Film Review
It is easy to be dismissive of genre films, particularly those made in
the Hollywood film factory.
The
Bride of Frankenstein is classified as a horror film, one of a
series of such films made by Universal Pictures in the 1930s and '40s,
but it is considerably more than that.
The crowning achievement of director James Whale's remarkable career, this film is not only
regarded as the finest horror film ever made, but it is almost
universally acknowledged as a great masterpiece of American cinema.
After the success of
Frankenstein (1931),
Universal's executives were determined to make a sequel, but it took
several years before James Whale would agree to undertake the
project. This time round, Whale had much greater control over
every area of the production than previously, and this shows in the
superior quality and the unbridled humour of the end
product.
The Bride of
Frankenstein is that rare thing - a sequel that is significantly
better than the original.
Colin Clive and Boris Karloff reprised their roles as Dr Frankenstein
and his monster, although by this time Clive was in very poor health -
he would die two years later, aged 37 - and Karloff had become a major
Hollywood star. Claude Rains - the lead actor in an earlier
Whale film,
The Invisible Man (1933) - was
considered for the part of Dr Pretorius, but in the end this went to
Whale's friend and mentor, Ernest Thesiger.
Valerie Hobson replaced Mae Clarke as Frankenstein's wife, Elizabeth. Elsa
Lanchester (the wife of Charles Laughton) was given the dual role of
Mary Shelley and the monster's mate. Una O'Connor was
appropriately cast as the hysterical maid Minnie, presumably on the
strength of her wonderfully O.T.T. performance in
The Invisible Man.
The art direction was by Charles D. Hall, who has also worked on the
original film. His stunning sets were beautifully complemented by
John J. Mescall's stylishly expressionistic cinematography. The
film's evocative score, which skilfully employed leitmotifs for all of
the main characters, was by Franz Waxman. The sound recording
earned the film its one and only Academy Award nomination.
The Bride of Frankenstein
stands apart from Universal's other horror films not just in terms of
its production quality, but also because of its very distinctive and
satisfying blend of horror, humour and humanity. The comedy veers
from the sardonic to out-and-out farce - compare Pretorius's dry
wit to the wild hysteria of Una O'Connor when they each see the monster
for the first time. There are also some moments of exquisite
poignancy - the sequence where the monster is befriended by a blind
hermit is played with genuine warmth and sincerity and is easily the
best part of the film. And of course there are plenty of
chills.
As in his first
Frankenstein
outing, Boris Karloff delivers an outstanding performance that combines
menace and pathos in equal measure, and the fact that the character can
now speak (albeit with a limited vocabulary) makes him even more
sympathetic. Ernest Thesiger's Dr Pretorius is the next
best thing in the film - a Mephistophelean character who somehow
manages to attain, simultaneously, the absolute extremes of the
outrageously camp and the terrifyingly sinister. As the monster
mate, Elsa Lanchester is just as striking as Karloff, thanks to Jack
Pierce's impressive make-up job, which includes one of the most iconic
hairstyles ever.
Another of the
The Bride of
Frankenstein's triumphs are its special effects, which are
extraordinary for a film of this era. From Pretorius's miniature
people to the set piece laboratory scenes in the exciting denouement,
the film sets new standards in the quality of effects, and these look
impressive even when compared with what can be achieved today.
The moral messages of the first
Frankenstein
film are repeated, perhaps more effectively in this sequel. The
brutal alienation of the monster parodies the way in which so-called
civilised society treats individualists and non-conformists (something
which Whale experienced in his own life). The arrogance that
consumes Pretorius and Frankenstein as they investigate the creation of
life shows the dangers of pursuing scientific research for purely
selfish motives or without an awareness of the consequences.
The immense success of
The Bride of
Frankenstein made it impossible for Universal not to go ahead
with another sequel. However, Whale was adamant he would not work
on this - he had set his sights on more worthy subjects, such as
The Road Back (1937), the sequel
to
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Boris Karloff agreed to play the monster in this third film,
Son of Frankenstein (1939), but it
would be his last appearance in this, his most celebrated, role.
The making of
The Bride of
Frankenstein featured in Bill Condon's 1998 film
Gods and Monsters, which gives an
insightful portrait of the life and career of James Whale.
© James Travers 2008
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