James Whale was a man before his time. Thirty years before The Munsters and forty years before Mel Brooks did Young Frankenstein, Whale realized something about Dr. Frankenstein's monster — the creature was conceptually scary, but had the potential to be much much more. Mary Shelley's creation was on one hand totally terrifying, but the character was also sympathetic and tragic. The Monster didn't ask to be made and then once he was unleashed on the world, folks didn't respond well to his unattractive physiognomy, his poor communication skills, and his not-entirely-appealing tendency to go from friendly to homicidal at the slightest provocation. But Whale also realized something that Shelley never really grasped — the creature was sad and scary, but he also had the potential to be hilarious. After playing 1931's Frankenstein almost entirely straight-faced, Whale brought a dark and warped sense of humor to the film's 1935 sequel Bride of Frankenstein. Whale created a film with the aesthetic of the horror movies he helped pioneer, but with a giddy self-referentiality. Todd Browning did something similar with 1932's Freaks, but while that movie is dementedly funny in places, it's also terrifying and psychologically effecting to this day. Time has pretty much drained Bride of Frankenstein of any seriousness that it might well have once possessed (and I'm under the impression that the film was probably originally supposed to work as both horror parody and as the thing itself). In fact, it's impossible to view any kind of Frankenstein movie without chuckling. Look at the horrid mess Kenneth Branagh made of his adaptation. That's why James Whale's film will be eternally watchable, while you couldn't make me watch DeNiro, Branagh, and Bonham Carter mope it up again (unless there are campy aspects of that film that I need to revisit).

Bride of Frankenstein is an unimaginably fast 75 minutes of cinema. I would rank this as one of the most narratively streamlined movies ever made. It's basically one plot point after another nearly from the beginning on. Actually, the film begins with a framing device. Lord Byron, Percy Shelly, and Mary Shelley (interestingly played by Elsa Lanchester, who pops up in a more famous role later in the film) are again at the country manor where, as a contest, Shelley wrote Frankenstein years earlier. Lord Byron is condescending to Mrs. Shelley, kidding on an on about how he can't believe that such a meek little thing could have written such a messed up book. He comments that he wonders what comes next in the story and says its a pity the tale had to end. Shelley mocks him by saying that the story was actually far from over and she launches into the sequel.

[She also could have mocked him for not actually reading her book, since many of the events in Bride of Frankenstein come from her book]

Anyway, after a brief recap of past events, we begin with the townspeople burning the Monster (Boris Karloff, credited only as "Karloff") at the cross. It's a big bonfire, but once he disappears from view, they logically conclude that he's burnt away. The parents of the girl killed by the Monster in the original go for a closer look, but the Monster, not even singed, kills them both and runs off. Minnie (Una O'Connor), a maid, witnesses the Monster's ressurrection (what, you don't think the Monster is a Christ figure?), but nobody believes her because she's a comic sidekick, basically. Also, everybody is concerned with bringing Henry Frankenstein's dead body to his wife-to-be Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson). Of course, Frankenstein (Colin Clive) isn't really dead. In fact, he's up and about again almost immediately and he's soon receiving visitors including Ernest Thesiger's Dr. Pretorius, who arrives at Frankenstein's house in a hail of lightening warning that he comes about "grave" business. Dr. Pretorius has also been doing experiments on the nature of life and he wants to show Frankenstein what he's created. As much details as I'm giving about the plot, some wonderful surprises should be left mysteries, but Dr. Pretorius's creations are nothing like anything you'd imagine. They're totally inspired.

Meanwhile, the Monster is having problems. Half the country-side is searching for him and he's arrested. He breaks out the second the chain him in. Basically, the movie is going pell-mell at this point until the Monster, hearing the sounds of a violin, comes upon an old Blind Man (O.P. Heggie). The Blind Man believes that God has granted his prayers for a friend and his happiness is genuine and emotional. He feeds the Monster and begins to teach him language. He also initiates the Monster into the High Life, teaching him to enjoy wine and smoke cigars. Wine, the Monster quickly discovers, is "Goooooood." And cigars, despite requiring fire (which is "Baaaaaad") are also "Goooood." Just as the Monster is finally becoming the perfect Playboy man (he's still short the silk house robe and the sexy mate, though that'll come), annoying hunters show up and once again, the Monster must go on the run. He finally meets up with Pretorius, with whom he enters into a pact — Pretorius will help the Monster get a mate, if the Monster helps strong-arm Dr. Frankenstein into joining Pretorius's experiments. The film culminates in the unveiling of the Monster's bride which, for the record, doesn't occur until the film is five minutes from ending.

Having Elsa Lanchester play both Shelley and the Bride make her both the nominal mother of the creature and its intended mate, which is pleasantly deliriously Oedipal. However, if you trust certain critics, the various unexpected subtexts to the films are everywhere. Implications of necrophilia and homosexuality abound, if you want to see them. And since James Whale was gay (though not, as I understand it, a necrophilia), there's at least the possibility that he intentionally added the subtext out of amusement. Who knows? Whether or not it was intentional, there are all sorts of fun ways to view Bride of Frankensteinwhich is part of why the film is such fun to watch.

The acting is all across the board. Colin Clive and Valerie Hobson read William Hurbut's dialogue like it's Shakespearean tragedy and probably their characters aren't intended to be funny. Ditto with Heggie's blind hermit (though memories of Gene Hackman as the hermit in Young Frankenstein retroactively color everything Heggie does). Una O'Connor, though, is a shrieking delight as Minnie, the servant who nobody listens to until its too later. And best of all is Thesiger's Pretorius, whose character becomes funnier and funnier and funnier as the film goes along. His performance is in perfect pitch with the entire production.

Towering over everything (literally and figuratively) is Karloff's Monster. And if you didn't know that Karloff hated all the make-up required for the role, you would think he was having a fabulous time. While Bela Lugosi must share the Dracula iconography with Max Schrek, Christopher Lee, and Frank Langella (and perhaps even Raul Julia for those lucky enough to see him on Broadway in the role), Karloff has the Frankenstein Monster all to himself in our collective imaginations. Imitators like Fred Gwynne's Herman Munster only add to Karloff's legacy. Even with all the make-up and with the strange mixture of comedy and horror, there's a great performance on display.

Whale and cinematographer John J. Mescall do excellent work with the expressionistic lighting of the sets. The film seems inspired by classic German horror films like Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu, with the canted angles and harsh shadows. Whale virtually never overplays the dark humor of the picture. He leaves that for the audience.

I'm just not really sure what in this film would have been scary even back at the time of its release. The film isn't really edited for either eerie or shock effects. It's not as spooky as its German antecedents nor as spooky as Browning's Dracula. I guess the Monster himself is supposed to be sufficiently scary, but he was scarier in Whale's first telling of this story. Even more than in the first film, Whale wants us to sympathize with Karloff more than fear him. Here, the Monster is mostly looking for love in all the wrong places and while his increasing alcoholism and self-loathing are really cool, they aren't scary.

But Bride of Frankenstein is good, quick, artistic fun. It also gains interest if you've seen the recent Whale biopic Gods and Monsters. So get those two movies and the first Frankenstein and you can have an evening of rental fun. This rating is closer to a 4.5 star review than anything else.

[It's a pity that, to the best of my knowledge, none of the classic Universal horror films have yet been given a quality DVD release. The Bride of Frankenstein DVD that I watched wasn't even from a good print. And some point, these classics should be given the technical treatment they deserve.]

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD