The Bride Of Frankenstein
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was directed by James Whale, was the first movie and the screenplay written by James Hurlbutt. The movie is a sequel to the movie Frankenstein, shot in 1931. The movie was produced by Universal Studios the same year that the movie Dracula (1931) was, and saved the studio. Frankenstein was so popular they decided to make a second film. The Bride of Frankenstein"is also known as Frankenstein Lives Again and The Return of Frankenstein. The movie sees it's two main stars returning, Boris Karloff as the monster and Colin Clive as the young doctor who creates the monster.
With the suttle Victorian undertones in these films, it is no surprise to find out the book it was based on. The novel by Mary Shelley, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. Shelley started writing the novel when she was 18. The first edition was published anonymously in 1818 when she was 20. Shelley's name finally appears on the second edition published in 1831. The novel has elements of the Gothic and the romantic movement. It is a cautionary tale warning about man expanded into the Industrial Revolution, at the time the book was written. This book has influenced other horror and fiction books as well as helping to start the genre of horror films we all know and love today. The book itself is based on an exchange of letters between Captain Robert Walton and his sister Margaret Walton Saville, detailing the story he hears from Dr. Victor Frankenstein about his experiences with creating and dealing with the monster. While Walton is exploring the North Pole, his ship becomes trapped in ice. They find the doctor in pursuit of the monster he has created and nearly dead in a boat on the ice. Victor then begins to tell the story and warns of allowing your ambitions to push your aim beyond what you are capable of achieving.
The Bride of Frankenstein takes us beyond this beginning into the realms of creating more and even stranger characters. Now the monster, who has survived the mob who burned and collapsed the building under him and his creator in the first movie, is back! The monster is craving a partner and wants the doctor, his creator and father, to make him a female companion, just like him. Someone who is not afraid of him and who can care for him. Something or someone like we all long for in our own lives, therefore we can relate to the monster on this level.
We are lead down the path of gruesome experiences, severed body parts and graves, crazy characters and unpopular viewpoints toward the dead and living most of us would shutter to adopt. We cringe at the ideas of Dr. Praetorius who creates little people and figures he places in bottles for display and fun. Yet, based on his research, he convinces Dr. Frankenstein that they can and will be able to create another female being to be the mate of the monster. Dr. Frankenstein is hesitant to proceed, seeing the damage and horror that his first monster has created, as well as having learned his lesson to not meddle in the ways of God and creation. So Dr. Praetorius convinces the monster to capture Dr. Frankenstein's fiance and convince him to help in creating the partner the monster desires in exchange for the safe return of his love.
During the process, we get to see the monster as more of a victim than we did in the first movie. The story line shows us his gentler side while dealing with a child. His kindness while spending time in a blind man's home, who cannot judge him by what he sees, but only by how the monster responds to him. but as always, the mob comes along to destroy the monsters tranquil existence and warn the people he is dealing with that he is indeed dangerous, monstrous, so the the monster accidentally kills the child. The blind man is then cautious of a being that may not be safe or even human. people infusing fear into a situation that may not in fact be fearful. Judging the monster based on looks and past experiences. never giving the monster a chance to prove his value and worth. Again, something we all can relate to.
No matter how many times I see this film, I always learn a new viewpoint or see socially conscious examples throughout, from undertones of religion and the many views on creation, to same sex relationships and their validity, and also prejudices on every level from color to gender. I also see the film, as many of us do. A campy fun horror film that always scared me whenever I watched it as a child. The true meaning of horror in our culture.
The budgets, the lighting of the black white films and the innovations of this film in its day should be respected. The book it is based on and the movies themselves have opened the door for generations of films created behind them. I dare say, without films like these, we would not see the innovations and advances of the films we see now. They were pioneers of their time. For this alone, I have a great respect for the people who created them.
I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for great entertainment as well as a nostalgic look back at the way film used to be and how it has brought us to the way we see film now.
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