No actor can remain serious 100% of the time, and for good reason. Laughter is the best reprieve while working on the set of a horror film, allowing the actors an opportunity for a breath of fresh air.

Donnie Dunagan described one moment when the giggles got the better of him while working on Son of Frankenstein (1939). Dunagan played young Peter von Frankenstein, acting opposite famed actor Boris Karloff. In fact, the scene called for a tense interaction between the two actors, with Dunagan pinned underneath Karloff’s boot.

“I was lying on the floor, and Karloff had his foot on me,” said Dunagan, according to Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946, by Tom Weaver, Michael Brunas, and John Brunas.

“We got to laughing in this scene because he was tickling me with his darn boot! I was lying down, and Karloff had his boot on me, and I could tell he was trying to keep it from pressing on me. His boot was heavy, and he was very sensitive to hurting me, for which I’m grateful! But until then, they said, ‘Roll ‘em!’ he would wiggle his foot and tickle me...He was twisting it on my back and on my side,”

Of course, it wasn’t long before the laughter became contagious. “I’d get to laughing,” said Dunagan. “Then he’d get to laughing. Then somebody behind the lights would get to laughing. We couldn’t stop, and they had to stop for several minutes. At this point, I don’t think Mr. Lee [the film’s director] was too happy, because he scolded both of us...And scolding wasn’t his persona. He was very gentle and rather a slow talker, very deliberate, very personable...We both smiled at each other and went back to work, and finally got that darn scene done.”