90th Anniversary of The Bride of Frankenstein

 

         

               

           One of those late nights on Amazon Prime, just finding something to watch to go in sleep mode. Luckily enough I stumbled upon the sequel to the original Frankenstein. The Bride of Frankenstein surprisingly has surpassed its 90th birthday after realizing the film was released in 1935, for which is surprising and yet still holds the test of time as one of the first ever sequels in movie history. Furthermore, Boris Karloff's finest performance as the Frankenstein's Monster, and if you’re a fan of Young Frankenstein you'll begin to experience a ton of references while watching The Bride of Frankenstein, it's crazy considering it's been a long time since I watched the movie. 

            After recovering from injuries sustained in the mob attack upon himself and his creation, Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is later manipulated by his former mentor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), who insists the now-chastened doctor resume the experiments in creating new life. Meanwhile, the Monster (Boris Karloff) remains on the run from those who wish to destroy him without understanding that his intentions are generally good despite his lack of socialization and self-control. 

            Universal considered making a sequel to Frankenstein as early as the original films preview screenings, following which the films original ending was changed to allow for Dr. Frankenstein survival. James Whale, who directed the very first Frankenstein movie at first refused the idea of making a sequel, but after the success of his 1933 film The Invisible Man, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. realized that Whale should be directing the sequel and so I would imagine he paid Mr. Whale tons of depression era money. The interesting thing and I may have discussed this in past reviews, but making movies in the thirties aren't like making movies today where it would take multiple years to make a movie, back then you can make a movie done close to a few days because majority of the films are made in California or in the back lot of Universal Studio's so, if you look at director James Whale's filmography you'll see that he made movies back to back films that came out every years and I believe it's basically filming a good portion of the films in the back lot of Universal Studio's and realize they can use these sets multiple times so, in all fairness it's a quick way to make a big buck and proceed to movie on to the next movie. Going back and re-watching this great classic I soon realize how great of acting Boris Karloff does in the movie and through the course of the film sure he doesn't say a whole lot of lines but through the course of the you really see the emotions embodied by Karloff and you really sympathize with the Monster almost a sense of similarities to the Monster as well as how you almost relate to the character in a sense especially when the monster meets with the blind hermit and begins to take care of him as well as teaching him to speak for which is amazing to watch for many reasons the first two films really examine what it means to be human and the sense of understanding, either way I love the way it turns out and look forward to watching the Son of Frankenstein. The other great thing about the movie is you have a villain in actor Ernest Thesiger who plays a doctor that manipulates both Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster to achieve his own personal goals that both men who are both enemies in each other's eyes begin to forgive each other and really is something beautiful acting, in both Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. Both Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein are to me one of the greatest monster movies of all time and really one of the greatest movies of all time if I had to make a list in the top 100 greatest movies. Both films deliver in every sense of the word but more importantly is a great human story of trying to create life but soon realizing the consequences of wanting to create life, though in the end what makes the sequel amazing is Boris Karloff being granted much more character development to bring more life to the monster of Frankenstein for which is great to relive. Now if you're big in the Golden Age of Monster movies, The Bride of Frankenstein is still on Amazon Prime so, if you’re looking for some good nostalgia, I would highly recommend this first ever sequel in movie history.