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Directed By: James Whale
Produced By: Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Written By: William Hurlburt, John L Balderston, Mary Shelley (novel), Josef Berne (uncredited), Lawrence G. Blochman (uncredited), Morton Covan (uncredited), Robert Florey (uncredited), Philip MacDonald (uncredited), Edmund Pearson (uncredited), Tom Reed (uncredited), R.C. Sherriff (uncredited)
Starring: Colin Clive, Boris Karloff, Ernest Thesiger, Valerie Hobson, Una O’Connor
Original Release: 1935
Reviewed By: Aaron Hammonds
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Synopsis: After a brief prologue showing Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) discussing her yet-to-be-published novel Frankensteinwith her husband Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton) and their friend Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon), the story proper picks up at the burning wreckage of the windmill near the end of the previous film. The villagers are rejoicing that the Monster (Boris Karloff) is dead (although the audience quickly finds out said villagers are quite mistaken). Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is brought home apparently to die only to experience a startling recovery, to the joy of his fiance Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson, replacing Mae Clarke due to illness). Shortly after settling into bed for the night, Frankenstein is visited by Dr Septimus Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), one of his university professors. Pretorius lures Frankenstein back to his lab, where he shows Frankenstein that he, too, has succeeded in creating life. Pretorius proposes that the two of them work together to create a mate for Frankenstein’s Monster. Frankenstein at first refuses, wanting only to marry Elizabeth and put his work behind him; when Pretorius manages to befriend the Monster, however, the two of them kidnap Elizabeth and force Frankenstein to agree to the unholy collaboration.
Review/Commentary: With Frankenstein, James Whale had established himself as Universal’s golden boy, the best director on the lot. He solidified that reputation with The Old Dark House and The Invisible Man. In 1935, he gave Universal what most film enthusiasts consider his greatest work, Bride of Frankenstein.
Almost from the moment of Frankenstein‘s release, the studio pushed for Whale to make a sequel to the monstrous hit, but Whale had no interest in the idea. Whale felt he had “squeezed the idea dry” and wanted to do something new. The powers that be at Universal wanted to keep Whale happy so they allowed him to bow out of the follow-up and searched for a new director and new storyline. Robert Florey, originally slated to write and direct Frankenstein, wrote a treatment for the sequel which was quickly rejected by the studio without comment. Tom Reed wrote a treatment called The Return of Frankenstein which was to Universal’s liking in late 1932 but the right director still eluded them. By the time of The Invisible Man‘s release in 1933, Carl Laemmle, Jr, Vice President of Production at Universal and Whale’s biggest fan, had decided that Whale was the only director suited to helm the sequel.
Whale decided if he couldn’t get out of directing a sequel to Frankenstein, he was at least going to do it his way. Believing the sequel could not possibly measure up to the original, Whale decided to make it a “hoot,” a bawdy black comedy with macabre overtones. His first step was to throw out Reed’s script altogether. Several writers produced various drafts which were eventually cobbled together, not unlike the Monster himself, into a final shooting script which was approved by the Hays Office (the organization which reviewed the content of all film scripts before the MPAA’s creation in the 1960′s) in November 1934. The rest, as they say, is history.
As in the previous film, the Monster is by far the most sympathetic character on the screen. He is quickly and repeatedly established as such in various scenes: he saves a woman shephard from drowning when she falls into a creek, only to be thanked with horrifying screams when she looks up at her savior; when an angry mob binds him to a post, Whale deliberately shoots him in such a way that he is reminiscent of Christ on the cross; the only person not repulsed by his ugliness (his only true friend) is a blind hermit.
Henry is a far more subdued presence in this film than the last, only appearing in roughly a third of the picture. He is the very portrait of a man who has confronted death and been humbled by the experience. He is obviously desperate to put his mistakes behind him and try to live a normal life with his bride, only to be forced back into his dark obsession, partly by the very product of that obsession. Irony in a monster movie; betcha didn’t see that coming…
Arguably the most important character in the film (the true villain of the piece) is Dr Pretorius. Universal’s publicity department floated rumors just before shooting began that Bela Lugosi and Claude Rains were both being considered for the role, which was pure nonsense; Whale had crafted the character specifically for his former mentor and dear friend from the London stage, Ernest Thesiger. Thesiger’s portrayal of Pretorius as a thinly-veiled bitchy, flamboyant homosexual has made him one of the greatest mad scientists in the history of cinema.
The Monster’s Bride (Lanchester again) only appears in the last 5-10 minutes of the film, yet is one of the most iconic horror film characters of all time; even people who have never seen this film (or any Universal Monster movie, for that matter) can instantly identify a photo of Frankenstein’s female creation (another work of genius by make-up master Jack Pierce, this time collaborating with Whale). The Bride’s creation scene is one of the best of Whale’s directing career; it’s not only an orgasm of electrical pyrotechnics, it sets us up for an ending so unexpectedly tragic it would have made Rod Serling proud, an ending author Leonard Wolff says “breaks your heart [and] shatters your ears.”
Special mention must be given to Una O’Connor, Whale’s own “scream queen.” Whale knew O’Connor from his stage days in London and loved to use her in his films because she was so funny, playing women driven to such over-the-top hysterics by the horrific goings-on around them that you can’t help but laugh.
One thing that sets this film apart from all the other films in the Universal Frankenstein saga (not counting Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein) is, as the trailer puts it, “The Monster Talks!” Karloff hated the idea of the Monster learning to speak, having crafted his portrayal on the Monster’s inarticulate struggle to relate to the world around him. Fortunately, Karloff was able to make the dialogue fit in perfectly with the Monster’s child-like nature, another testament to Karloff’s towering abilities as an actor.
I could probably write another thousand words or so about this film, but instead, I’m just going to urge you to watch it if you haven’t seen it. Bride of Frankenstein is one of the most important films of the 1930′s, regardless of genre…
Check out Aaron Hammonds’ blog Aaron’s Movie Madness where he reviews his favorite movies.
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