Bride of Frankenstein
Tags: horror, comedy, humor, gothic

Plot synopsis:
On a stormy night, Percy Bysshe Shelley (Douglas Walton) and Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) praise Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) for her story of Frankenstein and his Monster. Reminding them that her intention was to impart a moral lesson, Mary says she has more of the story to tell. The scene shifts to the end of the 1931 Frankenstein.
Villagers gathered around the burning windmill cheer the apparent death of the Monster (Boris Karloff, credited as "Karloff"). Their joy is tempered by the realization that Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is also apparently dead. Hans (Reginald Barlow), father of the girl the creature drowned in the previous film, wants to see the Monster's bones. He falls into a flooded pit underneath the mill, where the Monster – having survived the fire – strangles him. Hauling himself from the pit, the Monster casts Hans' wife (Mary Gordon) into it to her death. He next encounters Minnie (Una O'Connor), who flees in terror.
Henry's body is returned to his fiancée Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) at his ancestral castle home. Minnie arrives to sound the alarm about the Monster, but her warning goes unheeded. Elizabeth, seeing Henry move, realizes he is still alive. Nursed back to health by Elizabeth, Henry has renounced his creation, but still believes he may be destined to unlock the secret of life and immortality. A hysterical Elizabeth cries that she sees death coming, foreshadowing the arrival of Henry's former mentor, Doctor Septimus Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger). In his rooms, Pretorius shows Henry several homunculi he has created, including a miniature queen, king, archbishop, devil, ballerina, and mermaid. Pretorius wishes to work with Henry to create a mate for the Monster and offers a toast to their venture: "To a new world of gods and monsters!" Upon forcing Henry to help him, Pretorius will grow an artificial brain while Henry gathers the parts for the mate.
The Monster saves a young shepherdess (Anne Darling) from drowning. Her screams upon seeing him alert two hunters, who shoot and injure the creature. The hunters raise a mob that sets out in pursuit. Captured and trussed to a pole, the Monster is hauled to a dungeon and chained. Left alone, he breaks his chains, kills the guards and escapes into the woods.
That night, the Monster encounters a gypsy family and burns his hand in their campfire. Following the sound of a violin playing "Ave Maria", the Monster encounters an old blind hermit (O. P. Heggie) who thanks God for sending him a friend. He teaches the monster words like "friend" and "good" and shares a meal with him. Two lost hunters stumble upon the cottage and recognize the Monster. He attacks them and accidentally burns down the cottage as the hunters lead the hermit away.
Taking refuge from another angry mob in a crypt, the Monster spies Pretorius and his cronies Karl (Dwight Frye) and Ludwig (Ted Billings) breaking open a grave. The henchmen depart as Pretorius stays to enjoy a light supper. The Monster approaches Pretorius, and learns that Pretorius plans to create a mate for him.
Henry and Elizabeth, now married, are visited by Pretorius. He is ready for Henry to do his part in their "supreme collaboration". Henry refuses and Pretorius calls in the Monster who demands Henry's help. Henry again refuses and Pretorius orders the Monster out, secretly signaling him to kidnap Elizabeth. Pretorius guarantees her safe return upon Henry's participation. Henry returns to his tower laboratory where in spite of himself he grows excited over his work. After being assured of Elizabeth's safety, Henry completes the Bride's body.
A storm rages as final preparations are made to bring the Bride to life. Her bandage-wrapped body is raised through the roof. Lightning strikes a kite, sending electricity through the Bride. Henry and Pretorius lower her and realize their success. "She's alive! Alive!" Henry cries. They remove her bandages and help her to stand. "The bride of Frankenstein!" Doctor Pretorius declares.
The Monster comes down the steps after killing Karl on the rooftop and sees his mate (Elsa Lanchester). The excited Monster reaches out to her, asking, "Friend?" The Bride, screaming, rejects him. "She hate me! Like others" the Monster dejectedly says. As Elizabeth races to Henry's side, the Monster rampages through the laboratory. The Monster tells Henry and Elizabeth "Yes! Go! You live!" To Pretorius and the Bride, he says "You stay. We belong dead." While Henry and Elizabeth flee, the Monster sheds a tear and pulls a lever to trigger the destruction of the laboratory and tower.

Review: However, in the novel, Dr. Frankenstein creates the Bride, but instead of bringing the monster to life, he decides to destroy it, greatly differing the film adaptation from the novel.Most of the original cast remained, as the film reunited Colin Clive (as Dr. Frankenstein) with Boris Karloff (as the Monster), but Mae Clarke, a blonde, who was dropped from Universal was replaced by then seventeen year old Valerie Hobson, a brunette (as Elizabeth).
Also, new characters were brought to the forefront: Ernest Thesiger (as Dr. Pretorius) with Una O'Connor (as Minnie) and Elsa Lanchester having a dual role (as both Mary Shelley and The Bride).Unfortunately, Clive had suffered from a broken leg during most of the filming - a result from a horseback riding accident - and most of his scenes were shot sitting or laying down.
Considering the combined running time of about 140 min, both films can easily be watched back to back.The story sets off with a clever prologue between Mary Shelly (a short but great performance by Elsa Lanchester who also plays The Bride) and Lord Byron, who asks her to continue the tale of Dr. Frankenstein.
He is also experimenting with creating life (the miniature humans) and tries to persuade Frankenstein to join forces in order to create a female companion for the Monster (Boris Karloff), that is still at large wreaking havoc in the surrounding countryside.Although both films are justly hailed as classics, in my opinion BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN holds up much better to modern audiences than the original.
But the rest of the cast is just as good with particularly outstanding roles for - off course - Boris Karloff as the Monster, Elsa Lanchester in a dual role as The Bride (billed as "?") and Mary Shelley, and Una O'Connor as Minnie, Frankenstein's servant.
The beautiful Valerie Hobson replaces Mae Clarke as Elizabeth (a smart move!), and the eagle eyed with spot future stars John Carradine and Walter Brennan in bit parts, but the best thing about the movie apart from Karloff, is the addition of Elsa Lanchester as The Monster's "bride", and the wonderfully eccentric Ernest Thesiger as the nutty and sinister Dr. Pretorious.
While I think both films are excellent, with the first being more serious in tone than its follow-up, I'd give the hair's edge to BRIDE.Boris Karloff returned to portray the Frankenstein Monster, and he gives what is easily one of his finest performances.
The result is perhaps his most personal film--a strange collage of Gothic horror, black humor, religious motifs, and sexual innuendo--and one of the great classics of the genre.The plot elaborates an idea contained in the Mary Shelly novel: Frankenstein is pressured to create a mate for the monster.
In Shelly's novel, the doctor eventually balks; in the film, however, he sees the experiment through due to a mix of his own obsession and the manipulations of a new character, Dr. Pretorious, and the two create the only truly iconographic female monster in the film pantheon of the 1930s horror film: "The Bride," brilliantly played by Elsa Lanchester.The cast is excellent throughout, with Colin Clive and Boris Karloff repeating their roles and Frankenstein and the monster, and Valerie Hobson an able replacement for Mae Clarke in the role of Elizabeth; Ernest Thesiger and Una O'Connor also give incredibly memorable performances as the truly strange Pretorius and the constantly hysterical maid Minnie.
While Thesiger's Dr. Pretorius is justly celebrated as a covert gay icon of the darkest possible variety, and while many people quickly grasp Whale's often subversive use of Christian imagery, the film has many, many layers that do not reveal themselves upon a single viewing.The single most startling sequence, at least to my mind, is the famous scene in which the Monster stumbles into the lonely cottage of the blind hermit, a role beautifully played by O.P. Heggie.
This sensational sequel deals about the Dr. Frankestein (Colin Clive), and the Dr. Pretorius (a sinister Ernest Thesiger) who are coerced by the monster (Boris Karloff) into creating a bride (Elsa Lanchaster in a double role also as the novel's author, Mary Shelley) for him.The classic actor of horror movies named Boris Karloff is magnificent and Colin Clive brings a strong portrayal of the scientific attempting to create a new monster changing hearts .
The first Frankenstein film was a truly memorable exploration of horror and was extremely advanced for its time; dealing with issues of modernity when the doctor starts talking of space travel and also pushing censorship to levels it hadn't been pushed to before; having characters exclaim they 'knew what God felt like' and also including images of dead bodies and murder.
With Bride of Frankenstein, certain elements of surprise have been lost but the film delves deeper into its characters and explores different things to make it more of an 'entertaining' film.The film doesn't hang around and cleverly introduces the story through the original author Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) dictating what it is that happens next.
Although its opening ten minutes are melodramatic and a little ludicrous, the remainder of the running time of James Whale's science-fiction classic "Bride of Frankenstein" proves to not only be superior to its predecessor, but also a surprisingly moving and imaginative motion picture which explores Frankenstein's monster the way that Mary Shelley had originally intended when she conceived of the creature for her novel long before.The original 1931 film also starring Boris Karloff as the monster and Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein, sparred and still spars controversy because there's very little resemblance between it and Mary Shelley's Gothic novel.
The monster and its excursions and Dr. Frankenstein's acquaintance with another discovery-hungry scientist (Ernest Thesiger), who has also stumbled upon a way to instill life into the dead.I personally am not the biggest fan of the original 1931 "Frankenstein", so I had not so high hopes for "Bride of Frankenstein." Its ostentatious opening did not really boost up my spirits, but I was delighted to see how moving and beautiful and poignant the film became afterward.
But of course it is Boris Karloff who gives an outstanding performance as the Monster (duly credited this time instead of being billed as "?" as he was in the first movie), one that may even bring you to tears he when befriends a blind hermit.There is a great deal more humor in this film, most of it delivered by Thesiger in laugh-out-loud lines that are not funny at all taken out of context ("You're wise in your generation" for example), and I don't want to ruin any of the witty and florid dialogue for you.
Two more performances deserve note: Colin Clive returns as Henry Frankenstein, crying "She's alive" with that rich, musical voice of his, and Una O'Connor plays the hysterical servant Minnie.From the weirdly mannered prologue with Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and Percy Shelley to the near-final shot of the hissing Bride, this is a movie unlike any other..
Instead, most of the movie is simply a sequel to the original Frankenstein, picking up where that film left off with the monster somehow surviving his fiery doom.I would like to have seen more of the "bride," who was fascinating to view.
This classic stars the great Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster with this star getting top billing as Karloff.With Colin Clive continuing to portray Baron Henry Frankenstein,Valerie Hobson now taking over in some inspired casting as his love Elizabeth,the witty Ernest Thesiger portraying the maddest of all scientists:Dr.Pretorius and Elsa Lanchester as both Mary Shelley (in a prologue)and later as the monster's mate who is christened as the "Bride Of Frankenstein" by a gleeful Dr.Pretorius.The film does have it's humorous moments chiefly supplied by Thesiger's Pretorius.
In the beginning of the film after the mill has been burned to the ground,it is E.E. Clive's Burgomeister who declares to villagers, "you may thank your lucky stars that they sent for me to safeguard life and property!" Hoots the boisterous and sarcastic Minnie,"why didn't you safeguard those what lies drowned and murdered?!!"Karloff's Monster appears first in the underground cistern(Karloff was in great pain during the making of this film because he had injured his hip during the scenes in the cistern}that is below the now smoldering remnants that was once a functioning windmill.He escapes the cistern by killing both parents of the little Maria (who he'd accidentally drowned because he thought she'd float like the flowers she was throwing in the lake in "Frankenstein"(1931)).The burned Monster escapes to the countryside.For dramatic effect,it appears that Colin Clive's Henry Frankenstein is dead(he helped the villagers try to destroy his Monster but received for his courage a fall from the top of the burning mill by his own monster)but after he is returned to his family's castle and everyone is mourning over the young monster maker's remains the formerly 'dead' Baron Frankenstein now stirs and Valerie Hobson's tearful Elizabeth embraces her now living ,but very injured love.Near the end of Frankenstein's recovery, he is visited one late evening by Ernest Thesiger's Dr. Pretorius who as Henry tells his fiancée that Pretorius was,"...
Says Clive's Frankenstein about these tiny creations,"but this isn't science!It's more like black magic!" Announces an angry Pretorius with words that have long ago become a cliché for the mad scientist,"you think I'm mad!" But this mad scientist's purpose for bringing the young Frankenstein to his home and showing him his work is too get the mostly healed monster maker to collaborate with him on making "...a woman.Now that would be really interesting!"However,Henry refuses.Boris Karloff's monster has been made more humane in this film and he is taught to speak.Later the Monster makes his way to a cemetery where he hides from some villagers by escaping into the bowels of an underground tomb.
They work day and night now on what will be The Bride Of Frankenstein with Pretorius having grown her a brain organically.In scenes that are classic motion picture history,Colin Clive with his usual enthusiasm shouts,"she's alive!Alive!" Elsa Lanchester's performance as the Bride is legendary.She moves her head like a bird,makes choking sounds ,hisses and when the Monster finally sees her she screams at him.Once again he tries to get her to like him but she screams wildly at this final attempt.
Bride is brilliant and far more polished and flawless than its predecessor.All the acting is up to a better standard with Karloff equally superb to his first appearance as the monster and the great addition of Dr. Pretorius excellently played by Ernest Thesiger.
Even better than the original.Add to the quality of FRANKENSTEIN some even better visuals (German expressionism again in the sets), the grander look and concept of the whole story with the monster humanized in a believable way, and the music of Franz Waxman which highlights all of the most dramatic moments, especially the creation of The Bride--and you have a film even more satisfying than the original.COLIN CLIVE is implored by ERNEST THESIGER to help him make a mate for the monster.
It's just one of many comical and whimsical moments in the whole film.VALERIE HOBSON is Clive's frightened sweetheart, and UNA O'CONNOR (another screamer), DWIGHT FRYE and JOHN CARRADINE round out the supporting cast with style.BORIS KARLOFF repeats his famous role, even more engaging this time as he seems significantly brighter in the range of things he's given to do, such as the famous woodland scene interacting with a blind man in a cottage, both of them enjoying a new friendship.
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (Universal, 1935), directed by James Whale, improves over the original 1931 shocker starring Colin Clive and Boris Karloff.
This time, Karloff's Monster is the central character while Clive's Frankenstein comes off in the supporting category, but is in no way a secondary character.For this sequel, the story opens with a prologue with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) discussing her latest novel, FRANKENSTEIN, with Lord George Gordon Byron (Gavin Gordon) and Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton), including flashback scenes from the 1931 movie leading to the Monster's demise in the burning windmill.
When the bride (also played by Elsa Lanchester) is created from dead cadavers it rejects the monster like everyone else did.FRANKENSTEIN (1931: see my review) is a movie milestone in it's primitive way, but Universal and James Whale's follow up has the rare distinction of being a sequel that is streets ahead of the original.
James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" is surely one of the best horror movies ever made.The film contains some extremely funny moments and some horrifying ones.Again as in the original "Frankenstein"(1931)the performances are excellent-Colin Clive is really memorable as a Dr.Frankenstein,Ernest Thesiger is amazing as an evil Dr.Praetorius!The sequence when The Monster(Boris Karloff)encounters a blind old man is so funny and touching!Give this one a look-you won't be disappointed.A classic!.
Apparently cured of his desire to play God, Frankenstein determines to put his life-creating ways behind him, but finds himself forced to create a mate for his monster under the influence of the insane Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger).Bride of Frankenstein is a sometimes hysterically camp tongue-in-cheek sequel to Universal's original success that is touched by genius throughout.
Everything he had been mastering since "Frankenstein" (1931) and in "The Invisible Man" (1933) collides here to create his masterpiece of the genre.With almost the same cast including Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein and Boris Karloff as the creature, Whale takes us to a mythical world where gods and monsters are alive and temptation can be deadly.Loosely based in the rest of the novel by Mary Shelley, the movie is a perfect mixture of the Gothic horror of the source story, as well as the cynic dark humor of James Whale.
It is a perfect balance between horrid images and campy dark cynicism.Starting with an introductory scene with the Shelleys and Lord Byron as Mary continues her story, the movie takes us to where the first one ended, and we realize that the Monster is very alive and on the loose, in his search for understanding.Enter Dr. Pretorious, as an admirer of Frankenstein's work, he is decided to create his very own creature for his evil purposes; but first he must convince Henry to work with him.
The doctor is urged to provide his lonely monster with a mate.Cast members: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Ernest Thesiger, Valerie Hobson and Una O'Connor are joined by Elsa Lancaster, the unforgettable bride of the monster.Witty and improved script with slivers of humor pace this sequel.
All the detail and decor of the macro-sets are captured and the immensity of everything is captured delightfully on screen thanks to Whale's all-inclusive directing tactics.Bride of Frankenstein is another film that is made even more significant, aside from being a great monster movie, because it should've been a complete disaster considering the problems it faced during production.
James Whale returned to direct this masterful sequel, beginning with a clever prologue with Author Mary Shelley(played by Elsa Lanchester) relating the events of the first film, but then insisting that the story isn't yet over, going on to describe the plot of Part II, picking up moments after the end of Part I, with the injured Henry Frankenstein(played again by Colin Clive) being brought to his(now late) father's castle, where he has assumed the Baron title.
He is visited by Dr. Pretoreus,(played by Ernest Thesinger) who is a disgraced former teacher of his, who wants Henry to help him create a new monster, who will become his "bride"(also played by Elsa Lanchester) The monster(again played superbly by Boris Karloff) has survived the fire, and after being chased by villagers(and a heartfelt interlude with a blind hermit) is befriended by Pretorious, who uses him to kidnap Elizabeth(now played by Valerie Hobson) to force Henry to help him, leading to a memorable and explosive finale.Brilliant sequel is even better, with a wonderful sense of humor balancing the horror, with inspired direction, writing, and performances from the whole cast.
So, with Colin Clive and Boris Karloff who both reprising their respective roles as Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster, the resulting movie is a quite startling mixture of the kind of hysterical Gothic derangement and commentary on the human condition that characterised the original but which pushes further in playing with religious iconography as well as presenting an overt campness due (in no small part) to the scene-stealing performance of Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius.Like its illustrious predecessor, the movie explores the injustice enacted on the monster after having been given life by a God-playing mad scientist.
This film also carries the distinction of being funnier and fresher than the original film, in part because Whale had to realize some of this stuff was silly, and even surreal; when the other, much-more-mad-thank- Frankenstein doctor Pretorius (the unforgettable Ernest Thesiger playing this role with full-tile scene-chewery in the best way) shows off his 'creations' as little people he has grown "like plants" in little jars, you know that this won't be really much like the first film.
My Rating : 8/10Director James Whale's sequel to his earlier smash hit "Frankenstein," is considered not only one of the great horror films of the ages, but indeed, a classic movie in any genre.Boris Karloff reprises his role as the Monster, but this time learns how to speak with the help of O.P. Heggie as the blind hermit.
Based upon Mary Shelley's timeless novel, and once again starring Boris Karloff as the inimitable monster, The Bride of Frankenstein follows immediately upon the events of the first film.Henry Frankenstein no longer wants to create life from death.
The Monster's bride, played by Elsa Lanchester, is one of the greatest, most iconic performances in horror-film history, although she only appears for a mere moment on screen.The greatness of this film lies in the fast conversions from the daunting to the comical.
We have a few additional characters in the film which include Ernest Thesiger who plays Dr. Pretorious, O.P Heggie who plays the hermit, and of course Elsa Lanchester who plays the bride of the monster and also has a dual role at the beginning as Mary Shelley who tells the story.