as he remembers that Rex Evans was going to blow up the dam, just before this occurs.

Dwight Frye's final performance in the horror genre came with his portrayal of Zolarr in Dead Men Walk (1943). Zolarr, a sinister hunchback (sound familiar?), is first seen accusing Dr. Lloyd Clayton (George Zucco) of murdering his twin Elwyn, who dabbled in the black arts. With Zolarr's assistance, Elwyn returns from the grave and a wave of vampirism commences. Zolarr is sent by his master to remove a crucifix from Gayle (Mary Carlisle), Lloyd's ward, so that Elwyn can attain his horrible revenge. The hunchback is thwarted, however, by Dr. Bentley (Nedrick Young). Zolarr also murders Old Kate (Fern Emmett) after she discovers the hiding place of Elwyn's coffin. During the film's climax, Zolarr grapples with Lloyd and is pinned under a piece of furniture. Elwyn enters and the twins battle, as flames from an upset lamp fill the room. All three perish in the fire. Thus ended Dwight Frye's contribution to horror movies. The film was a PRC quickie and this is evident, but Zucco and Frye rose above the material somewhat. Both of them were used to sorry lots by then. Frye, though, was looking rather haggard for a man in his early forties and it wasn't just the make-up.

In order to support the war effort, Dwight had been working the night shift at an aircraft factory as a designer. He even contributed to the plan for a new bomb sight, as well as for other tools and parts. During the day, Frye would either seek out or act in whatever roles he could find. This hectic existence was clearly wearing him out.

If one looks carefully, Frye can be spotted as a Czech patriot in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die (1943). Submarine Alert (1943), starring Richard Arlen in an FBI vs. spies saga, had Dwight in his last billed role as Henry Haldine. Frye's last film appearance was as a mobster who harasses Evelyn Keyes in Dangerous Blondes (1943).

Frye was to have portrayed Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War, a man to whom be bore a remarkable physical resemblance, in the film Wilson (1944). Unfortunately, Dwight succumbed to a heart attack on a bus in Hollywood two days before the film was to go into production. Reginald Sheffield took over the role. A part like this in a major motion picture might have been just the thing Frye needed to get his career out of the doldrums. We'll never know what could have happened.

Filmdom lost a man who had slipped to the status of minor player on November 7, 1943. But to those of us who are admirers of horror films, Dwight Frye will always be considered a major actor in our hearts. Not in the sense of a star, but in the spirit of one who always made his presence felt, no matter how insignificant the role. And, although his performances as Renfield, Fritz, Herman Gleib, Karl, Zolarr, etc., will certainly never be compared to Olivier's "Hamlet," they nonetheless will always evoke vivid memories of the fantasy of days gone by.