Oprah Movie Club Pick for August: Bride of Frankenstein

1935 comedy

Rating: 17/20

Plot: This filmed version of Mary Shelley's lesser-known sequel to her horror classic is about a monster's search for love and friendship. A perverse evil scientist who dines in tombs for some reason dreams of stitching together the titular bride for the big guy while he stumbles around and works on his social skills.

There's no way that I saw this as the brilliant black comedy that it is the first time I watched it way back when I was a kid. It seems like a daring decision by the Universal people--making a comedic sequel to their successful film based on classic literature. It works so well though. The movie still has scenes that create ominous moods and are borderline creepy. I like how the various castle rooms look, and the mist-drenched cemetery is a great set despite Karloff stumbling around and knocking over obviously fake statues. I also really liked the climactic "She lives!" scene, the stormy montage that shows off all that scientific equipment, a couple kites, and odd-angled close-ups of the two doctors' faces. And Dr. Preposterous says cool things like "Raise the cosmic diffuser!" [Note: If I ever write another song, that'll be it's title.] during that scene. I just love the look of this movie so much--each and every gnarled tree, cobweb, shadow, slimy step, gray fog blanket, and stone wall. There's also a scene where an old woman dummy is thrown into some water while a bemused fake owl looks on. I liked the owl the first time they showed it blinking, but I fell in love with it the second time. It's actually the most realistic animal in this movie other than the very real sheep; a lone fake bat looked like a elementary school student's art project.

But directly after the first shot--a wonderful zoom that leads the viewer into a mansion where the trio of British Romantic authors are hamming it up--the tone is tongue-and-cheek. Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) really overdoes things here, trilling those R's like he thinks it will help him get in Mary Shelley's pants or something. The montage that gives necessary the necessary background of the first story is really cool, some shockingly beautiful imagery there. And then we meet Millie who, if this was a straight horror flick, would singlehandedly ruin the entire experience. Millie's played by Una O'Connor, and she's a character who, during her initial scene where she's digging on some fire, you just know is not going to stick around the movie very long. What the hell is she doing with her voice in these early scenes? Or her eyes? It might just be because this is a Frankenstein movie, but she really reminded me of Marty Feldman. There's a moment where she tells another character to cross herself before walking out of the picture for what you just know has to be the last time since no director in his right mind would put this actress in multiple scenes in this movie, and I'm not sure how she didn't pull a muscle doing it. She crossed herself like she thought it would help her get in Lord Byron's pants or something. But then, the viewer discovers that Millie is a real character, like the sixth or seventh one on the cast of characters. She just keeps finding her way into every scene. There's one scene where she "washes her hands" of the monster stuff and leaves only to randomly pop up and start screaming in the next scene where they carry a body in. Millie's freakin' ubiquitous! And annoying, almost in a good way. And suddenly, there's a big chase scene with a lynch mob armed with sticks and wooden rakes, and there's Millie again, all ready to cackle and be louder than everybody else. I do like how she says "burgomaster" though.

Millie's not the only goofy character. I couldn't stop laughing at Dr. Pretorius's antics. And I love how he said "tissues" during the "You think I'm mad?" scene after he showed Henry his little people in bottles. What the hell's going on there? Let's have the mad scientist show off his little people in bottles and then suggest to Henry Frankenstein that they do something completely different from that. And I loved how Henry didn't seem amused, interested, surprised, or really anything while looking at the little people. I bet Dr. Pretorius was a little disappointed in that. I wouldn't mind having my own little ballerina in a bottle, by the way, and I'm adding it to my Christmas list. I also liked how Ernest Thesiger's Pretorius said "wizard," and his toast "to a new world of gods and monsters" is something I'm going to steal if there's ever an opportunity for me to make a toast. Henry's expression after that toast is priceless. "What? I ain't drinking to that!" You just know that Dr. Pretorius can't be trusted. For one, he's a total pervert. You know he's only interested in making a bride for the monster so that he can watch them do it. Now I'm not saying I wouldn't do the same thing if I had a laboratory like that and a couple of kites, but there's just something wrong with using science to create your own elaborate pornography. His creepiest line: "I hope her bones are firm." I'm not sure it's the words there as much as it is Thesiger's delivery. Pretorius also has Gene Wilder's hair. Oh, you also can't trust Pretorius because you catch him in a fib in this movie. He tells Frankenstein that alcohol (I think gin) is his only weakness and later tells the monster that cigars are his only weakness. You're not fooling me, Dr. Pretorius.

Of course, Karloff gets to play the funniest character. Every single scene in which he tries to interact with other characters is just hilarious, all grunting and awkward arm waving. The scene with the blind hermit shifts from touching to comic and back again. The monster learns the word "bread" and then takes a giant bite which disappears about three seconds later. And wine? You show me a human being who can watch the monster drink without laughing. And then smoking? This blind hermit is certainly a bad influence on the monster. There's a great bit of comedy when a couple lost guy's walk into right before the blind hermit and Frankenstein's monster are about to make love. One of the guy's says, "He isn't human! Frankenstein made him out of dead bodies! The hermit says, "This is my friend," and the other guy responds with, "Can't you see? Oh. . ." What's with Frankenstein's vocabulary, by the way? He seems to learn words awfully quickly, doesn't he? I fully expected the big guy to say, "Do you have bolts on your nipples or are you just happy to see me?" when he meets his bride. She's terrific by the way with all those jerky motions. The camera angles capture the titular bride's sexy charms, and I enjoyed watching the doctors raise her table up with her in that form-fitting gauze. And that hair! The meeting between monster and mate actually reminded me of when I met my wife:

Guy monster: Friend?
Girl monster: (bird squelch noise...head jerks)
Guy monster: Friend? (weird hand motions)
Girl monster: (screaming)
Guy monster: She hate me.
Girl monster: (a lovely wet hissing noise)

Who puts a self-destruct "leever" in their laboratory anyway? That seemed like a poor choice.

One more thing--the music in this is really too much, but I liked it anyway. It gives simple moments this grandiose theatrical feel, like the rising notes when Dr. Pretorius's shadow comes into the room after we first meet him. There are a few moments where the music almost seems inappropriate though, most memorably during the scene where Pretorius is giving the monster some wine in the tomb while they're checking out some bones. That, friends, is not a euphemism.

Barry picked this classic horror-comedy for us to watch, so you can thank him. I'm glad he did because it had been a very long time for me.