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| Sandra Mornay | |
| Aliases: | Doctor Mornay Doctor Sandra Mornay |
| Franchise: | Universal Monsters |
| Notability: | Antagonist |
| Type: | Mad scientist |
| Gender: | Female |
| Location: | La Mirada, Florida |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Born: | 1918 [1] |
| Died: | 1948 [2] |
| First: | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) |
| Actor: | Lenore Aubert |
Sandra Mornay is a fictional scientist and a femme fatale featured in the Universal Monsters film series. Played by actress Lenore Aubert, she was the female lead in the 1948 horror/comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which is notable for being the final appearance of the classic Universal Monsters.
Biography[]
Sandra Mornay was an ambitious scientist who traveled to La Mirada, Florida incognito. She set up shop inside of a laboratory on an island owned by the notorious vampire Count Dracula. Her assistant was a young man named Doctor Stevens, but Stevens was unaware of Mornay's true ambitions, nor her connection to Dracula who had been operating under the alias of Doctor Lejos. Sandra and Dracula had conspired to transplant a new brain into the body of the Frankenstein Monster. Dracula did not wish to risk the monster's traditional violent outbursts and required a brain that was pliable and easily manipulated. Sandra found such a donor in the form of baggage handler Wilbur Grey. For several weeks, Sandra pretended to be in love with Wilbur in order to stay close with him. While romancing the love-struck Wilbur, Sandra also occupied her time by studying the notes of the original Baron Frankenstein.
In 1948, Doctor Mornay felt that they were nearly ready to conduct their experiments. She arranged for Wilbur to meet her at the castle under the pretense of going out on a date. Wilbur arrived, but he was not alone. He brought with him his friend Chick Young as well as a second date, Joan Raymond. Sandra grew uneasy, both with the additional couples as well as Wilbur's seeming unfaithfulness. When the opportunity presented itself, she rifled through Joan Raymond's handbag and discovered that she was actually an undercover insurance agent. Things were growing too risky.
On the night when she was expected to go out to a masquerade ball with the others, she feined a headache and insisted that she had to stay at the castle. Dracula pulled her aside demanding to know why she was behaving so strangely and she told him that they had to postpone the experiment and that things were too risky right at the moment. Dracula was not a man accustomed to having his orders disobeyed, but Sandra proved to be extremely willfull. Dracula exerted his dominance over her and turned her into a vampire. [3]
Dracula sent Sandra out to apprehend Wilbur. She captured him and brought him back to the laboratory where she strapped him down to a table next to the Frankenstein Monster. She likely would have completed her experiments but for the unexpected arrival of Chick Young, Professor Stevens, Joan Raymond as well as that of Larry Talbot, aka, the Wolf Man. Things devolved into chaos very quickly. The Frankenstein Monster awakened and broke free of the straps that bound him to the table. He picked up Doctor Mornay and pitched her through the window of the laboratory where she fell, presumably to her doom.
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Sandra Mornay was created by director Charles T. Barton and screenwriters Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo and John Grant.
- Dracula makes note of the fact that Sandra Mornay has a price on her head, but the circumstances concerning this are never revealed.
- Another character born in or around the year 1918 is Helen Manson from The Invisible Man Returns.
See also[]
- Universal Classics Horror
- Universal Classics Horror films
- Universal Classics Horror images
- Universal Classics Horror characters
- Universal Classics Horror miscellaneous
External Links[]
- None
References[]
- ↑ Date based upon the relative age of actress Lenore Aubert.
- ↑ This database assumes that the events of the film take place in the same year in which it was released.
- ↑ It is unclear whether Dracula actually turned her into a vampire, or merely hypnotized her into being an obedient servant. Sandra did seem to possess a taste for blood however.