Bride of Frankenstein

United States

1935

75 Min

Black and White

1.37:1

English

Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
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SCR William Hurlbut, John L. Balderston, Mary Shelley

CAST Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester, Gavin Gordon, Douglas Walton, Una O'Connor, E.E. Clive, Lucien Prival, O.P. Heggie, Dwight Frye, Reginald Barlow, Mary Gordon, Anne Darling, Ted Billings, John Carradine

It opens with a brilliant prologue that features a wicked thunder storm, in 1816, hitting the British country residence where the young demure author Mary Shelley is being entreated by her famous poet husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and his counterpart Lord Byron to continue with her nightmarish tale of Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster. And so the sequel begins, set in 19th-century Germany. We learn that the Monster survives the mill fire and is taken in by the eccentric philosopher-scientist Dr Pretorius, who was given the boot by his university. We also learn that Baron Henry Frankenstein, the Monster’s creator, is in bed suffering from mental agony while comforted by his wife Elizabeth. Their quiet is interrupted by the visit of Henry’s former teacher, the demented Dr. Septimus Pretorius, who when the men are alone threatens to tell everyone that Henry created the Monster that killed some of the villagers unless Henry agrees to create a bride for the Monster and thereby begin an artificial race. Henry refuses but humorously responds “A woman, that should be really interesting.” The unscrupulous Pretorius, whose mentor could be the Marquis de Sade, is set upon eliminating the concept of good and evil thinking we would all get a good belly laugh if everyone did what they wanted to. Later on we discover that Pretorius is not such a libertarian, but instead wants everyone to do only what he wants them to do. This is basically the structure of the plot, as the remainder of the film concentrates on the Monster trying to find a place in the world to dwell with humans but can’t find a place to fit in. The Monster tries to rescue a young shepherdess from drowning, meets a kindly blind hermit in the woods who befriends him and teaches him to say a few words and about music and drink, as the lonely man is glad to have company and his kindness brings tears to the Monster. When Pretorius abducts Henry’s wife, he forces him to create the Monster’s female mate or else he threatens to harm Elizabeth. —Ozu’s World of Movie reviews

Director

James Whale

James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was a British film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), all recognized as classics of the genre. Whale directed over a dozen films in other genres, including what is considered the definitive film version of the musical Show Boat (1936). He became increasingly disenchanted with his association with horror, but many of his non-horror films have fallen into obscurity.

Born into a large family in Dudley, England, Whale early discovered his artistic talent and studied art. With the outbreak of World War I, Whale enlisted in the British Army and became an officer. He was captured by the Germans and during his time as a prisoner of war he realized he was interested in drama. Following his release at the end of the war he became an actor, set designer and director. His success directing the 1928 play Journey’s End led to his move to the United States, first to direct the play on Broadway and then to Hollywood to direct motion pictures. Whale lived in Hollywood for the rest of his life, most of that time with his longtime companion, producer David Lewis. Including Journey’s End (1930), Whale directed a dozen films for Universal Studios between 1930 and 1936 (his uncredited work on the war epic Hell’s Angels having been done for United Artists), developing a style characterized by the influence of German Expressionism and a highly mobile camera.

At the height of his popularity as a director, Whale directed The Road Back, a sequel to All Quiet on the Western Front, in 1937. Studio interference, possibly spurred by political pressure from Nazi Germany, led to the film’s being altered from Whale’s vision and The Road Back was a critical and commercial failure. A string of commercial failures followed and, while Whale would make one final short film in 1950, by 1941 his film directing career was over. Whale continued to direct for the stage and also rediscovered his love for painting and travel. His investments made him wealthy and he lived a comfortable retirement until suffering strokes in 1956 that robbed him of his vigor and left him in pain. Whale committed suicide on 29 May 1957 by drowning himself in his backyard swimming pool.

Whale was openly gay throughout his career, something that was very unusual in the 1920s and 1930s. As knowledge of his sexual orientation has become more common, some of his films, Bride of Frankenstein in particular, have been interpreted as having a gay subtext and it has been claimed that Whale’s refusal to remain in the closet led to the end of his career. However, Whale’s associates dismiss the notions that Whale’s sexuality informed his work or that it cost him his career. —Wikipedia

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