|
| |
 |
|
Monster #6 - The
Bride of Frankenstein
United States, 1935
A Universal Pictures Production
75 mins, black & white, 1.37 : 1 aspect ratio
Director - James Whale
Screenplay - William Hurlbut
Story - based on premise suggested by Mary
Shelley in Frankenstein (1818)
Cinematographer - John J. Mescall
Editor - Ted J. Kent
Music - Franz Waxman
Boris Karloff (The Monster),
Colin Clive (Henry Frankenstein), Valerie Hobson
(Elizabeth Frankenstein), Ernest Thesiger (Doctor
Pretorius), Elsa Lanchester (Mary Shelly &
the Monster's Bride), Una O'Connor (Minnie),
Dwight Frye (Karl), E. E. Clive (Burgomaster)
|
|
| |
| SYNOPSIS
- Contrary to what was believed (and shown at the end
of Frankenstein), neither Henry Frankenstein nor his
monster were killed and are still alive. Henry
Frankenstein wants nothing more than to marry his
fiancée Elizabeth and lead a quiet life away from his
previous experiments, but when mad scientist Doctor
Pretorius, who desperately wants Frankenstein to continue
his work together with him, kidnaps Elizabeth, Henry
Frankenstein agrees to help him create a new creature - a
woman, and the companion the lonely Monster has been
demanding. However, the "Bride" takes no liking
to the Monster. Disillusioned, Frankenstein's creature
allows his creator and his wife to escape, but blows up
the laboratory with Pretorius, the Bride, and himself,
uttering his famous last words: "We belong
dead". |
| |
|
| |
| Some films on Denis Gifford's list were already
undisputed classics back in 1977, and Bride of
Frankenstein falls squarely into that category. I
had never heard of Frankenstein's Bride, Gifford's
monster number six, before seeing her image in Monsters
of the Movies, but I found it extremely striking. I
would only find out a few years later that Bride of
Frankenstein is indeed a gothic horror delight, with
eerie graveyards, creepy dungeons, spooky crypts and
foreboding laboratory towers galore shrouded in fog and
thunderstorms. |
| |
|
|
If Frankenstein (1931)
was already an atmospheric fright feast, Bride
of Frankenstein turns it all up a few
notches. The acting of Karloff as the Monster is
menacingly sublime, Colin Clive adds hysterical
depth to Henry Frankenstein's moral and personal
dilemma, Ernest Thesiger is simply delightful as
the sly and menacing Doctor Pretorius, and Elsa
Lanchester is on point for the short but iconic
sequences featuring the Bride. A tight script
is directed with panache, and the sets and
camerawork make it all come to life.
The Monster is also developed further in this
movie, quite in line with Shelley's original
novel, and learns to speak, although limited to
short phrases and 44 simple words. Karloff,
interestingly, was absolutely opposed to giving
the Monster a voice (Gifford, 1973).
The movie has been shown on TV and released
multiple times on various media; my current copy
comes from a 2013 Universal release of 8 classic
horror movies on high-definition Bluray. Image
quality ranges from extremely good to very good,
and the sound holds up to the same quality
standard. There are plenty of extras on the
history of the individual movies, including notes
on restauration.
|
|
| |
| On a purely personal note, Bride
of Frankenstein was also the first movie
featured in Monsters of the Movies that
I was ever able to watch - thanks to an abridged
Super8 version. As mentioned by Gifford in his
1973 Pictorial History of Horror Movies,
"home movies" were for quite some time
the only way to access horror films. I happened
to have access to an excellent Noris 322S sound
projector, and at the age of 16 managed to buy a
second-hand copy of the German dubbed home movie
version originally produced by Universal 8 Films
(Castle Films prior to 1977) at a very reasonable
price (otherwise, home movies were generally
rather expensive). Contained on one 400ft (120m)
reel, it ran for roughly 18 minutes, or just
under one quarter of the movies actual running
time.
It thrilled my socks off, even in its cut-down
version. And so, long before its 1985 release on
Laserdisc (and VHS in the early 1990s), I got a
taste of Bride of Frankenstein.
|
|
|
|
| |
| As for the critics at the time, Variety noted
in its 1 January 1935 review that Bride of
Frankenstein was "one of those rare
instances where none can review it, or talk about it,
without mentioning the cameraman, art director, and score
composer in the same breath as the actors and
director", and that "Karloff manages
to invest the character with some subtleties of emotion
that are surprisingly real and touching (...) Thesiger as
Dr. Pretorious [is] a diabolic characterization if ever
there was one (...) Lanchester handles two assignments,
being first in a preamble as author Mary Shelley and then
the created woman. In latter assignment she impresses
quite highly". Since its release, the film's
reputation and standing as one of the best horror films
ever made has persisted and even increased. Seen as an
iconic example of gothic horror movies and often praised
as James Whale's masterpiece, Bride of Frankenstein was
added to the United States National Film Registry in
1998. As with Karloff's Monster itself, Jack Pierce's
make-up for the Bride created a lasting iconic image.
|
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
 |
|
Denis Gifford on Bride
of Frankenstein
in A Pictorial History of Horror
Movies (1973)
"Bride of Frankenstein
remains the biggest-budgeted, best
dressed, highest-polished,
finest-finished horror film in history; a
first-class Hollywood product made with
all the artistry and technology a top
studio normally lavished upon only its
most commercial ventures. It was Whale's
best work - and his last in the genre; he
felt he could not top it. Chaney was
forgotten; Karloff was king."
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
| Sources GIFFORD
Denis (1973) Karloff: The Man, The Monster, The Movies,
Film Fan Monthly
|
| |
| |
Back
to main index page
|
| |
|
| |
The illustrations presented here are
copyright material.
Their reproduction in this non-commercial review
and research context is considered to be fair use
as set out by the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, 17
U.S.C. par. 107
and in accordance with the the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works.
All images from Monsters
of the Movies (Carousel/Transworld) were
scanned from my personal copy purchased in 1977
All images of Blu-ray or DVD covers were scanned
from my personal copies
Page created 7
April 2023
Last updated 14 April 2023
(c)
2023
|
|
| |
