The Bride of Frankenstein |notes|

The Bride, Elsa Lanchester

I still often find myself staggered by how little the Bride is actually in the film. Dr. Pretorius and the Baron, whose arm is twisted when his Elizabeth is kidnapped and held captive in order to contribute to creating and giving life to the Bride, work towards this almost the entire film and yet she's actually alive for very little of the screentime. Her rejection of an already defeated and demoralized Frankenstein (no longer just a Monster, he's also named after his creator) leads to his detonating in grand fashion the castle through the LEVER OF DOOM.

And yet her presence is essential to the film's status as a masterpiece of classic horror. I like that this doesn't feel like the first film, that several of the parts--such as little Maria's parents, Elizabeth, the Burgomaster--were recast, the tone is seemingly campier, bombastic, writ large with the sets much more elaborate, elegant, grandiose, and plentiful. This always feels to me Universal at its most ambitious, Whale given the chance to make his own Frankenstein film, not based on anyone else's vision, completely his own.

No matter how many times I might write about this, there are still words available. While I want this to be it and leave it all here finally for the 1935 film, my heart will always be smitten with this spectacular Halloween event film. It has humor very much on the wild shrieking side and the Christian symbolism, both spiritual and parody, can be quite overpowering and clever.

Her grand profile, the pointed face, and birdlike movements, jarred and confused at what she has awakened to, its not a long part or performance but does Whale and Lanchester sure make the most of it. I've admittedly talked about everything else so if I'm closing this out, it should be about her. And how Whale uses Mary Shelley, Percy, and Lord Byron to introduce her own other tale of monsters and mad science...just brilliant. 5/5