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DENIS
GIFFORD'S
MONSTERS OF THE
MOVIES
(1977)
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Monster
#6 - Bride of Frankenstein
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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)
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| 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". |
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| 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. |
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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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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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."
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| Sources GIFFORD
Denis (1973) Karloff: The Man, The Monster, The Movies,
Film Fan Monthly
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Back to main index page
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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, DVD or Super8 packagings
were scanned from my personal copies
Page created 7
April 2023
Last updated 2 September 2023
(c)
2023
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