We’re in for a real treat. Many consider, and I’m in full agreement, that James Whale’s THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) to be the best of the Universal classic monster films. The question is WHY? We’ll discuss that, and perhaps you’ll have your own opinions on this. We have studied several Universal horrors up to this point, along with the details of what was transpiring behind the scenes with these actors, the craftsmen that shaped the look and feel on the big screen, the filmmakers’ visions, and what the studio heads overcame via obstacles to reach these end results. While our journey does not end here, and certainly Universal continued to forge its path in the entertainment industry for many decades to come, many would say today’s screening was a pinnacle in the horror genre within this pioneering era.
James Whale initially rejected the idea of doing a sequel to FRANKENSTEIN, despite its success and audiences’ hunger for a follow-up. He again wished not to be pigeon-holed to that genre (just as he didn’t want to be known as the ‘war film director’ which why he agreed to direct horrors in the first place.) But after some back-and-forth working developments with the script, Whale finally joined on. Junior Laemmle gave him full control. After THE INVISIBLE MAN, confirmed Junior’s confidence that Whale was the best choice to direct its sequel.
The idea for creating a sequel to FRANKENSTEIN began right after its successful reception. In 1932, Robert Florey wrote a treatment titled, “The New Adventures of Frankenstein- The Monster Lives!,” which was rejected. Then, studio writer Tom Reed gave it a try with “The Return of Frankenstein.” This script draft was accepted in 1933 and was submitted to the censor board for review and passed. Whale, however, who was officially under contract to direct by this point, was less than thrilled by the script. Next, Philip MacDonald and LG Blochman penned their attempt and was again rejected. By 1934, Whale tasked reliable John L Balderston to lend his skills at a script.
Balderston went back to the Mary Shelley novel. In the novel, a bride is created for the monster, but it’s destroyed before reaching reanimation. Balderston focused on the creature’s mate as central to the new story with an alternate spin from the novel and he also created the prologue as a way to introduce the transition. But Whale still wasn’t satisfied. He then handed over the job to playwrights Edmund Pearson and William J Hurlbut. In the end, the final script was a combination of all of these versions- plus Whale’s own ideas- and re-submitted to the censor board in November of 1934.
Casting was anchored with Boris Karloff and Colin Clive early on. Sadly, Clive’s chronic alcoholism was still raging on and he died (technically of tuberculosis) only 2 years after BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN’s release, at the age of 27. Following her role as Elizabeth Frankenstein, Mae Clarke had a mental breakdown in 1932 and spent several horrifying months in a psychiatric hospital. She also endured severe injuries from a car accident in 1933 that broke her jaw. So Mae Clarke was replaced by Valerie Hobson, who was a mere 17 years old during filming, yet this was the 14th film under her belt.
Ella Lanchester was a friend of Whale’s and cast as the creature’s mate when Whale made the decision to have the same actress portray both the bride and Mary Shelley in the prologue. Prior to Lanchester, a New York model, Phyllis Brooks, and Brigette Helm, “Maria” from METROPOLIS, were first considered. “I think James Whale felt that if this beautiful and innocent Mary Shelley could write a horror story such as “Frankenstein,” then somewhere she must have had a fiend within,” Lanchester recalled in her biography, “Elsa Lanchester, By Herself.” It was Lanchester’s idea to add the hissing in her iconic introduction, which she was inspired by watching swans hissing.
Claude Rains was originally plucked for the role of Dr. Pretorius after his triumph as THE INVISIBLE MAN as he was still under contract at Universal for one more film. But he was given the lead in MYSTERY of EDWIN DROOD (1935) instead. Following his memorably affective “Horace Femm” in THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932), Whale knew Ernest Thesiger would add the eccentric “Whale touch.” Additionally, James Whale insisted upon the Scottish stage actor OP Heggie for the blind hermit. Whale touches are seen throughout and these ‘Whale signatures’ benefit us all.
Jack Pierce, who was paid $450 for his services, updated the old look of the monster by reflecting the burned skin appearance on his arm, hand, and the process of several wigs. As before in this monster role, Karloff was weighed down with 62 pounds of costuming and makeup, including 11 pound pair of boots which boosted his height and accentuated his stiff gate. To show stages of the hair growing out, Pierce used several wigs, as you would see naturally after a fire. The shortest wig (to reflect singed hair from the fire) now revealed more metal clamps (as his skull was pieced back together upon his creation in FRANKENSTEIN.) Pierce worked with Whale to create the look of the bride’s makeup and hair. The dramatic hair style was based on Neferititi, and given a Marcel wave over a metal frame. Lanchester loathed working with Pierce and his cold demeanor.
Charles D Hall’s art direction and set design, was heavy influenced by director Whale. $26,000 was budgeted for set construction. Hall’s tower laboratory took $3,600 and the electrical props cost another $2,000. The dramatic castle Frankenstein set, including the entrance and great hall, cost a whopping $4700.
As before, Kenneth Strickland created and maintained the laboratory equipment. He recycled a number of the fancifully named machines he had created for the original Frankenstein for use in Bride, including the “Cosmic Ray Diffuser” and the “Nebularium.” A lightning bolt generated by Strickland’s equipment has become a stock scene, appearing in any number of films and television shows. John P Fulton was behind the film’s special photographic effects, head of the special effects department at Universal Studios.
He and David S. Horsley created the homunculi over the course of two days by shooting the actors in full-size jars against black velvet and aligning them with the perspective of the on-set jars. The foreground film plate was then rotoscoped and matted onto the rear plate. Famed little person actor Billy Barty is briefly visible, from the back, in the finished film as a homunculus infant in a high chair, but Whale cut the infant’s reveal before the film’s release.
John Mescall used a “Rembrandt style of lighting,” which includes a central light plus a cross light to focus on a subject (an actor’s face) against a dark or shadowed background. The results are compelling. Mescall worked with Whale on five pictures.
Franz Waxman wrote an impressive and distinctive score, punctuated by notes of identifying each character. He created three unique themes: for the monster, for the bride, and for Dr. Pretorious. It closes with a dissonant chord, to reflect the explosion. The score was recorded with 22 Musicians in a single 9 hour session.
The Breen office of censorship, as one might imagine, focused its objections to the blasphemy, although international censors and local domestic censors also objected to the suggestions of necrophilia and homosexuality. Breen objected to the dialogue that Henry Frankenstein is equated to God. It was originally scripted to have the monster, as he runs through the cemetery, stop and look up at a statue of Jesus crucified on a cross and empathetically attempt to rescue him. This was replaced in the film of another statue in the graveyard, which he topples over. In the final cut of the film, we see the monster captured, tied, and hoisted up on a pole. This seems to evoke the same effect, yet somehow wasn’t censored.
Many of these ‘Christ-like’ imagery were surprisingly left in the final cuts of the film. The count of murders as projected in the script was lessened by request of the censors, which resulted in cutting near 10 minutes of scenes including Dwight Frye’s “Glutz” who kills his uncle but blames the creature. There were also censor objections to the amount of Lanchester’s breast visibility. Although many scenes include Dr. Pretorious coded as a homosexual, changes were not requested. Final censor approvals were met and approved by the Production Code April 15th of 1935.
Shooting began January 2, 1935 and completed on March 7, with approximately the same budget as the original with 36 day schedule. On the first day, Karloff was in the water of the windmill scene in a rubber suit, which he ballooned. Later he hurt his hip, and required a stunt double. Ultimately, the production was more than $100,000 over budget and 10 days over (thanks to waiting for Heggie to be available for the hermit scenes). To ‘revive’ Henry’s implied death from the original film, Whale re-filmed that ending. In the end, the running time was cut from 90 minutes to 75, after all the re-shooting and editing.
The themes we will review and discuss are similar to the original film, but there is greater focus on Christ-like imagery and homosexual coding. What interesting symbols and themes do you see? More importantly, what Whale touches do you see that are your favorite?
CAST and CREW:
Directed by: James Whale
Produced by: Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Screenplay by: William Hurlbut
Story by: William Hurlbut, John L Balderston
Based upon novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Cinematography by: John J Mescall
Edited by: Ted J Kent
Music by: Franz Waxman
Release date: April 19, 1935
Budget: $397,00 (projected budget $293,750)
Box office: $2 million
Boris Karloff – the creature
Colin Clive – Dr. Henry Frankenstein
Valerie Hobson – Elizabeth Frankenstein
Ernest Thesiger – Dr. Pretorious
Elsa Lanchester- Mary Shelley and bride
Dwight Frye – Karl
Una O’Connor – Minnie
OP Heggie – hermit