Bride of Frankenstein

Released 1935
Stars Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger, Elsa Lanchester, Dwight Frye, Una O'Connor
Directed by James Whale
 
Eye-filling sequel to FRANKENSTEIN is even better, with rich vein of dry wit running through the chills. Inimitable Thesiger plays weird doctor who compels Frankenstein into making a mate for his creation; Lanchester plays both the "bride" and, in amusing prologue, Mary Shelley. Pastoral interlude with blind hermit and final, riotous creation scene are highlights of this truly classic movie.

Summary by Leonard Maltin

Unlike everyone else, I actually enjoyed Frankenstein better than the sequel. I'm not quite sure why, but it may have been the humor. I'm sure the character of Dr. Frankenstein's housekeeper played better in 1935 than she does today, and that may have been a big part of it. In both films, Boris Karloff steals the show as the sympathetic killer. His performance is simply amazing, because of what he can achieve with guttural sounds and the subtleties of his facial expressions. It really is amazing how much humanity he can evoke within the constructs of this character. The other great performance in the sequel is by Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Pretorius, who's a hoot as the mad scientist.

I think what elevates both films to classics is the subtext that runs just under the surface. There are "making of" documentaries included on both DVD's that explain much of the subtext. We learn about the battles with the censors regarding "Bride of Frankenstein," and we learn how James Whale and company were able to change the censored material to be even more subversive than the original material. I love that, because I hate censorship. With the movie ratings today, censorship is not a major issue. Everyone fights the censors to get lower ratings, but they have the choice to do whatever they want and either get R or NC-17 ratings or they can choose to go unrated. That wasn't the case in the 1930's, though, and the violence and religious undertones in this film caused Whale to make substantial changes. In many cases, I think it actually made the film stronger because of how Whale was able to adhere to the letter of the censors' demands but completely go against their spirit. --Bill Alward, November 23, 2002