:23:05
It is very open-ended and that allows it
to be utilised in many different forms.
:23:10
We first hear it, narrative-wise, when
Pretorius speaks of her imminent birth.
:23:15
- Friend for you.
- Woman?
:23:20
Friend. Yes.
:23:23
Dr Pretorius, who is the kind of
Mephistophelean interloper.
:23:27
He's a figure both of humour
and tremendous evil.
:23:31
He has a very mad, loping theme.
:23:40
It portends all kinds of things to come,
:23:44
usually resolved with a small coda, which
is again open-ended and unresolved.
:23:48
You never know what Pretorius is going
to do or where his actions will lead.
:23:53
There's a wonderful sequence,
where he is slightly drunk in the crypt,
:23:57
dreaming of monsters to come,
and is surprised by the Karloff creature.
:24:01
It's done in a very metric fashion,
:24:03
recalling the Danse Macabre
of Saint-Saëns.
:24:06
In fact Waxman called the cue
Danse Macabre.
:24:10
Bride of Frankenstein attracted
censorship, during and after production.
:24:14
The prologue was shortened,
:24:16
in part to eliminate all close-ups
of Elsa Lanchester's décolletage.
:24:20
That was just the beginning.
:24:22
The film had about 15 minutes of cuts
made before it was nationally released.
:24:27
I think again Universal
was trying to play it safe.
:24:30
The film was incredibly outrageous
and in some ways almost subversive.
:24:35
I think they wanted to make sure
it didn't get them in too much trouble.
:24:39
Like all Hollywood scripts,
the script for the Bride
:24:42
had to be presented to the Breen office,
the censorship board within Hollywood,
:24:46
to have approval and discussion
of any objectionable issues.
:24:50
The script contained
many religious references,
:24:52
some of which could be intended or
construed as bordering on blasphemy.
:24:57
It may be that I'm intended
to know the secret of life.