a b c d Morris, Gary (July 1997). "Sexual Subversion: The Bride of Frankenstein". Bright Lights Film Journal (19) . Retrieved January 7, 2008. Mallory, Michael (2009) Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1896-2. Brunas, Michael, John Brunas & Tom Weaver (1990). Universal Horrors: The Studios Classic Films, 1931–46. Qefferson, NC, McFarland & Co.

The film premiered on April 19 in San Francisco, California, at the Oprheum Theater. [34] [a] The film went into general release on April 20. [35] [36] a b c 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved May 28, 2023.

Bride of Frankenstein was subjected to censorship, both during production by the Hays office and following its release by local and national censorship boards. Joseph Breen, lead censor for the Hays office, objected to lines of dialogue in the originally submitted script in which Henry Frankenstein and his work were compared to that of God. He continued to object to such dialogue in revised scripts, [31] and to a planned shot of the Monster rushing through a graveyard to a figure of a crucified Jesus and attempting to rescue the figure from the cross. [32] Breen also objected to the number of murders, both seen and implied by the script and strongly advised Whale to reduce the number. [8] The censors' office, upon reviewing the film in March 1935, required a number of cuts. Whale agreed to delete a sequence in which Dwight Frye's "Nephew Glutz" [8] kills his uncle and blames the Monster, [1] and shots of Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley in which Breen felt too much of her breasts were visible. Despite his earlier objection, Breen offered no objection to the cruciform imagery throughout the film – including a scene with the Monster lashed Christ-like to a pole – nor to the presentation of Pretorius as a coded homosexual. [31] Bride of Frankenstein was approved by the Production Code office on April 15. [1] Klady, Leonard (November 17, 1998). "Nat'l Film Registry adds 25 pix". Variety . Retrieved May 28, 2020. a b Jane, Ian (April 22, 2004). "Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / Bride of / Son of / Ghost of / House of)". DVD Talk . Retrieved January 23, 2020. Young, Elizabeth. "Here Comes The Bride". Collected in Gelder, Ken (ed.) (2000). The Horror Reader. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21356-8. Variety did not so qualify its review: "[It is] one of those rare instances where none can review it, or talk about it, without mentioning the cameraman, art director, and score composer in the same breath as the actors and director". Variety also praised the cast, writing that "Karloff manages to invest the character with some subtleties of emotion that are surprisingly real and touching ... Thesiger as Dr. Pretorious [is] a diabolic characterization if ever there was one ... Lanchester handles two assignments, being first in a preamble as author Mary Shelley and then the created woman. In latter assignment she impresses quite highly". [39]

Squires, John (September 13, 2016). "Walmart Releases Universal Monsters Classics With Glow-In-Dark Covers!". iHorror.com . Retrieved January 23, 2020. Towlson, Jon (2016). The Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films, 1931-1936. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p.117. ISBN 9780786494743 ; Mank, Gregory W. (2014). The Very Witching Time of Night: Dark Alleys of Classic Horror Cinema. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p.143. ISBN 9780786449552 ; "This Day in History: April 19". The Baltimore Sun. March 31, 2017 . Retrieved April 21, 2022 ; " 'Bride of Frankenstein' at Orpheum Tomorrow". The San Francisco Examiner. April 18, 1935. p.12 ; Hanifin, Ada (April 19, 1935). " 'Bride of Frankenstein' Seen at Orpheum Today". The San Francisco Examiner. p.14. Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein. The bride's conical hairdo, with its white lightning-trace streaks on each side, has become an iconic symbol of both the character and the film.Mank, Gregory W. (1994). Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Films from the Genre's Golden Age. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1112-0.

Taking refuge from another angry mob in a crypt, the Monster spies Pretorius and his cronies Karl and Ludwig breaking open a grave. The henchmen depart as Pretorius has supper. The Monster reveals himself, eats some of the food, and learns that Pretorius plans to create a mate for him. In the decades since its release, modern film scholars have noted the possible queer reading of the film. Director James Whale was openly gay, and some of the actors in the cast, including Ernest Thesiger and, according to rumor, Colin Clive, were respectively gay or bisexual. [58] Although James Curtis, Whale's biographer, rejects the notion that Whale would have identified with the Monster from a homosexual perspective, [59] scholars have perceived a gay subtext suffused through the film, especially a camp sensibility, [60] particularly embodied in the character of Pretorius and his relationship with Henry.In a castle on a stormy night, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron praise Mary Shelley for her story of Frankenstein and his Monster. She reminds them that her intention for writing the novel was to impart a moral lesson, the consequences of a mortal man who tries to play God. Mary says she has more of the story to tell. The scene shifts to the close of the 1931 movie Frankenstein, where villagers gathered around the burning windmill cheer the apparent death of the Monster. Vieira, Mark A. (2003). Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. New York, Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-4535-5. In 1999, Universal released Bride of Frankenstein on VHS and DVD as part of the "Classic Monster Collection". [67] [68] In April 2004, Universal released Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection on DVD as part of the "Universal Legacy Collection". [69] [70] This two-disc release includes Bride of Frankenstein, as well as the original Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, and The House of Frankenstein. [69] [70] Boris Karloff in the film's trailer.

Squires, John (June 27, 2017). "Best Buy Getting Universal Monsters Steelbooks With Stunning Alex Ross Art". Bloody Disgusting . Retrieved January 23, 2020. The preparation to film the sequel began shortly after the premiere of the first film, but script problems delayed the project. Principal photography began in January 1935, with creative personnel from the original returning in front of and behind the camera. Bride of Frankenstein was released to critical and popular acclaim, although it encountered difficulties with some state and national censorship boards. Since its release the film's reputation has grown, and it is now frequently considered one of the greatest sequels ever made; many fans and critics consider it to be an improvement on the original, and it has been hailed as Whale's masterpiece. In 1998, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". a b c d e f g h i j k l MacQueen, Scott (2004). DVD commentary, Bride of Frankenstein Legacy Collection edition (DVD). Universal Studios.Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film Frankenstein. As with the first film, Bride of Frankenstein was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karloff as the Monster and Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein. [3] The sequel features Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of Mary Shelley and the bride. Colin Clive reprises his role as Henry Frankenstein, and Ernest Thesiger plays the role of Doctor Septimus Pretorius. Oliver Peters Heggie plays the role of the old blind hermit. Skal, David J. (1993). The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024002-0. In 1985, MCA Home Video released Bride of Frankenstein on LaserDisc. [65] In the 1990s, MCA/Universal Home Video released the film on VHS as part of the "Universal Monsters Classic Collection", a series of releases of Universal Classic Monsters films. [66] a b c Del Valle, David (November 29, 2009). "Curtis Harrington on James Whale". Films in Review. p.3. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011 . Retrieved June 10, 2010. Screenwriter Robert Florey wrote a treatment entitled The New Adventures of Frankenstein— The Monster Lives!, but it was rejected without comment early in 1932. [8] Universal staff writer Tom Reed wrote a treatment under the title The Return of Frankenstein, a title retained until filming began. [9] Following its acceptance in 1933, Reed wrote a full script that was submitted to the Hays office for review. The script passed its review, but Whale, who by then had been contracted to direct, complained that "it stinks to heaven". [10] L. G. Blochman and Philip MacDonald were the next writers assigned, but Whale also found their work unsatisfactory. In 1934, Whale set John L. Balderston to work on yet another version, and it was he who returned to an incident from the novel in which the creature demands a mate. In the novel Frankenstein creates a mate, but destroys it without bringing it to life. Balderston also created the Mary Shelley prologue. After several months Whale was still not satisfied with Balderston's work and handed the project to playwright William J. Hurlbut and Edmund Pearson. The final script, combining elements of a number of these versions, was submitted for Hays office review in November 1934. [11] Kim Newman reports that Whale planned to make Elizabeth the heart donor for the bride, [12] but film historian Scott MacQueen states that Whale never had such an intention. [8]