Review The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Carol

Carol

Member: Rank 5
Ouf!

Big questions for a Friday night, Doc - didn't know Karloff said that - interesting.

Did you see the Lee Miller/ Cumberbatch NT Frankenstein? Both characters had LOTS to say to eachother = hardly surprising- My guess is that Universal bought into some alternative "dumb monster" reading which worked (and works!) on its own terms - but that Adam, the Creature, is the disadvantaged, traumatised, demonised equal of his creator, is very much what Mary Shelley intended us to understand. Mr Mel Brooks had a handle on this:

The Monster: For as long as I can remember people have hated me. They looked at my face and my body and they ran away in horror. In my loneliness I decided that if I could not inspire love, which is my deepest hope, I would instead cause fear. I live because this poor half-crazed genius, has given me life. He alone held an image of me as something beautiful and then, when it would have been easy enough to stay out of danger, he used his own body as a guinea pig to give me a calmer brain and a somewhat more sophisticated way of expressing myself.
 
chainsaw_metal1

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
While I usually get mad at films that go so far away from the source material, Universal's DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN are movies I give passes to, mostly because they actually used popular stage plays for the material, but also because of the era. They couldn't have done huge, seeping page-to-screen adaptations with the restrictions of the time.

That being said, I always thought Karloff was wrong to think that the monster shouldn't speak. His learning to communicate is detriment to the film, and his exchange with Dr. Pretorius in the tombs is brilliant. When my son was younger, he and I would sit and quote that part. Ah...good times...
 
Doctor Omega

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Yes, I agree that Karloff was mistaken. The Bride herself remains amazingly iconic - and I wait with bated breath to see just how badly the Universal of today will mess it all up and miss the point in their upcoming DARK UNIVERSE remake.... :emoji_alien:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top