In June of 1965, William Beaudine agreed to direct the last two films of his career - Billy the Kid vs. Dracula and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. According to biographer Wendy L. Marshall in William Beaudine: From Silents to Television, "...it was loyalty that persuaded him to direct two burlesque horror-westerns for Joe Levine's Circle Productions. Each one was filmed in eight days at the Corrigan Ranch in Simi Valley, and at Paramount Studios. Carroll Case was the producer and Sam Manners the production supervisor. Beaudine had directed television shows for both." Billy the Kid vs. Dracula and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter were produced specifically for the drive-in circuit.

"They were made for fun," said Manners. "Carroll Case felt Bill would do the best job on them, and I'm sure [Levine and Case] felt they could make money with them. That was part and parcel, and is always part and parcel, of whatever's being done. Levine expected to clear more than $5 million on each film."

Beaudine liked to work with actors he had previously directed in other films or television shows and assembled a supporting cast for Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter that included Jim Davis as Marshal MacPhee (Davis had worked with Beaudine on the TV series Rescue 8), Steven Geray as Dr. Frankenstein (Geray had appeared in Beaudine's Paris Playboys [1954]) and Nestor Paiva as the saloon owner (Paiva had been featured in Beaudine's TV series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin).

Cal Bolder, who plays Jesse James' sidekick Hank Tracy and the monster Igor in the film, recalls in an interview with Michael Barnum how he was cast in Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter: "The producer of the film saw me in a television role. I was working pretty steady in TV at that point. He wanted me to come in and read for the part, which I did. It only took about a week to shoot the movie...when you were where I was, and wanted to work and get exposure, then you took just about anything that came along...In fact Jim Davis, who played the sheriff in the film, had been around Hollywood for about 20 years and I managed to get billing above him - and nobody had ever heard of me! Including Jim Davis."

As for his transition from Hank Tracy to Igor in Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Bolder said, "They really shaved my head. They said to me "We'd like for you to shave your head and for that we will give you an extra $1000. And we will give you a professionally made wig for you to wear to go out on auditions with." So I did half the film bald, except for that rubber tape around my head which was made to look like stitching. As it was I got several more roles later in shows where they wanted me to be bald, such as a couple of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes and a Daniel Boone. So it actually worked out well for me."

Estelita Rodriguez, who billed herself as Estelita for most of her career, hadn't made a feature film since Rio Bravo in 1959 when she accepted this role. It would be her last film. She died of influenza shortly after it was completed.

Compiled by Jeff Stafford

SOURCES:
William Beaudine: From Silents to Television by Wendy L. Marshall
"Cal Boulder Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" by Michael Barnum, www.horror-wood.com
IMDB