Screenwriter Robert Florey wrote a treatment entitled The New Adventures of Frankenstein— The Monster Lives!, but it was rejected without comment early in 1932. [8] Universal staff writer Tom Reed wrote a treatment under the title The Return of Frankenstein, a title retained until filming began. [9] Following its acceptance in 1933, Reed wrote a full script that was submitted to the Hays office for review. The script passed its review, but Whale, who by then had been contracted to direct, complained that "it stinks to heaven". [10] L. G. Blochman and Philip MacDonald were the next writers assigned, but Whale also found their work unsatisfactory. In 1934, Whale set John L. Balderston to work on yet another version, and it was he who returned to an incident from the novel in which the creature demands a mate. In the novel Frankenstein creates a mate, but destroys it without bringing it to life. Balderston also created the Mary Shelley prologue. After several months Whale was still not satisfied with Balderston's work and handed the project to playwright William J. Hurlbut and Edmund Pearson. The final script, combining elements of a number of these versions, was submitted for Hays office review in November 1934. [11] Kim Newman reports that Whale planned to make Elizabeth the heart donor for the bride, [12] but film historian Scott MacQueen states that Whale never had such an intention. [8] The Monster saves a young shepherdess from drowning. Her screams upon seeing the Monster alert two hunters, who shoot and injure him. The hunters raise a mob that sets out in pursuit. Captured and trussed to a pole, the Monster is hauled to a dungeon and chained. Left alone, he breaks his chains, overpowers the guards, and escapes into the woods. Filmmaker Curtis Harrington, a friend and confidant of Whale's, dismissed this as "a younger critic's evaluation. All artists do work that comes out of the unconscious mind and later on you can analyze it and say the symbolism may mean something, but artists don't think that way and I would bet my life that James Whale would never have had such concepts in mind". [64] Specifically in response to the "majesty and power" reading, Harrington stated: "My opinion is that's just pure bullshit. That's a critical interpretation that has nothing to do with the original inspiration". [64] He concludes: "I think the closest you can come to a homosexual metaphor in his films is to identify that certain sort of camp humor". [64] Whale's companion David Lewis stated flatly that Whale's sexual orientation was "not germane" to his filmmaking: "Jimmy was first and foremost an artist, and his films represent the work of an artist – not a gay artist, but an artist". [59] 1930s Universal's art director Karoly Grosz designed this offbeat 1935 advertisement. Home media [ edit ]

Variety did not so qualify its review: "[It is] one of those rare instances where none can review it, or talk about it, without mentioning the cameraman, art director, and score composer in the same breath as the actors and director". Variety also praised the cast, writing that "Karloff manages to invest the character with some subtleties of emotion that are surprisingly real and touching ... Thesiger as Dr. Pretorious [is] a diabolic characterization if ever there was one ... Lanchester handles two assignments, being first in a preamble as author Mary Shelley and then the created woman. In latter assignment she impresses quite highly". [39] Whale met Franz Waxman at a party and asked him to score the picture. Whale told him: "Nothing will be resolved in this picture except the end destruction scene. Would you write an unresolved score for it?" [17] Waxman created three distinctive themes: one for the Monster; one for the Bride; and one for Pretorius. The score closes, at Whale's suggestion, with a powerful dissonant chord, intended to convey the idea that the on-screen explosion was so powerful that the theater where the film was being screened was affected by it. [25] Constantin Bakaleinikoff conducted 22 musicians to record the score in a single nine-hour session. [26] Curtis, James (1998). James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters. Boston, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19285-8.Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film Frankenstein. As with the first film, Bride of Frankenstein was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein. [3] The sequel features Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of Mary Shelley and the bride. Colin Clive reprises his role as Henry Frankenstein, and Ernest Thesiger plays the role of Doctor Septimus Pretorius. Oliver Peters Heggie plays the role of the old blind hermit. Young, Elizabeth. "Here Comes The Bride". Collected in Gelder, Ken (ed.) (2000). The Horror Reader. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21356-8.

a b c 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved May 28, 2023. In 1985, MCA Home Video released Bride of Frankenstein on LaserDisc. [65] In the 1990s, MCA/Universal Home Video released the film on VHS as part of the "Universal Monsters Classic Collection", a series of releases of Universal Classic Monsters films. [66] Bride of Frankenstein was included in the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection Blu-ray box set in August 2018. [77] This box set also received a DVD release. [78] See also [ edit ] a b Jane, Ian (April 22, 2004). "Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)". DVD Talk . Retrieved January 23, 2020. Taking refuge from another angry mob in a crypt, the Monster spies Pretorius and his cronies Karl and Ludwig breaking open a grave. The henchmen depart as Pretorius has supper. The Monster reveals himself, eats some of the food, and learns that Pretorius plans to create a mate for him.

Squires, John (June 27, 2017). "Best Buy Getting Universal Monsters Steelbooks With Stunning Alex Ross Art". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved January 23, 2020. In 1999, Universal released Bride of Frankenstein on VHS and DVD as part of the "Classic Monster Collection". [67] [68] In April 2004, Universal released Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection on DVD as part of the "Universal Legacy Collection". [69] [70] This two-disc release includes Bride of Frankenstein, as well as the original Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, and The House of Frankenstein. [69] [70] Boris Karloff in the film's trailer. Gay film historian Vito Russo, in considering Pretorius, stops short of identifying the character as gay, instead referring to him as " sissified", [61] "sissy" itself being Hollywood code for "homosexual". Pretorius serves as a "gay Mephistopheles", [14] a figure of seduction and temptation, going so far as to pull Frankenstein away from his bride on their wedding night to engage in the unnatural act of creating non-procreative life. A novelization of the film published in the United Kingdom made the implication clear, having Pretorius say to Frankenstein: "Be fruitful and multiply. Let us obey the Biblical injunction: you of course, have the choice of natural means; but as for me, I am afraid that there is no course open to me but the scientific way". [62] Vieira, Mark A. (2003). Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. New York, Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-4535-5.