Like to The Old Dark House (full movie)
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Old+Dark+House&docid=608031794270379980&mid=3BCB815D9F3082E13BF23BCB815D9F3082E13BF2&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Clip from The Bride of Frankenstein
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+bride+of+frankenstein+prologue&docid=608009958645441023&mid=DB9E0F06DA848E55B02FDB9E0F06DA848E55B02F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
00:00 Introduction
02:22 The Old Dark House
07:13 Thoughts on sequels
10:58 Prologue and cast
14:47 John Profumo scandal (off-topic)
21:25 Differences and effects in Bride of Frankenstein
25:11 Frankenstein, blind hermit, and religious imagery
29:50 Final epic scene
32:57 The Bride of Frankenstein from a gay perspective
35:10 Gods and Monsters
44:55 Sources and outro
Like to The Old Dark House (full movie)
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Old+Dark+House&docid=608031794270379980&mid=3BCB815D9F3082E13BF23BCB815D9F3082E13BF2&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Clip from The Bride of Frankenstein
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+bride+of+frankenstein+prologue&docid=608009958645441023&mid=DB9E0F06DA848E55B02FDB9E0F06DA848E55B02F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
00:00 Introduction
02:22 The Old Dark House
07:13 Thoughts on sequels
10:58 Prologue and cast
14:47 John Profumo scandal (off-topic)
21:25 Differences and effects in Bride of Frankenstein
25:11 Frankenstein, blind hermit, and religious imagery
29:50 Final epic scene
32:57 The Bride of Frankenstein from a gay perspective
35:10 Gods and Monsters
44:55 Sources and outro
Link to The Old Dark House (full movie)
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+Old+Dark+House&docid=608031794270379980&mid=3BCB815D9F3082E13BF23BCB815D9F3082E13BF2&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Clip from The Bride of Frankenstein
youtube
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+bride+of+frankenstein+prologue&docid=608009958645441023&mid=DB9E0F06DA848E55B02FDB9E0F06DA848E55B02F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
0:00 INTRODUCTION
COME REST IN THIS BOSOM
Welcome to Celebrate Poe, Episode Fifty Six - The Best Horror Movie Ever. Now just to let you know - plans are to release this podcast every Monday night at 12:00 Midnight. Frankenstein is arguably the most influential horror figure story ever written. Most scholars believe that Edgar Allan Poe did read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. After all, Poe and Mary Shelley were contemporaries, and Poe read a great deal. But while Poe did not write any major stories or poems that would fit right into the Frankenstein genre,- we do know that he wrote several stories that could be considered part of the vampire or undead genre. This podcast will examine several of Poe’s undead stories, as well as some of the vampire movies out there within the next month. But this episode zeros in on what is arguably the most the best horror movie ever filmed - The Bride of Frankenstein - and was a lot of fun to do.
Now the last episode of this podcast ended with some remarks about the success of the 1931 adaptation of Frankenstein. Despite the movie’s success, James Whale had no desire to make a sequel to Frankenstein.
Even so, the studio executives at Universal kept reminding him that Frankenstein was the was the blockbuster of the year. And Universal’s coffers were almost empty, and Frankenstein was a moneymaker.
It was only after Carl Laemmie, Jr. allowed James Whale to direct movies outside the horror genre as well that he was contracted to direct more horror films. Before doing the sequel to Frankenstein, he did revisit the horror/monster genre with The Old Dark House, again staring Karloff, and The Invisible Man, about another obsessed doctor whose brilliance destroys him.
02:22 The Old Dark House
I tried to watch some of the Universal Movies that Whale directed, and was most impressed by The Old Dark House - which has kind of a Poe vibe. Based on a novel the novel J.B. Priestley called Benighted, both The Old Dark House and the Fall of the House of Usher are on their surface about people caught in a terrible storm on their way to or from a house full of mystery, and their troubled owners who are totally out of touch with reality.
The Old Dark House begins with the leading characters lost while driving at night during a heavy storm. They come upon an old house as their only shelter. But soon the audience learns that some of the inhabitants of the house are either insane, dangerous, violent, or all three.
The visitor to the House of Usher certainly meets his share of unbalanced and dangerous inhabitants, and the story ends with;
I rushed from the room; I rushed from the house. I ran. The storm was around me in all its strength as I crossed the bridge. Suddenly a wild light moved along the ground at my feet, and I turned to see where it could have come from, for only the great house and its darkness were behind me. The light was that of the full moon, of a blood red moon, which was now shining through that break in the front wall, that crack which I thought I had seen when I first saw the palace. Then only a little crack, it now widened as I watched. A strong wind came rushing over me — the whole face of the moon appeared. I saw the great walls falling apart. There was a long and stormy shouting sound — and the deep black lake closed darkly over all that remained of the house of usher.
The Dark Old House stars Boris Karloff in his first starring role as the hulking and disfigured butler - a role that I think is far scarier than Frankenstein. He is completely unrecognizable and very creepy.
Charles Laughton also has a great role in the movie as Sir William Porterhouse. Laughton was married to Elsa Lanchester - who played Mary Shelley and the Monster’s Mate in The Bride of Frankenstein.
English actor Ernest Thesigner also had a major role as Horace Femm. In this movie, he was a rather arrogant English aristocrat, but in The Bride of Frankenstein he effectively went over the top as the villainous Dr. Septimus Pretorius.
And last, but certainly not least, was Gloria Stuart in her second movie as one of the love interests. When I wrote these notes, I was listening to her commentary for the The Dark Old House on DVD. It is said that when James Cameron was casting Titanic, he was watching her commentary on the Laserdisc version of The Dark Old House. H e was so impressed that he ended up casting her as the elder Rose in a little film he was planning called Titanic. Gloria Stuart later became the older person ever later nominated for an Academy Award.
Now, getting back to The Old Dark House - There were sections of the movie that were incredibly suspenseful, and I sat there with my mouth gaped open. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The movie is frequently rated as one of the top horror movie even though it does not contain any supernatural elements - a fact that makes it even more terrifying.
The commentary pointed out that James Whale had a sense of theatricality that marked his films, and he really understood actor’s problems. Gloria Stuart said that Whale was never insulting, and knew exactly what he was doing.
I have a link to the full movie version of The Old Dark House on the show notes and one on the show description.
But in 1935, James Whale was set to do a sequel to Frankenstein called The Bride of Frankenstein. And I am far from the only person who believes that The Bride of Frankenstein as directed by James Whale is the greatest horror film ever made.
07:13 Thoughts on sequels
By now, James Whale could demand and receive a great deal of input into the development the sequel’s process, largely because of his creative abilities. He was to retain almost complete control - from set design approval to the use of darkness and light. And his control at Universal only increased as production evolved. He not only had increased influenced, but a much larger budget. He could suggest various plot developments to the script - such as the relatively innovative prologue - where Elsa Lanchester played the writer of the novel, Mary Shelley, and then played the Bride near the end of the movie - very meta. Whale also had the genius to make the creature a far more sympathetic figure. This lifted The Bride of Frankenstein to a whole new level. It not only had chilling parts, but had moving comments on the human condition. There are plenty of horror or suspense movies with cheap thrills - I think Jurassic Park II is far scarier - but I think The Bride of Frankenstein elevates the horror film to a degree where the movie is not only scary, but even moving.
Cinema historians such as Rick Worland, viewed Bride of Frankenstein as Universal’s “horror masterpiece,” Bob Madison, labeled it “the most complex and most brilliantly achieved and conceived horror film ever made,”
You hear all the time that a sequel is never as good as the original. Usually sequels just can’t compare with the novelty of the that is proceeded. Using the example of Jurassic Park again - Jurassic Park bowled everyone over - dinosaurs had never been this realistic on screen. And I personally liked Jurassic Park II - basically the same story, but there were some thrills and chills that had my heart racing. But as the sequels came out every year, they seemed to get weaker and weaker - going over the same ground, and ultimately not as satisfying.
By the way, recently I read that Jurassic Park was a variation on Frankenstein - the idea of creating or altering life without fully understanding the ethics. But back to sequels -
Now there are some exceptions - such as the Godfather I, 2, and 3 - but it seems that often that sequels are put out to make money long after they have anything to say.
So it has almost a given that a sequel is never as good as the original. But Whale made The Bride of Frankenstein, an exception to this assumption. Universal Studios had never provided so much imagination, such acting talents, and production values on a monster movie.
The Bride of Frankenstein is not just a collection of cheap thrills - but a clever mixture of horror and humor - almost making it a camp tour de force.
But before I go any further, I want to emphasize that I don’t want to really give away the story when talking about a movie - to totally ruin the movie for you.
10:58 Prologue and cast
I can only imagine that when the movie was released in 1935, Frankenstein fans know knew they were watching a different approach to the movie when they saw the opening credits. Before, Boris Karloff was not even listed - except as “question mark” - but the earlier movie had become incredibly popular, and the word KARLOFF - all in capital letters - was listed above the title.
By the way the credits for, “The Monster’s Mate” now was the listing with a question mark - with “The Monster’s Mate” - question mark. The question mark was played by Elsa Lanchester, who also played Mary Shelley in the movie’s prologue. She was, however, only listed for the role of Mary Shelley.
In the prologue, the principals are gathered in an opulent drawing room watching the fierce lightning storm ranging outside their windows. The r’s roll effortlessly off Byron’s tongue as he wonders how such a “bland and lovely brow could have conceived a Frankenstein.” Mary Shelley claimed that her purpose was “to write a moral lesson of the punishment that befell a mortal man who dared to emulate God”—this line was to appease the censors. The characters of Percy Shelley and Lord Byron are surprised when Mary says that more took place after that tale. And that leads directly into the narrative of the movie in what has to be one of the most self-referential introductions ever.
There is a link to that approximately 3 minute prologue at the Villa Diodadi in the show notes and description for this episode.
This sequel had several characters from the 1931 Frankenstein.
Of course, Boris Karloff returned as the creature - his best known role. Colin Clive returned as Henry Frankenstein. The real life Colin Clive was an excellent actor, but his alcoholism increased to the point that he died 2 years later.
British actor Ernest Thesigner played Dr. Septimus Pretorius. In the original movie adaptation of Frankenstein, Doctor Henry Frankenstein dominates the movie - with the possible exception of the creature. Dr. Septimus Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger) seems to dominate the movie. He is a far less ethical and more insidious scientist than Frankenstein. And you get the idea that underneath all that arrogance lies an all-consuming ambition, and no real conscience whatsoever.
Dr. Pretorius strikes me as the type of larger than life person who knows he is mad, but doesn’t care - in contrast to the central character of Poe’s A Tell Tale Heart - who seems to be convinced that he is sane. Thesinger was openly homosexual and was an expert at needlepoint. In fact, he called himself ‘the stitching bitch.”
Now when I was doing the research for this episode, I planned to mention that the role of Elizabeth in The Bride of Frankenstein was played by Valerie Hobson. But I ran across something about Miss Hobson that really blew my mind.
14:47 John Profumo scandal (off-topic)
A little bit of background - and excuse me for going a little big off-topic here - Valerie Hobson began studying and dancing at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts when she was 11 years old. Later she played the adult Estella in David Lean’s adaptation of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. After an acting career in the United States, she spent the rest of her life in England.
Now - and this was what amazed me - her second husband was John Profumo - a highly respected member of the British Parliament and Secretary of War. And yes - if you are a bit older - it was THAT Profumo. When I was a kid, I subscribed to Life magazine, and it seemed that there was an article about the Profumo scandal at least every other week. At the time, the Profumo scandal was like Watergate on steroids, and was believed to have toppled the British government. With the political scandals we see today, we might be shocked but not terribly surprised.
With the Profumo scandal you were dealing largely with polite, upperclass Englishmen, and you were both shocked and surprised.
When I first read that Valerie Hobson married John Profumo, I though I would find a brief explanation of what the Profumo scandal was for this episode - but even the most basic explanation can go on for hours and hours. For example, the FBI report goes on for over 1000 pages. And even the pages and pages regarding the scandal on Wikipedia made my head spin. But I did find a brief description, and ask you that you bear with me for a few minutes. This isn’t exactly Poe, but it is good stuff. So I am going to try to explain the Profumo scandal in less than 5 minutes.
Now the cast of characters -
First John Profumo - he was an Oxford graduate, and Prime Minister Harold McMilan chose him to be Secretary of War. He had an aristocratic background, and was a good friend of Queen Elizabeth. He was highly respected man of wealth and power, and married Valerie Hobson in 1960.
Second, Stephen Ward was a rather aristocratic osteopath - in other words, a physician who believes in holistic medicine - treating the whole person - possibly such methods as stretching and massaging. His occupation allowed him to become quite familiar with people in entertainment, government, and high society in general - he was quite a partier.
Yevgeny Ivanov was a diplomat for the Russian government based in London, and the British believed he was a Russian spy.
Christine Keeler had a difficult upbringing - when she was a child, her father deserted the family, leaving her mother and her to live in an abandoned train car. And she was sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend and his friends. She was a beautiful girl, and eventually worked in a nightclub posing for pictures and serving drinks. One night at the club, she met Stephen Ward and promptly moved in with him.
At a high society party, Stephen Ward introduced Christine Keeler to John Profumo who was also at the party with his wife, Valerie Hobson. Despite being 27 years older, John Profumo pursued Christine Keeler and became her lover. And like most similar affairs, the relationship was initially very hot and heavy at first. But Christine was also sleeping with Yevgeny - the alleged Russian spy.
In a violent incident related to one of Christine Keeler’s lovers - the police questioned Christine and learned about her having an affair with John Profumo, as well as Yevgeny Ivanov. The British Parliament began looking into the matter, asking John Profumo to answer questions about the affairs. Sleeping with one of the highest officials in Britain, while sleeping with a Russian spy was a matter of national security. It makes Stormy Daniels look almost harmless in comparison.
Behind closed doors, British Security had already determined that Profumo had not compromised national security. But when asked to address the allegations before Parliament, Profumo said there were no improprieties and anyone who said differently was basically guilty of slander.
The next year Stephen Ward went on trial for the prostitution of Christine Keeler, and others. During the trial, Christine Keeler admitted to her relationship with John Profumo, and confirmed that Profumo had lied to the House of Commons. When John Profumo and his wife returned from a vacation, he admitted that he had lied, and resigned as war minister.
The fallout was so bad that Harold Macmillan resigned as prime minister, and was replaced by the opposing party.
And what was the reaction of John Profumo’s wife to all this?
We will probably never know exactly, but she stood by her husband the entire time. And John Profumo and his wife Valerie worked for charity for 40 years - redeeming himself in many people’s eyes. In fact, at Margaret Thatcher’s 70th birthday party, he was seated next to the Queen of England.
So thank you for staying with me while I go off topic. But when I saw that Valerie Hobson was married to John Profumo, I just couldn’t let it pass.
21:25 Differences and effects in Bride of Frankenstein
Now it seems almost every element from the opening to the closing credits in the 1935 Bride of Frankenstein is far more exaggerated than in the 1931 Frankenstein. The original script for The Bride of Frankenstein had twenty-one deaths in it - almost half of them were cut for the final version - but it quickly became apparent that The Bride of Frankenstein was a far more intense movie than the 1931 Frankenstein.
Even the creature’s body was more hideous. The creature had far ugly scars on his arms and face - burns he would have gotten from the windmill blaze in Frankenstein. Despite showing a great deal more wear on the creature, the makeup was slightly altered to allow Boris Karloff to have more control over the use of his face. At first, Karloff strongly objected to having the creature speak, but his vocal communications were to become one of the most moving parts of the movie.This was especially important when he learned to use his voice more, and show more emotions.
Later in the movie, Henry is recuperating in bed, and speaks of his plans - “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 . . . I might even have found the secret of eternal life.”
Elizabeth then replies that she has been having bizarre visions that “a strange apparition has seemed to appear in the room. It comes, a figure like death, and each time it comes more clearly, nearer.”
Critics have debated the meaning of these lines for years - does Elizabeth literally see visions, or is she trying to convince Henry that she has some kind of foreshadowing of perceived evil.
Then the door slowly opens to reveal a man - and the camera slowly reveals him as a ominous, older figure with piercing eyes. This is the introduction of Dr. Septimus Pretorius as he enters the bedroom. So you have Elizabeth on one side of the bed, and Dr. Pretorius on the other side of the bed - as though one character symbolizes domestic hope and the other represents the attractions of entering a dark world. Some modern day critics point out that this meeting occurred on Dr. Frankenstein’s wedding night, and the doctor is being torn apart by two sexual orientations. If that film were being filmed today, Dr, Frankenstein might be having sex with his wife when he left - but that would never have passed censors of the time. And I think that leaving things ambiguous is always more interesting.
But Pretorius does win out, and convinces Dr. Frankenstein to leave his wife - at least temporarily - to show them his laboratory. Dr. Pretorius wants Dr. Frankenstein to become a partner in his experiments, and when they enter the lab, Dr, Pretorius toasts with a creepy “To a new world of Gods and Monsters.”
I think I better stop there before I give away too of the story.
25:11 Frankenstein, blind hermit, and religious imagery
The most moving part of The Bride of Frankenstein was clearly inspired by the time that Mary Shelley’s monster spends in the hovel outside the cottage of Felix and Agatha and their father, De Lacey. The father in the hovel is blind and plays the guitar, just as the blind man in the film plays the violin. The creature of the novel learns to speak by overhearing the lessons given to a foreign visitor at the blind man’s cottage. On the other hand, the creature of the film does not learn to speak through overheating lessons meant for another, but learns to speak by the direct contact with the hermit. This gives a chance for the filmmaker to show the interplay between the blind man and the creature, and the introduction of such concepts as friend and fire. The blind man’s acceptance of the creature is purely unconditional., In the book, the creature’s happiness is ended by the return of two children who see his face, while the movie two hunters see the creature’s face and end his few days of happiness.
It is the sequence in the blind hermit’s hut that most vividly comments on the novel’s theme of man’s inhumanity towards those who happen to be different - that if the creature is treated with friendship and kindness, he has the capacity to be more like a man than a monster. The creature talks a great deal in the novel about his character and how he is affected by those who rejected him - the two Universal films make the same point without much talk, but through example. The creature of the movie versions never comes close to the level of speech of the creature in the novel, but at least he is able to convey his understanding of good and bad and the need for a mate.
This scene is also remarkable because it is the only one in which the creature makes a true friend. The Creature enters the hut making a plaintive motion with his hands reminiscent of his famous introduction in the first film and the same motion is later repeated when he hopefully greets his intended bride. This gesture represents his desire for friendship and for contact with another being who will not reject and despise him.
There is religious symbolism throughout the entire sequence: not blatant in your face symbolism - but such actions as the eating of bread and the drinking of wine mimicking the sacrament of the Eucharist or Communion; actual prayers of thanksgiving before eating; and finally a crucifix prominently adorning the walls of the hermit’s lodging. These desperately lonely people both have physical disabilities over which they have no control. At least for a short period of time before the world intrudes, find comfort and solace in the company of each other before the world intrudes.
Driven from the home of the only person who shows him kindness, the Creature then hides in a graveyard crypt. There he discovers Dr, Pretorius chopping up a young girl’s corpse to use in his new creation, eating dinner while seated on coffin, and blowing smoke in the face of a skull. “I love dead. Hate living,” the Creature tells Pretorius, who simply smiles and then responds, “You are wise in your generation.”
During one scene of the movie an angry mob hunts the creature down and bind him, Christ-like to a pole, and stone him by throwing a rock. Some critics have jokingly referred to the creature of this scene as FrankinJesus.
And in the original script, there was even a scene where the creature sees a large crucifix with Christ suffering on the cross. He does not know who the figure on the cross is - all he knows is that this looks like someone who is suffering - he then tries to comfort the figure and take him down from the cross. Not surprisingly, the censors cut this out - this was way too much, and they felt it was blasphemous.
29:50 Final epic scene
Eventually, Dr. Frankenstein joins Dr. Pretorius in his old laboratory, and prepares to fashion a mate for the creature. Not surprisingly, James Whale exaggerates the creation scene, constructing a sequence far more elaborate than the 1931 Frankenstein.. Fully using his Art Deco set, he conducts a symphony of chaos with lights and thunderstorms and kites and fires and torches and exploding bulbs and switches and large gears and clanking chains and all kinds of electrical mechanisms. There is a series of swift staccato cutting from instrument to instrument, with constant off-center compositions. I thought the constant creepy closeups of Dr. Pretorius were especially effective.
Several critics have noted that especially in this scene, James Whale used what is commonly called “Rembrandt lighting” in this sequence. This is a technique that fully illuminates only one side of an actor’s face while highlighting a triangle on the other cheekbone, and placing his figures against a black background,
The bride is revealed in a series of quick, jerky cuts, a stitched together bride with a scar on her neck, and a Nefertiti-inspired hairdo with lightning bolt streaks. She is dressed in white, is accompanied by the sound of off-tune wedding bells, and stands between her two fathers/creators. Dr. Pretorius proudly presents her as “The Bride of Frankenstein” - perhaps forgetting that the real bride of Frankenstein - Elizabeth - already exists.
When the bride sees the creature, she hisses, and shrieks in terror. I think it is interesting that in reality, Elsa Lanchester said that she modeled her sound after the hissing sound from the swans in an English lake. Frankenstein is devastated by his complete rejection by his mate, and sends Dr. Frankenstein and the newly arrived Elizabeth away, telling them to go and live. On the other hand, he informs Pretorius, “We belong dead.” He pulls down a lever that blows up the lab - essentially committing suicide - at least for this movie.
While the movie is an adventure that builds to a highly engaging climax, the ending is epic - in my opinion, one go the best I have ever seen. Now I am leaving a lot about the plot out on purpose - I hope that you see the movie for yourself.
Check out the DVD or watch the movie online - it is a movie well worth your time.
TRANSITION - It's Alive!
32:57 The Bride of Frankenstein from a gay perspective
For the rest of this episode, I would like to talk briefly about some of the recent interpretations of Frankenstein from a gay perspective, as well as
director James Whale, and the movie Gods and Monsters.
First, let me begin with some lines from a 2003 episode of Will & Grace, Will compares his dating life to Dr. Frankenstein’s relationship with his monster.
WILL: I’m intimidated, okay? It’s like I’ve—I’ve created a guy that’s too hot for me to date. It’s the same reason Dr. Frankenstein didn’t date his monster.
GRACE: What? Dr. Frankenstein wasn’t a homo.
WILL: Oh, really? He sewed together a bunch of guys to create the perfect man?
Wrapped him in linen. Give him a flat head, so you can set a drink on it. Dr. Frank was a ’mo, my friend. He was a ’mo.
Along these same lines, Dr. Harry M. Benshoff of the University of North Texas regards Whale’s Frankenstein as one of the iconic gay monster movies of the classic era. Whales movies established a prototype for many themes found in later films, including “the queer villain’s desire for one or both members of the couple,” the monster destroyed by a public mob, and “the mad scientist, who, with the aid of a male assistant, sets out to create life—without the benefit of heterosexual intercourse.”
Turning his attention specifically to The Bride of Frankenstein, Benshoff focuses on the image of Dr. Pretorius, describing him as a campy gay character.
Dr. Noël Carroll, who has degrees in both cinema studies and philosophy, , argues that Bride of Frankenstein is a “thinly disguised take of homosexual seduction” between Dr. Pretorius and Henry Frankenstein. He also points out that James Whale “discovered a theme of latent male desire in Shelley’s novel.”
35:10 Gods and Monsters
In my opinion, the 1988 had an excellent crop of movies nominated.Movies nominated for the Academy Awards. Movies nominated included Shakespeare in Love, Elizabeth, The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, Life is Beautiful, Gods and Monsters, and The Truman Show. Gods and Monsters had won many awards during that year, especially for Ian McKellen’s performance as James Whale, but he did not win the Oscar. However, Bill Condon did get an Oscar for the screen adaptation of the book Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bran. The movie version was a Gods and Monsters. Since that movie is such a great excellent expression of Hollywood culture when Frankenstein was made, as well as the last years of James Whale, I really examined the book and compared it to the movie version. - Yes, I did something I haven’t done in a long time - read a book. - I used to read lots of Dickens and Tolstoy - books that are hundreds of pages in length, but with the exception of Poe biographies, I am ashamed to say that I don’t seem to find the time to read an entire book
When I am doing research, I hope that Poe or the topic I am looking for is listed in the index at the back of the book. Of course, it is a bit easier to do a find in an ebook version, but lately if I don’t see an entry for Poe or the subject I am looking for, I set the book aside.
But this time, I read the entire novel of Father of Frankenstein - tho it really wasn’t that long. I took my time and compared the book to the movie version. It was fascinating to read a portion of the novel version, and then hear that text used word for word in the movie version - or watch a portion of the movie and read that section word for word in the book. In other words, it wasn’t one of those situations where you say - oh, the book was so much better than the movie or vice-versa. And occasionally the movie would have a visual that conveyed exactly the text or situation described in the book.
Oh there were some sections of the book that were left out - but they were sections that made sense in the context of the novel , but didn’t really further the narrative or story in the movie.
And it was therefore interesting to see how good a job Bill Condon did in adapting the book Father of Frankenstein into a movie version. Even the author, Christopher Bram, was very happy with the movie version of his novel, Gods and Monsters. And it seems that authors are seldom pleased, and have an attitude of “look how they butchered my novel.”
Clive Barker was one of the executive producers of Gods and Monsters and narrator on the DVD transfer. In case you are not familiar with Clive Barker, you can think of him as an English Stephen King - except a lot more intense. In 1991, he wrote for The Independent Magazine, and cited Edgar Allan Poe as a major influence on his writing.
"Looking back, I'm certain a good deal of [Tales of Mystery and Imagination] must have been virtually incomprehensible to me. Poe is a difficult anchor for a young reader - his style often turgid, his language elaborate - and had it not been that there were drops of tainted liquor to be squeezed from this troublesome prose I might well have given up on it. But I revelled in the perversity he paraded: the discovery of the corpses in 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', the return of Madeline in 'The Fall of the House of Usher', the unmasking of the Red Death. If the sexual sub-text of much of his fiction passed me by, much else did not. "Poe proved to me early in my imaginative life the power of fictions that are unabashedly committed to the business of taboo. He taught me that if the vision was strong enough it didn't matter if the story occurred yesterday on your own street corner or on some dateless day in an unamed place.
Now back to Father of Frankenstein - or Gods and Monsters - I think the novel and movie could best be described as historical fiction - based on real characters in imagined situations. The movie recounts the partly fictionalized last days of the life of James Whale, whose experience of war in World War I and life in Hollywood is a central theme. It has been said that James Whale, living as an openly gay man with his partner, had a poetical understanding of the outsider figure - whether that person is gay or of a different appearance. Sir Ian Mckellan plays James Whale in one of the best acting performances I have ever
seen.
The book and movie deal with the friendship between a young straight white male who mows Whale’s lawn, and Whale’s deterioration after a stroke. He is physically weak and tormented by memories that are often told through flashbacks - such as growing up as a poor outcast, his traumatic days serving in World War I, and the filming of Bride of Frankenstein. In his mind, Whale often slips into his past - indulging in his many fantasies He often fights depression as he realizes his life, his attractiveness, and his health are slipping away.
The fictional character of Clay - played by Brendan Fraser - mows the grass outside Whale’s home in Beverley Hills. Whale convinces Clay to pose for him for a painting - beginning a fascinating friendship until Whale reaches the end of his rope, and drowns himself in his swimming pool. There are so many powerful sections of the movie, but you know me, I am not going to give away the whole story.
One difference between real life and the movie - is that when the James’ Whale’s death occurred in real life, there were suspicions of foul play. His partner, David Lewis, as executor of the estate, did not release the suicide note. The note did not become public for twenty years, when David Lewis took the note from a shoebox in his closet and gave it to Whale’s biographer. In the movie version, Whale’s maid finds the suicide note right after his death so we know what happened immediately - a logical condensation of events for a movie where you are telling a story.
The full version of Whale’s note makes his suicide seem like a rational act. I can say that I don’t agree with James Whale deciding to take his own life, but I can certainly understand why.
The note reads -
To ALL I LOVE,
Do not grieve for me. My nerves are all shot and for the last year I have been in agony day and night—except when I sleep with sleeping pills—and any peace I have by day is when I am drugged by pills.
I have had a wonderful life but it is over and my nerves get worse and I am afraid they will have to take me away. So please forgive me, all those I love and may God forgive me too, but I cannot bear the agony and it [is] best for everyone this way. The future is just old age and illness and pain. Goodbye and thank you for all your love. I must have peace and this is the only way.
— Jimmy
And the book adaptation ends with Whale’s funeral at Forest Lawn - a funeral that was attended by less than 12 people. Carl Leaemmle Jr. could not come, but sent a card saying that six trees would be planted in one of the new forests in Israel in Whale’s name. Out of the hundreds of actors who had worked with him, the only one to attend was Una O’Connor - Minnie the housekeeper in Bride of Frankenstein.
Gods and Monsters - being a movie - ends on a slightly more upbeat note. It shows Clay - who you remember is a fictional character - married with a wife and young son. His son has just watched Frankenstein on TV, and he tells the boy that he knew the man who made Frankenstein.
Then, being a good husband, he takes out the trash in on oncoming storm, and the movie ends with Clay acting as though he was the creature - clumsily lumbering down the street playfully in the storm.
44:55 Sources and Outro
Sources for this episode include Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Monstrous Progeny: A History of the Frankenstein Narratives, It’s the Pictures from Film School Rejects by Max Covill, Frankenstein Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds, edited by David H. Guston, Ed Finn, and Jason Scott Robert, the New Annotated Frankenstein by Sylvia Leslie, the LIFE special of 2018,, Frankenstein, The Man, The Monster, The Legacy, and the documentary The Frankenstein Files, Edgar Allan Poe by Clive Barker from The Independent Magazine, Father of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram, and the movie Gods and Monsters with screenplay by Bill Condon, DVD Commentary from The Old Dark House, and DVD Commentary from Gods and Monsters.
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Join me for the next episode of Celebrate Poe - for a change of pace where this podcast delves into Young Frankenstein,
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