Bride of Frankenstein (1935)




Elsa Lanchester, Boris Karloff - Bride of Frankenstein

Boris Karloff, James Whale - Bride of Frankenstein

Elsa Lanchester - Bride of Frankenstein


Bride of Frankenstein




Authoress Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) is persuaded by Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) to continue her story of Frankenstein's creation (Boris Karloff) following his presumed demise in a burning mill. After the parents of the drowned girl discover the Monster had escaped the fire, they fall into his clutches and are murdered. Seeking companionship, the creature rescues a shepherdess from drowning, but he is captured by the villagers. Escaping from the village jail, he terrorizes the countryside, killing several people. The Monster is befriended by a blind hermit (O.P. Heggie) who teaches him to speak. But two hunters arrive and reveal the identity of the creature.

While recuperating from his near-fatal encounter with his creation, Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is visited by his former teacher, Dr. Pretorious (Ernest Thesiger). Pretorious reveals to Henry his experiments in creating life: tiny human beings in glass jars. Eager to create a mate for the Monster, Pretorious persuades Henry to help him by abducting his bride, Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson). After Pretorious' servant, Karl (Dwight Frye), murders a young woman to secure a human heart, the scientists' creation comes to life during a violent electrical storm. But when the moment arrives for the Monster to claim his Mate (Elsa Lanchester), she recoils from him and shrieks in terror. Grief-stricken, the Monster destroys himself and everyone else, after allowing Frankenstein to join Elizabeth in safety.



Books with substantial mentioning of Bride of Frankenstein

David Thomson
Have you seen?, A personal introduction to 1,000 films
New York, 2008

Roger Ebert
The Great Movies
2003

Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast (eds.)
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, 1. Films
Detroit/New York/San Francisco/London/Boston/Woodbridge, CT, 2000

Tom Weaver, Biography by Gregory William Mank
John Carradine: The Films
Jefferson, NC, 1999

John T. Soister
Of Gods and monsters, A critical guide to Universal Studios' science fiction, horror, and mystery films, 1929-1939
Jefferson, N.C., 1999

Gary J. Svehla and Susan Svehla (editors)
Boris Karloff
Baltimore, 1996

Scott Allen Nollen
Boris Karloff, A Critical Account of His Screen, Stage, Radio, television and Recording Work
Jefferson, NC, 1991

John Brunas, Michael Brunas, Tom Weaver
Universal Horrors, The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946
1990

William K. Everson
Klassiker des Horrorfilms
München, 1982

Richard Bojarski and Kenneth Beals
The Films of Boris Karloff
Secaucus, NJ, 1974

William K. Everson
Classics of the Horror Film, From the days of the Silent Screen to The Exorcist
Secaucus, NJ, 1974

Chris Steinbrunner and Burt Goldblatt
Cinema of the Fantastic
New York, 1972

Books with an entry on Bride of Frankenstein

Paul Michael, editor in chief. James Robert Parish, associate editor
The American movies reference book, The sound era
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.,, 1969

Articles on Bride of Frankenstein

Kim Newman, Bide of Frankenstein, in: Empire, nr. 186, 2004 pp. 180-181

Articles with an entry on Bride of Frankenstein

John Caps, Soundtracks 101, Essential movie music: a listener's guide, in: Filmcomment, nr. 6 (Nov/Dec), 2003 pp. 31-49