:17:00
Valerie Hobson was very
appreciative of James Whale.
:17:03
Not only was he a great director,
but he was, as she put it, so English.
:17:07
Here she was, a 17-year-old
British girl in Hollywood,
:17:11
and he made her feel very much at home.
:17:13
She said she was the victim of
James Whale's rather bizarre wit,
:17:18
because the first time she met
Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein,
:17:21
it was the scene where she becomes
hysterical and falls into bed with him.
:17:25
As they rehearsed this scene
and she fell into bed,
:17:28
James Whale said "Mr Clive, this is Miss
Hobson." And she was in bed with him.
:17:32
So she said it was pretty strange,
even for Hollywood, as an introduction.
:17:37
Colin Clive played Henry Frankenstein
again in one of his last performances.
:17:43
Emotionally tortured and ravaged by
alcohol, he died two years later aged 37.
:17:47
Frankenstein's mentor,
Dr Septimus Pretorius,
:17:50
a role originally
intended for Claude Rains,
:17:52
was played by James Whale's real-life
theatrical mentor, Ernest Thesiger,
:17:56
an actor reportedly
just as eccentric off-screen as on.
:17:59
To a new world of gods and monsters.
:18:05
Una O'Connor, who was in The Invisible
Man, was another Whale favourite
:18:08
and a perfect choice for Frankenstein's
twittering housekeeper, Minnie.
:18:12
Although Frankenstein's assistant,
played by Dwight Frye,
:18:15
met a nasty end in the first film,
:18:17
James Whale combined
several small parts
:18:20
to give the actor
a memorable assignment.
:18:22
Fritz von Frankenstein of course had been
killed by the monster in Frankenstein.
:18:27
Jimmy Whale - I say Jimmy Whale
because that's what my father called him -
:18:33
liked my dad's work.
:18:35
What we need is a female victim
of sudden death. Can you do it?
:18:39
If you promise me a thousand crowns.
:18:42
It will be well worth it,
and the baron will pay.
:18:46
I'll try.
:18:48
Bride of Frankenstein is visually
the best Universal horror classic,
:18:51
thanks to art director Charles Hall
and cinematographer John Mescall.
:18:55
Expressionistic tricks,
totally artificial lighting,