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Bride
of Frankenstein (1935)
In James Whale's superior sequel to his 1931 classic:
- the scene of the first appearance of the Monster
(Boris Karloff) chest-deep in water when he emerged from the dark
shadows under the burnt-down windmill - surviving from the original Frankenstein
(1931) film
- the scene of the great mad and demented scientist
Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), Dr. Henry Frankenstein's (Colin
Clive) former mentor, coercing Henry into creating an artificial
bride for the Monster
- the unveiling of Dr. Pretorius' bell-jars with six
small homunculi specimens (a Queen, a King, an Archbishop, the Devil,
a Ballerina who only danced to Mendelssohn's "Spring Song",
and a Mermaid) to Dr. Frankenstein ("There is a pleasing variety
about my exhibits")
- the Monster's appearance when hungry to a family
of gypsies roasting meat on a campfire spit (and burning his hands
in the hot fire), and his pursuit by townspeople through surrealistic
woods and settings
- the Monster's attraction to the blind hermit's (O.
P. Heggie) refuge when he heard the hermit playing a violin, and
the hermit taught the Monster lessons in how to eat, drink, smoke,
and play music ("We are friends, you and I"); and the tremendous
pathos in the characterization of the Monster (with facial expressions,
gutteral responses, and actually words of dialogue)
- the Monster's scene with Pretorius in the crypt/mausoleum,
when the crazed doctor promised to make a life-sized "friend" for
the Monster, who exclaimed with a smile: "Woman. Friend! Yes,
I want Friend like me!"; the Monster expressed his self-knowledge
about his creation by Henry: "I know. Made me from dead. I love
dead. Hate living"; as he handled a skull, the Monster repeated
Pretorius' promise:
"Woman. Friend. Wife"
- the classic scene of the reanimation or creation/"birth" of
the Bride (Elsa Lanchester) with cracks of lightning bolts (Frankenstein: "She's
alive, alive!"), and the revealing moment when her eyes opened
- seen in a slit in her bandaging; and the unveiling of her face
with the unwinding of bandages, revealing a wild electrified hairdo
and jerky twitching movements
- the great movie moment of the Monster meeting his
Bride when she let go with a piercing shriek of rejection and revulsion
-- and the Monster despaired: ("She hate me, like others")
- the climactic scene when the Monster decided to
spare Henry Frankenstein (and Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson)) by permitting
them to rush to safety outside, but planned on killing himself,
the Bride, and Dr. Pretorius by pulling a level to set off an explosive:
("Yes, go! You live! Go! (To Pretorius) You stay! We belong dead!")
- in the finale, explosions rocked the stone-tower and
rubble buried everyone inside alive, while on a hillside closeby,
Elizabeth and Henry happily embraced as he offered comforting words
to her: "Darling. Darling"
Explosions Destroy Laboratory and Stone-Tower
Elizabeth and Henry Watched and Embraced
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Mad Scientist Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) With Bell-Jars
The Six Homunculi Specimens
Hungry Monster Appearing to Gypsies
The Monster Smoking with the Blind Hermet
Monster to Pretorius: "Yes, I want Friend Like Me"
The Bride Unwrapped
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