Every Time Hollywood Re-Used Expensive Props

12. Dr. Frankenstein’s Lab Equipment

Also Appears In: Frankenstein (1931)
Estimated Savings: $20,000+*

There have been many different Frankenstein movies over the years, but 1931’s Frankenstein was one of the very first. The serious caper had its lab designed by prop master Kenneth Strickfaden, who later ended up hiding it away in his garage after filming had wrapped.

Thank goodness Strickfaden had the foresight to store it, as when Mel Brooks decided to make Young Frankenstein in 1974 he simply borrowed it. There was no need to make all the complex dials and machinery from scratch as it still existed. While Young Frankenstein was not a hard-hitting movie, it certainly looked the part.