To a new world of gods and monsters! – Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Most horror stories end with the creature’s defeat, the mad scientist’s downfall, and the world returning to normal. But what if the nightmare didn’t end there? What if the monster wasn’t the only one?
In this chilling tale, the scientist who once dared to defy nature is pulled back into his dark obsession, this time, with a far more dangerous idea. The first experiment may have been a mistake, but what if he could make something even greater? Something… perfect?
Hello to all the classic people returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors and let them know there will be spoilers ahead. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
This is the second of the classic Frankenstein films. Of course, there is the Edison Frankenstein (1910). There is a link for that in the description. But among the classic three, I believe this is the greatest of the 1930s films. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) introduced us to the lightning-haired mate of the monster and many other elements that will be clear to any fan of Young Frankenstein (1974).
James Whale directed Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Whale was born in England and began writing plays while in a German POW camp during WWI. Whale had 23 directing credits, including being uncredited for Hell’s Angels (1930), when he worked for Howard Hughes, Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), there is a link in the description for those two, Show Boat (1936), and The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Here is a great quote from Whales is “A director must be pretty bad if he can’t get a thrill out of war, murder, robbery.”
This film has a decent rating of 7.8 on IMDb.com.[1] On RottenTomatoes.com, the film has a 98% rating on the Tomatometer and an 87% audience approval rating.[2] New York Times film critic F.S.N. said in a May 11, 1935, review:
“Boris Karloff comes again to terrify the children, frighten the women and play a jiggling tune upon masculine spines as the snarling, lumbering, pitiful Thing that a scientist formed from grave-snatched corpses and brought to life with the lightning…now, in “Bride of Frankenstein,” he clambers out, cuffs a few of the remaining villagers into oblivion and stalks once more through the moor, the graveyard and the hills, hated by man, gibbering at fire and—of all things—begging Frankenstein (Colin Clive, once more) to create a mate for him along the same general pattern. In more ways than one, this is a changed Monster… Now, possibly under the influence…at Universal, he is slightly moonstruck, hungry for kindness and even—oh, perish the thought—for love. [3]
Actors – Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The first actor that will be discussed is Boris Karloff. Karloff was billed in this movie simply as “Karloff.” I don’t think I will get much argument if I say he was the greatest Frankenstein of them all. However, Peter Boyle was pretty good.
Karloff was a British actor who began his stage career in Canada before moving to Hollywood. He made some silent films but had to hold down jobs, such as a ditch digger, to survive. By 1931, Karloff was on his way with The Criminal Code (1931) and Five Star Final (1931), a film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Of course, the biggest role of all was that of the Monster in Frankenstein (1931). Karloff was about 5 feet 11 inches. The costume that he wore for this role had 4-inch platforms and weighed 8 pounds each. Karloff’s costume was designed by Jack Pierce and copyrighted by Universal Studios, making it more difficult for other studios to replicate Frankenstein’s success. Oddly, Lon Chaney Sr., father of the Wolf Man, Lon Chaney Jr., was offered the role of the Monster but died before filming began. It was then offered to Bela Lugosi, who turned it down because he didn’t want to be covered by makeup.
A year later, Karloff played Imhotep in The Mummy (1932) and the starring role in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). He played non-horror genres as well, such as being gunned down in a bowling alley in Scarface (1932), there is a link for that in the description, and as a religious soldier in The Lost Patrol (1934).
However, it seems that horror was his calling. Karloff played the Monster three times: in the original, Frankenstein (1931), today’s film, Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939), which also featured Lugosi. He was also featured in House of Frankenstein (1944) and Frankenstein 1970 (1958), as the Doctor. There are links for all of these in the description.
Colin Clive was a British actor with a very brief career. You know him from the phrase “it’s alive, it’s alive.” Unfortunately, he drank himself to death at the age of 37. In the first two talkie Frankenstein movies, he played Henry Frankenstein, the Monster’s creator.
Elsa Lanchester played the roles of Mary Shelley and The Monster’s Mate in Bride of Frankenstein (1935). In the role of the bride, she had to wear her hair wired up and her eyes taped open. Lanchester was born in England. As a child, she studied at Isadora Duncan’s School in Paris.
She began her movie career in 1927. In 1928, she made four films with Charles Laughton. They married the following year and remained so until his death in 1962. Lanchester was persistently dogged by her role as the bride, even 40 years later. She enjoyed playing quirky roles with a touch of humor. She did this in such films as The Bishop’s Wife (1947), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Mary Poppins (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965), and Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968)
Una O’Connor plays the role of the housekeeper, Minnie. O’Connor was an Irish actress who was consistently cast as comic relief. She had a very heavy Irish accent and a very animated face. She is outstanding in The Invisible Man (1933), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). When watching Young Frankenstein (1974), you can see Cloris Leachman virtually channeling her inner O’Connor from Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
E.E. Clive was a Welsh-born actor who played the role of the Bürgermeister. He began his film career late in life, with one of his earliest roles being in The Invisible Man (1933). He made almost 100 pictures in a very short career, but he was generally typecast as a stiff butler or foreign aristocrat.
Two American actors had small uncredited parts in this movie. Walter Brennan played a neighbor, and the great John Carradine played one of the hunters who stumbled into the Monster at the Hermit’s Cottage.
Dwight Frye has a small part of Karl, who is now the Igor character. Frye played Karl closer to Renfield from Dracula (1931), a part he also played.
Story – Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
On a dark and stormy night, the camera zooms in on what appears to be a stone version of the Bates Motel. A couple of English dandies, Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton) and Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon), in a room trying to convince Mary Shelly (Elsa Lanchester) to tell them a story. Mary says the lighting frightens her. Lord Byron talks about the original Frankenstein story she had written earlier.
If you didn’t know what was coming, you might switch the movie off at this point. The vacation scenes are modeled after a trip that took place in 1816, known as the “year without a summer,” as the world was in a volcanic winter following the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815.[4]
Lord Byron highlights the story of Frankenstein (1931), and several clips from the movie are shown. He calls Karl (Dwight Frye) a dwarf, but he is really a hunchback. He continues through the creation of the monster, the loss of control, and the death of the Monster and its creator.
Mary begins to tell the continuation of the story. Since she was the author of “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” 1818, she begins at the burning mill, from the end of Frankenstein (1931).
The movie flashes back to the windmill fire from Frankenstein (1931). The mill collapses, and it seems that the doctor and the Monster are dead. Minnie (Una O’Connor), the housekeeper, was seen handling the hounds during the vacation scene earlier. Minnie cackles with delight that the Monster and its creator are gone.
The Bürgermeister (E.E. Clive) tells everyone to go home. The load the body of Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) for return to the family castle.
Most of the people leave as the fire cools. But Hans, the father of the little girl whom the Monster killed by tossing in the lake in the original, wants to see the bodies. He goes into the ruins and falls through the floor, where he finds the Monster (Boris Karloff), whom he is looking for. The Monster is alive and well, and he kills Hans by drowning him. The Monster climbs out of the ruins and knocks off Han’s wife. A silent owl watches the proceedings.
The Monster appears behind Minnie, and she runs away screaming.
Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) receives the body of her dead fiancée. Minnie tells the other staff that the Monster is alive, but no one believes her. Elizabeth says she was foretold that there would be trouble on her wedding night. A bit later, she saw Dr. Frankenstein’s hand move and declared him alive as well. Dr. Frankenstein is indeed alive and well.
Frankenstein is trying to settle down after creating a Monster and surviving the shit storm. He feels a little bad for what he has done, but he is still pretty struck with the idea. Elizabeth says he is being promoted by the devil. Elizabeth sees the hand of death in the room. She seems to be a little crazy, pointing at an unseen death figure.
Suddenly, his old college professor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), shows up and wants to see Dr. Frankenstein on “a matter of grave importance.” See what they did there.
Dr. Frankenstein agrees to meet with Dr. Pretorius. Pretorius was dismissed from the university. The two men meet in private. Dr. Pretorius says they must work together. Frankenstein says he wants to get well, get married, and go away. Pretorius says that Frankenstein is responsible for the murder committed by the Monster.
Frankenstein travels to see Pretorius’ creations. At the lodging/laboratory, Pretorius makes a toast to “To a new world of gods and monsters.” He then shows his live creations. They are all very tiny. He has created a queen, a sex crazed king modelled after Henry VIII, an archbishop, the devil, a ballerina, and a mermaid.
Pretorius says he had only been able to create miniatures in his experiments by growing them from source material. He mentions that the mermaid grew from seaweed. So, what did he use for the king, queen, and the ballerina? He created a devil, so he must have used a jalapeño for that.
Many may wonder why Dr. Frankenstein made his Monster large. It was so he could be sewn together more easily.
Pretorius continues that he and Frankenstein must create a mate for the Creator.
The creator stumbles through the woods. He is horrified when he sees his reflection in a stream. A shepherdist sees him and falls into the water. The Monster saves her, but she screams at the sight of him. A pair of hunters shoot and drive the Monster away.
The hunters inform the Bürgermeister that the Monster is alive in the woods. He calls for the bloodhounds, and the male villagers begin the search. They have pitchforks, but no torches because it is daytime. Which is really the best time for hunting monsters! The villagers take a few casualties, but they finally subdue the Monster.
They take the Monster, who is secured only with ropes, back to the village. They take the Monster to the dungeon and chain the Monster. After the Monster is chained up, the Bürgermeister says, “Now he can get back to more important things”. I wonder what was more important than a 7-foot monster killing people around the village. So, they chain the Monster up like King Kong (1933) was chained in New York.
The guards fire a couple more rounds into the Monster. The Monster escapes, terrorizes the town, kills another little girl, and maybe another couple. He then escapes into the woods.
A gypsy family is camping in the woods near their round-roofed wagon. The mother is worried about the Monster, but the father says he is locked up in the town. The Monster pops out of the forest and gestures for some of the chicken that is cooking on the spit. The women all scream, and the man attacks him with a torch. The burned Monster runs back into the woods.
Shortly, he hears a violin and wanders to the house of a blind hermit (O.P. Heggie) who praises God for a friend who happens to be the spawn of hell. He teaches the Monster to speak, like violin music, cigars, bread, and wine. That sounds like a pretty good life. The two bachelors are living better than Felix Unger and Oscar Madison. Of course, the Monster still doesn’t care for fire, but he takes to cigars quite well.
One day, two hunters come to the cabin and find the Monster. One of these hunters is John Carradine, the father of Kung Fu, AKA Kwai Chang Caine. During the fight that ensues, the cabin is burned, and you know how the monster feels about fire, so he runs away and is alone again.
The monster goes on a mini-rampage, attacking crosses, looking into the water, and being misunderstood by schoolchildren. The Monster enters a cemetery, where he sneers at death heads, topples religious statues, and descends into a tomb at the foot of a statue of Christ. You could write a book about this scene.
The Monster hides in tombs. The villagers pass through the cemetery with torches in hand, but don’t find the Monster. He sees a dead woman in a shroud and gets an idea. Dr. Pretorius and a couple of henchmen show up to rob graves for female bodies. The henchmen leave Pretorius alone. The crazed Pretorius has a meal on a coffin with the bones of a dead body.
The Monster approaches Pretorius, asking for a cigar, food, and drink. Pretorius tells the Monster he will make a woman friend for the Monster. Pretorius returns to Henry’s castle, but Elizabeth tells him he is not welcome. Henry doesn’t want to make another monster, so Pretorius brings in the Monster to convince Henry.
Pretorius has the monster to kidnap Elizabeth. The Monster stashes her in a cave, and Pretorius says she will be fine if Henry does the requested work. Henry is forced to return to the lab and make a mate for the Monster.
The two doctors and their two assistants go to a tower to do the work. Henry starts to get excited about the work. Henry needs a fresh, young heart to bring the creation to life. Karl is sent to get the heart. I hope he doesn’t bring an abnormal one back. Instead of going to the hospital for the heart, Karl murders a village woman for the heart.
The Monster comes in and demands that Henry work harder. Mid-level manager. Pretorius sedates the Monster so Henry can work. Pretorius gives proof of life for Elizabeth over an early telephone/radio machine.
The two doctors put the heart into the female body. The lab-grown brain was installed earlier. A storm brews, and they send kites to capture the electricity they need. Machines spark and glow until the female is animated. The monster wakes and climbs the tower where the female body has been hoisted. He kills Karl, throwing him over the edge of the tower.
They open the bandages and see the Bride’s eyes. Henry says, “She’s alive, alive.”
Later, they have her up, dressed, and her hair done. It’s a shocking hairdo. Her eyes are wide open, and she moves in a very bird-like manner. Pretorius exclaims, “The Bride of Frankenstein.” There is a slip-up here. She should be the bride of the Monster, as it has been beaten into us that Frankenstein is the doctor.
The Monster comes down. When the Bride sees him, she screams and is repulsed. She hisses at him. A recording of swans from a London park was used as part of the hiss.
Elizabeth has escaped from the cave and returns. The Monster sends Henry and Elizabeth away. The Monster then pulls the exploding castle lever, killing himself, Dr. Pretorius, and the Bride. Or so it seems.
By 1939, in Son of Frankenstein (1939), the Monster is back.
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Conclusion – Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
It makes me wonder why an exploding switch was present in the castle. It’s kind of like the gate in King Kong (1933) that the ape could fit through.
In the first Frankenstein (1931), they used a “?” for the actor playing the monster. This was somewhat of a publicity stunt, as Karloff was not a well-known actor at the time. By the time of Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Karloff was down to one name.
In this movie, they credit Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelly but put a “?” for who played the monster’s mate, a nod to the previous movie.
I also wonder what the job announcement for Dr. F’s lab assistant looked like. You had to work at night, commit crimes, rob graves, fly kites, use advanced electrical equipment, make meteorological prognostications, and work with monsters and mad scientists. Probably minimum wage.
Using the quote from this movie, there is a film titled Gods and Monsters (1998) about the director James Whale’s final days. It stars Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, and Lynn Redgrave. It is an interesting watch.
I do like it when he attacks a gypsy family for trying to eat their food. This reminds me of the times when gypsy and monsters roamed the forests of Europe (at least in the movies), and the time my mother thought gypsies were going to kidnap me in Germany. But that’s another story for another time.
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World-Famous Short Summary – Every time Dr. Frankenstein tries to get out, they keep pulling him back in.
Beware the moors.
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138/
[2] Bride of Frankenstein | Rotten Tomatoes
