Hollywood filmmakers owe Arthur Conan Doyle and Jules Verne a bit of gratitude for introducing the idea that killing off a central character in one story does not mean he can’t be brought back later on. Despite his apparent demise during the conclusion of “Frankenstein” (1931), Frankenstein’s monster was able to make a roaring comeback in “The Bride of Frankenstein” (1935), demonstrating the same kind of resilience shown by Sherlock Holmes and Captain Nemo. Directed by James Whale, “The Bride of Frankenstein” airs Saturday, June 18th at 10 pm on Me-TV, the relatively new classic television network. Considered one of the best sequels in motion picture history, “The Bride of Frankenstein” stars Boris Karloff, who returns as the monster, and Colin Clive, reprising his role as Dr. Henry Frankenstein. Featured in the title role is Elsa Lancaster, who also appears as Mary Shelley in the film’s prologue.
A crowd of villagers, surrounding a burning windmill, are as happy as they are relieved that Frankenstein’s monster has seemingly perished as a result of the blaze. One member of the throng, Hans, isn’t completely convinced that the creature is dead, and wanders into a pit beneath the mill, and unfortunately discovers his suspicions were correct, as the still living monster strangles him to death. Word soon spreads throughout the countryside that Frankenstein’s monster is back in business. Meanwhile, Dr Frankenstein, also presumed dead after being tossed off the top of the windmill by his ill- mannered creation, has been nursed back to health at his castle. Although he admits creating the monster was a bit of a mistake, Frankenstein still believes he can unlock the mystery of life and immortality. Frankenstein is soon visited by his one-time mentor, Dr. Pretorius, who also has been dabbling in the creation of life. It’s Pretorius’s plan to work with Dr Frankenstein in attempting to create a mate for the original monster…what could go wrong?
Notes: Elsa Lancaster is not named in the credits as having played “The Bride” as the character is listed as “?”. Lancaster does receive screen credit for role as Mary Shelley. Although “The Bride” is almost as iconic a figure any of Universal Studios classic monsters, she only had a total of about five minutes of screen time, and is the only “classic monster” not to have killed anyone
