Throwback Thursday: The Old Dark House

Previously on this date: Young Frankenstein and Monster Busts! (That refers to monster statues, not really big boobs. No false advertising here!)

Today I'll point you in the direction of my post about the delightful James Whale classic The Old Dark House. This is one of my favorite movies, and deserves to be held in the same esteem as all-time classics such as The Mummy and The Bride of Frankenstein. Go check it out!

31 Days of Halloween: The Old Dark House

After the runaway success of 1931's Frankenstein, director James Whale and Boris Karloff re-teamed for 1932's The Old Dark House. Based on the 1927 book Benighted by J. B. Priestley, the film is a wonderful showcase for Whale's directorial style and ability, and contains a great deal of dark comedy that makes the film a fitting precursor to 1935's The Bride of Frankenstein.

In a desolate region of Wales, travelers Roger Penderel(Melvyn Douglas), Philip Waverton(Raymond Massey), his wife  Margaret(Gloria Stuart), Sir William Porterhouse(Charles Laughton), and his traveling companion Gladys Perkins(Lilian Bond) are forced to seek shelter from a raging storm at the home of the Femms. Patriarch Horace Femm(Ernest Thesiger) and his mean-spirited sister Rebecca(Eva Moore) are an odd pair, although they allow the group to wait out the storm. Surly butler Morgan(Karloff) has an obvious desire for Margaret, and becomes violent as the night wears on. And there is always the lurking threat of Saul Femm(Brember Wills), who the family keeps locked away upstairs...

The performances are uniformly excellent across the board. The standouts are the delightful Ernest Thesiger as Horace, Eva Moore as Rebecca, and Brember Wills as the sinister (or is he?) Saul. This trio, Thesiger and Moore in particular, make the audience every bit as uncomfortable as they do the other characters. Karloff gets little to do here, as Morgan is a violent brute and little more, but Karloff performs more than adequately in the role as scripted. The rest of the cast is quite good, if none of them really stand out too much(although Glroia Stuart makes an indelible impression in that white dress; Whale wanted her to look "like a white flame," and effect that was most certainly realized!).

The Old Dark House was believed lost for many years, but fortunately, a print was located in 1968, thanks in large part to the efforts of Whales friend Curtis Harrington. Thank Heaven for that, as this is one of the most entertaining films of its era. The Old Dark House is at equal turns chilling and humorous, and it never crosses the line or risks becoming a farce. It has atmosphere to spare, and presents several moments that will stay with you after you're done watching it.

31 Days of Halloween: The Bride of Frankenstein

 It's Frankenstein Friday, and today we'll be looking at what is widely considered the greatest horror movie of all time: The Bride of Frankenstein!

After the runaway success of the original Frankenstein, Universal immediately began considering a sequel. James Whale was initially uninterested, but studio head Carl Laemmle Jr. had decided he was the only man for the job, and Whale eventually acquiesced. (He was able to use this as a bargaining chip to get Universal to agree to fund One More River.)

Originally titled The Return of Frankenstein, the project was held up until a satisfactory script could be written. After several drafts that Whale deemed unusable, he tapped John L. Balderston to write a new script. It was Balderston who took the idea of the Monster's mate from the novel and worked it into the screenplay. He also came up with the prologue featuring Mary Shelly and friends discussing the Frankenstein story.

Once the prologue is over, The film beings immediately where the previous film ended, with the Monster (Karloff) trapped in the burning windmill. As the angry mob leaves, satisfied that "justice" has been served, it becomes clear that the Monster has survived, falling into the reservoir.

Meanwhile, Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and his new bride Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) are intruded upon by Dr. Pretorious(Ernest Thesiger). Pretorious convinces Frankenstein that the two of them should create a mate for the Monster.

The Monster has a series of misadventures in the meantime, eventually befriending a blind hermit(O. P. Heggie). The Monster learns to speak(although he does not progress to the point of the articulate, expressive Monster of the novel). After this idyllic existence is ruined by intruders(one of which is a young John Carradine), the Monster encounters Pretorious. Treating the Monster as a fellow human being, Pretorious enlists the aid of the Monster in his plans. the Monster is able to coerce the wavering Frankenstein to commence creation of the Monster's mate!

Karloff is a marvel in this film. He did not want the Monster to speak, but the rudimentary speech imbues the Monster with a whole new dimension that the previous film's mute Monster necessarily lacked. Karloff is able to bring even more pathos and humanity to the role. However, a speaking Monster meant that Karloff could not remove his dental plate as he did in the first film, so the Monster does not have the deeply sunken right cheek he had in the previous film.

The rest of the performances are excellent across the board.Colin Clive brings all of the manic energy to the Frankenstein role that he had in the first film. Hobson is more than adequate as Elizabeth, replacing Mae Clarke, who was reportedly ill at the time. Dwight Frye, delightful as always, plays Karl, the requisite lab assistant. Ernest Thesiger is fantastic as Pretorious, bringing to the role every bit of charm and sardonic wit he could muster, and that's quite a lot. Wonderful as Horace Femm in Whale's The Old Dark House, Thesiger is given more time to shine in Bride, and the film is the better for it. Elsa Lanchester pulls double duty as Mary Shelley in the film's prologue and as the titular Bride. She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she makes the most of what she is given, and stands as the only iconic female monster that is in the same class as the rest of the Universal pantheon.

Makeup artist extraordinaire Jack Pierce went above and beyond in this film, creating several different versions of the Monster's makeup so that his hair re-grows and his wounds actually heal over the course of the film! The design of the Bride was reportedly a collaborative effort with Whale; the hairstyle, based on Egyptian queen Nefertiti, was achieved with the use of a wire frame.

Kenneth Strickfaden again contributed the marvelous lab equipment. Franz Waxman's excellent score contributes a great deal to the effectiveness of the film, giving it a decided edge over its predecessor.

The Bride of Frankenstein had only grown in stature in the decades since its release. Today, it is almost universally regarded as the crown jewel in the classic cycle of horror films, and I find myself in complete agreement with that. It remains one of the greatest films from Hollywood's golden age, and is absolutely required viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in classic horror films.

31 Days of Halloween: Frankenstein

Today we'll be looking at one of the all-time greats, 1931's Frankenstein! It's Frankenstein Friday!

Frankenstein followed a long and convoluted path to the screen.  Many of the elements in the film-- the use of a "criminal brain," for example-- were remnants of the script prepared by the film's original intended director, Robert Florey. Despite his contributions, Florey went uncredited in the finished film.

James Whale eventually wound up directing the film, The result is probably a good deal better than what Florey would have given us. Florey was talented, but he seemed to be more interested in creating mood than in characterization. The mood and atmosphere of the film is an important aspect, but what would Frankenstein be without the marvelous characterizations in the film, most notably Karloff's Frankenstein Monster?

Bela Lugosi was announced for the role, but famously turned it down. He reportedly did not want his handsome features concealed beneath layers of monster makeup, and wasn't thrilled at the prospect of a non-speaking role. Enjoying his new-found Dracula stardom, Bela was more interested in roles that would let him play the romantic lead. A makeup test with Bela was actually filmed, although the footage has apparently been lost.

This led to the casting of Boris Karloff. There appears to be some dispute regarding exactly how Whale "discovered" him, with the prevailing stories involving Whale's spotting Karloff in the Universal commissary, or else seeing him in The Criminal Code. Perhaps both are true. The important thing is that Karloff was cast, and he helped bring a pathos to the role that simply was not present in the Florey script.

Jack Pierce designed what is quite probably the most iconic monster ever seen on film. Pierce would create icons with his designs again and again in the films to come, but the Frankenstein Monster surely reigns as the greatest and most recognized. Pierce worked with Karloff's facial features to design a character who is every bit as recognizable as such worldwide icons as Batman and Santa Claus.

It hardly needs to be said at this point, but Karloff is amazing in this film. His portrayal of the monster as a developing child nicely sidesteps the attempt to blame all the ensuing misfortune on a bad brain, as he is clearly being shaped by the adverse conditions in which he "grows up." He only becomes a monster after being abused and mistreated by everyone he encounters; even then, he shows kindness to the few he encounters who treat him like a fellow human being(both in this film and its sequels).

Colin Clive's often tortured performance as Dr. Frankenstein is the other standout in the film. One wonders how Leslie Howard (Universal's original choice for the role, before Whale took over) could have possibly matched Clive in this role.

Mae Clarke is capable, but not given much to do as Frankenstein's fiancee. John Boles' Victor winds up being a completely unnecessary character due to the happy ending that was tacked on, but he does well enough with the role as scripted. Edward Van Sloan is convincing as the knowledgeable Dr. Waldman, but he is not given any scenes in which he can truly shine, as he was in Dracula. Marilyn Harris as little Maria is extremely important in her small role in the film, contributing to one of the film's best-remembered scenes.

This brings us to Dwight Frye as Frankenstein's assistant, Fritz. Delightful as Renfield in Dracula, Frye's devoted, and often spiteful, hunchbacked assistant sets the standard for countless other characters who followed in his wake. (He is frequently misidentified as Ygor or Igor, depending on spelling preference. I'm not sure exactly when this began, but it was a fixture by the '60s. Naming the hunchbacked assistant in 1974's wonderful Young Frankenstein "Igor" didn't help clarify things.)

The excellent set design helped set the look for this type of film. (We would see several of these sets again; for instance, the room in which the Monster is imprisoned served as Dr. Mirakle's laboratory in 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue.) These sets were beautifully filmed by cinematographer Arthur Edeson.

One of the most memorable and influential elements of the film was all the electrical gadgets supplied by Kenneth Strickfaden. Henceforth, every mad scientist worth his salt had a lab full of one buzzing, flashing electrical apparatus after another. Often, they were other Strickfaden creations, as he rented his creations out for over 100 films.

Obviously, I'm not breaking any new ground here by proclaiming Frankenstein's greatness. It's not a perfect film-- to name one of its few weaknesses, the lack of music (aside from the titles) does hurt the film a bit-- but it is a damn good one. If you're interested enough in classic horror films that you're reading this blog, you've probably seen it. If you haven't, then what the hell are you waiting for? Buy it, rent it, or catch it on TV. Just make sure you watch it as soon as possible, as it is an essential part of the classic horror experience.