Rinaldo

Rinaldo was a dwarf from Eastern Europe with dreams of one day traveling to Venice, Italy. Before that however, Rinaldo earned his income by performing as an acrobat for traveling circuses. On his way to Budapest to join a show, Rinaldo was accosted by a gang of boys who picked on him because of his diminutive stature. The Frankenstein Monster known as Viktor appeared and scared the bullies away, thereby earning Rinaldo's gratitude and friendship. Rinaldo invited the creature to walk with him to Budapest to join the circus. He believed the circus could also benefit from someone of the monster's great strength and size. He convinced Viktor that they could make better time if he carried him upon his shoulder during the long walk to Budapest.

To support themselves, they robbed from the local church coffers. Their scheme involved the creature carrying Rinaldo inside a church in a sack whereupon he would distract the attending priest, enabling Rinaldo the opportunity to cut through the sack and steal money when the man wasn't looking. Rinaldo and the monster spent their earnings at a nearby tavern, where the dwarf stood atop the bar, ordering ale after ale. The patrons of the bar disliked Rinaldo's attitude, but they were loathe to take action against him for fearing of earning his larger friend's anger. As things turned out, Viktor consumed more ale than his body was able to withstand and he passed out onto the floor. The bar patrons took this opportunity to attack Rinaldo and they dumped both Rinaldo and the unconscious monster into a nearby river.

Upon finally arriving in Budapest, the two joined a circus run by a surly man named Magar. Magar was not particularly impressed with Rinaldo's talents or disposition, but he recognized the need for the monster, who could perform the work of three men. Rinaldo insisted that they worked as a pair, but settled for accepting only a single wage between them.

Rinaldo was a trapeze artist, whose act consisted of pretending to fall from a trapeze onto the crowd below. Part of his act required a special harness that would keep the dwarf suspended high enough from the ground to survive, but still provide amazement for the audience. During one performance, the monster entered the tent and, not realizing that Rinaldo was in no true danger, ran into the center of the ring desperate to catch his friend as he fell from the trapeze. The audience loved watching the monster's horror-stricken reactions and so Magar included him as part of the act.

Tragedy struck soon after. Magar and his knife-wielding accomplice Bela did not like Rinaldo at all so they arranged for him to have an accident. Bela cut the ropes on Rinaldo's harness and during his next performance, he fell to his doom. The monster was beset with tremendous grief over losing the only friend he has ever known. Sometime after Rinaldo's death, the Monster made a journey to Venice, Italy in honor of his friend's lifelong dream.

Notes & Trivia

 * Rinaldo is the antithesis to the classic hunchbacked misanthrope archetype commonly associated with the Frankenstein mythos. Stereotypically, these types of characters are servants to the creator, not the creation, although in one previous case, the character of Ygor (Bela Lugosi), befriended the Frankenstein Monster and journeyed with him to the village of Vasaria. Another common trait of the misanthrope is that they are usually of low moral character. Rinaldo was none of these things. Although he was a dwarf, he was not a hunchback and held Viktor in high regard and thought of him as a true friend.


 * Actor David Rappaport committed suicide in 1990. The Bride was his only horror film role.