The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1935
Running Times: 75 mins
Format: black and white     35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Producers: Carl Laemmle Jr, James Whale
Presenter: Carl Laemmle

SCRIPT
Script: William Hurlbut
Adaptation: William Hurlbut, John Balderston
Novel: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (uncredited)

DIRECTION
Director: James Whale
Assistant Directors: Fred Frank (uncredited), Harry Mancke (uncredited), Joseph A. McDonough (uncredited)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: John J. Mescall
2nd Camera Operator: Alan Jones (uncredited)
Assistant Camera: William Dodds (uncredited)

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Ted Kent

MUSIC
Music: Franz Waxman
Conductor: Bakaleinikoff
Orchestrator: Clifford Vaughan (uncredited)

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Gilbert Kurland (uncredited)
Sound System: Western Electric Sound System

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Make Up: Jack P. Pierce (uncredited)
Make Up Associate: Otto Lederer (uncredited)

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Electrical Properties: Ken Strickfaden (uncredited)
Special Effects Assistant: David S. Horsley (uncredited)

VISUAL EFFECTS
Special Photographic Effects: John P. Fulton

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Charles D. Hall

OTHER CREW
Script Clerk: Flo Brummel (uncredited)
Secretary to Carl Laemmle Jr: Buddy Daggett (uncredited)

LOCATIONS
Studio: Universal Studios, Hollywood, California, USA

STUNTS
Stunts: George DeNormand (uncredited)

CAST
Karloff (real name: Boris Karloff) (The Monster)
Colin Clive (Dr Henry Frankenstein)
Valerie Hobson (Elizabeth Frankenstein)
Elsa Lanchester (Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley / The Monster's Mate)
Ernest Thesiger (Dr Pretorius)
Gavin Gordon (Lord Byron)
Douglas Walton (Percy Shelley)
Una O'Connor (Minnie)
E.E. Clive (Burgermeister)
Lucien Prival (Albert the butler)
O.P. Heggie (Hermit)
Dwight Frye (Karl)
Reginald Barlow (Hans)
Mary Gordon (Hans' wife)
Ann Darling (shepherdess)
Ted Billings (Ludwig)
Robert Adair, John Carradine, John Curtis, Frank Terry (hunters - uncredited)
Norman Ainsley (little Archbishop - uncredited)
Billy Barty (tiny baby in jar - uncredited)
Frank Benson, Grace Cunard, John George, Helen Gibson, Edward Peil Sr (villagers - all uncredited)
Maurice Black (gypsy - uncredited)
Walter Brennan, Mary Stewart (neighbours - uncredited)
Arthur S. Byron (Henry VIII - uncredited)
J. Gunnis Davis (Uncle Glutz - uncredited)
Kansas DeForrest (little ballerina - uncredited)
Elspeth Dudgeon (gypsy's mother - uncredited)
Helen Jerome Eddy (gypsy's wife - uncredited)
Neil Fitzgerald (Rudy - uncredited)
Brenda Fowler (mother - uncredited)
Marilyn Harris (girl - uncredited)
Rollo Lloyd (uncredited)
Josephine McKim (little mermaid - uncredited)
Edwin Mordant (coroner - uncredited)
Tempe Pigott (Aunt Glutz - uncredited)
Sarah Schwartz (Marta - uncredited)
Peter Shaw (little Devil - uncredited)
Lucio Villegas (priest - uncredited)
Joan Woodbury (little queen - uncredited)
Helen Parrish (communion girl - scenes deleted)

PLOT SUMMARY

Dr Frankenstein and his creation have survived the destruction of Frankenstein's castle. Frankenstein wants to abandon his experiments and settle down with his wife Elizabeth - but the arrival of the bizarre Dr Pretorius and the return of the monster leads to the birth of a new creature - a bride for the original monster.

CAPSULE REVIEW

There's really little left to say about this, one of the greatest horror films of all times - dark, funny, full of great performances, sly wit and wonderful directorial flourishes, it stands up as well now as when it was first released. Believe the hype - this really is a masterpiece. (Full Review)

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Universal Pictures; Realart Pictures Inc; Film Classics Inc
Video Distributor: MCA
Laserdisc Distributror: MCA
DVD Distributor: Universal (20632)

Australia
Rating: PG

Finland
Rating: K-16

Germany
Rating: 12

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: unrated

1936
Academy Awards, USA
Best Sound, Recording (Gilbert Kurland) - nominated

1998
National Film Preservation Board, USA
Added to the National Film Registry

1935
January
2: USA - filming begins

March
7: USA - filming ends

April
22: USA - theatrical release

1936
April
22: Greece - theatrical release

1976
July
30: Finland - theatrical release

1999
October
19: USA - DVD release (Universal (20632))

2003
June
23: USA - television broadcast (on TCM)

Warning! The Monster demands a Mate!

I Demand A Mate!

Coming! Universal's Shiveriest Sensation!

A Mate... For The Monster!

The Monster Thriller

Created in a weird scientist's laboratory... from the skeletons of two women and the heart of a living girl!

The Monster Talks and Demands A Mate!

La fiancée de Frankenstein - French title
Frankenstein Lives Again! - working title
Frankensteinin morsian - Finnish title
Frankensteins Braut - German title
Frankensteins brud - Swedish title
Frankensteins Rückkehr - Austrian title
La moglie di Frankenstein - Italian title
Narzeczona Frankensteina - Polish title
A Noiva de Frankenstein - Portugese title
La Novia de Frankenstein - Spanish title
The Return of Frankenstein - working title

SEQUEL TO
Frankenstein (1931)

SEQUELS
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
House of Dracula (1945)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
100 Years of Horror (1996)
The American Nightmare (2000)
Bride of Chucky (1998)
Bride of Monster Mania (2000)
The Celluloid Closet (1995)
Coming Soon (1982)
The Funhouse (1981)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
Here Come the Munsters (1995)
The Horror Hall of Fame (1990)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Terror in the Aisles (1984)
Universal Horror (1998)

SEE ALSO
¡Aquí espaantan! (1992)
The Bride (1985)
Bride of Chucky (1998)
Frankenweenie (1984)
Here Come the Munsters (1995)
Jawbreaker (1999)
Young Frankenstein (1974)

MAGAZINES

American Cinematographer vol.79 no.1 (January 1998) pp.102 - 109
credits, illustrated article

Bright Lights no.1 (Autumn 1993) pp.5-6 (USA)
illustrated article

Classic Film Collector no.46 (Spring 1975) pp.50-52 (USA)
article

Classic Film Collector no.47 (Summer 1975) pp.8-9, 58 (USA)
article

Classic Images no.265 (July 1997) pp.34-36 (USA)
illustrated review

Empire no.163 (January 2003) pp.168-169 (UK)
illustrated DVD review

Fangoria no.190 (March 2000) p.75 (USA)
illustrated DVD review

film dienst vol.54 no.8 (10 April 2001) p.37 (Germany)
review (by Roland Mörchen)

Film Weekly vol.13 no.350 (28 June 1935) p.31 (UK)
review

Filmfax no.68 (August / September 1998) pp.58-64 (USA)
illustrated article

Filmfax no.72 (April / May 1999) pp.40-41 (USA)
illustrated article

Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television vol.20 no.1 (March 2000) p.129 (UK)
article

Midi-Minuit Fantastique no.20 (1968) p.58 (France)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.2 no.18 (July 1935) p.83 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Sight and Sound vol.10 no.2 (February 2000) p.62 (UK)
illustrated video review

Screen vol.41 no.2 (Summer 2000) pp.161-182 (UK)
illustrated article

Starburst no.33 (1981) pp.40-43 (UK)
illustrated article

Today's Cinema vol.72 no.5770 (25 February 1949) p.10 (UK)
review

TV Times vol.117 no.45 (3 November 1984) p.42 (UK)
review

We Belong Dead no.2 pp.15-22 (UK)
illustrated synopsis, production notes (by Eric McNaughton)

BOOKS

Cult Movies 2: 50 More of the Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird and the Wonderful (New York: Dell (1983))
article (by Danny Peary)

Universal Horrors (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co (1990))
credits, article (by Michael Brunas, John Brunas, Tom Weaver)

OTHER SOURCES

Trieste Film Festival 1968 brochure
review

blindness, cemeteries, crypts, experiments, fire, frankenstein, human experiments, laboratories, mad scientists, monsters, reanimation, scientists, sequels, villagers, windmills

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008