:12:02
In the Bride and the Son later on,
there was a rubber forehead that went on,
:12:07
which probably sped up the process
for Boris and Jack.
:12:11
I know they gave Karloff a slant board,
because he still couldn't quite sit down.
:12:17
I have a picture in my office of him in this
great slant board, drinking a cup of tea.
:12:23
The make-up posed technical challenges
for cinematographer John Mescall,
:12:26
who required special lighting
for the monster's skin tones.
:12:30
Jack Pierce's make-up for the monster
essentially was a blue-green colour.
:12:35
This was not due to any belief in
a colour aesthetic for the monster.
:12:40
But if the monster were photographed
wearing this shade of greasepaint,
:12:44
on orthochromatic film,
:12:46
and if he was lit as Mescall lit him,
with blue-gelled light,
:12:50
he would read as dead white.
:12:52
Mescall had red added into the make-up
of those who had scenes with the monster
:12:59
and often trained warmer lights on them.
:13:01
The make-up for the Bride of
Frankenstein is an absolute masterpiece.
:13:05
It's the only iconic female monster
to ever come out of the movies.
:13:10
I mean, if you were to think of
a classic female monster,
:13:14
it's the Bride of Frankenstein
that comes to mind.
:13:17
The Elsa Lanchester make-up was
very different from the Karloff make-up.
:13:22
I'm sure what they wanted to do
was have her attractive.
:13:25
You didn't want to have
a hideous woman monster.
:13:30
I don't know if it was
an executive decision or what.
:13:33
"We can't have an ugly woman monster."
:13:35
So they came up with this...
again, another icon.
:13:39
You think of the Bride of Frankenstein,
everybody knows that wacky hairstyle.
:13:44
It had that Egyptian Nefertiti look to it.
:13:47
They had this wire cage on her head and
that was really her hair mixed in with it.
:13:51
They probably filled it in
with some crepe wool.
:13:54
And the white streaks,
the crazy white streaks.
:13:59
Yet she was very made-up, almost
wore basically a glamour make-up.