Bride of Frankenstein

Trivia: Boris Karloff hated the idea of having the monster talk because he had built the integrity and 'charm' of the monster around silence.

Trivia: In the opening credits, Elsa Lanchester is not credited as "The Bride." The character is listed as "?"

Trivia: The Bride has only 5 minutes of screen time.

Trivia: The film was originally approx. 90 minutes. After editing the final run time is 75 minutes. Edits included a shortened prologue with Mary, Percy, and Byron. Also cut was a subplot with Karl committing several murders and blame being placed on the monster.

JWS3

Trivia: Billy Barty, best known as a Munchkin in Wizard of Oz, can be seen as a baby in a high chair, in a shot from behind Praetorius, as he displays his experiments in the glass jars. Dialog about the baby was deleted.

JWS3

Trivia: Una O'Connor, who plays the part of Minnie, can be seen in the opening prologue, she has a number of Russian wolf hounds on leases and exits the room from right to left.

JWS3

Trivia: Marilyn Harris, who played Little Maria in the 1931 Frankenstein, is in Bride. After the Monster escapes the flaming hermit's hut, he comes across the path of several girls, who scream in fear and scatter upon seeing him. Marilyn is the front, several years older, and taller. She speaks the line, 'Look' at seeing the Monster, then lets out a loud scream, as she and her friends run away.

Trivia: Praetorius shows Henry his experiments: Henry VIII was a nod to Elsa Lanchester's husband, Charles Laughton, who starred in the Private Lives of Henry VIII. The mermaid was an Olympic swimmer, who also doubled for Maureen O'Sullivan during the nude swimming scene in Tarzan and His Mate. Praetorius remarks that the Devil bears a resemblance to him. An inside joke is that the actor, Peter Shaw, was Ernest Thesiger's double in the film.

JWS3

Trivia: We see character actor John Carradine as one of the hunters who arrives at the blind man's hut, seeking a way out of the woods, as he and his pal are lost. Carradine would be seen in Grapes of Wrath and Carradine would play Dracula, in House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.

JWS3

Continuity mistake: At the end of the film the Monster tells Dr. Frankenstein, to leave. The Doctor and his fiancee run off. The Monster grabs a lever and says "We stay, we belong dead." He pulls the lever which blows up the castle. If you look to the left of the screen as the roof is collapsing, you can see Dr. Frankenstein knocked out on the stairs. Seconds later they cut to the Doctor and his fiancee running to safety outside the castle. It turns out in the original ending Universal killed the doc, but it tested poorly with audiences. They probably wanted a happy ending so they did a new ending where the doc lived, but they could not afford to blow up that castle again.

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Suggested correction: We see Henry Frankenstein leaning against the wall with his arms outstretched, bracing for the collapse of the watch tower.

JWS3

More mistakes in Bride of Frankenstein

Henry Frankenstein: Oh, what a wonderful vision it was. I dreamed of being the first to give to the world - the secret that God is so jealous of: the formula for life. Think of the power - to create a man - and I did. I did it! I created a man - and who knows, in time, I could have trained him to do my will. I could have built a race. I might even have found the secret of eternal life.

More quotes from Bride of Frankenstein

Question: How were the special effects of the miniature people in the glass displays accomplished?

Answer: From "Behind the Camera - Bride of Frankenstein": "Special effects experts John Fulton and David S. Horsley spent two days shooting Dr. Pretorius' miniature beings. The actors were placed in full-sized bell jars set against black velvet. These shots were meticulously lined up to match them with shots of Ernest Thesiger, Colin Clive and the interior set."

More questions & answers from Bride of Frankenstein

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