James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935) starring Boris Karloff and the luminous Elsa Lanchester remains a playful, witty follow-up to the English director’s seminal version of Frankenstein (1931), and is often cited as a sequel superior to its acclaimed original, along with the likes of The Godfather Part II, The Empire Strikes Back and The Dark Knight.
His desire for a mate brings the patchwork Romeo to the door of Chicago scientist Dr Euphronius (Annette Bening), whose work in reinvigorating the dead offers lovelorn Frank the chance to have a companion just like him. All they need is a recently deceased corpse…
Indeed, it is Shelley who poses the question from the outset whether the unfurling tale will be “a ghost story, a horror story or most frightening of all, a love story?”
From Frank’s love of movie musicals, encapsulated by song-and-dance matinee idol Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), to the unnatural born killers later embarking on a Bonnie and Clyde-style joyride across America, the sophomore director delivers some eye-catching sequences, not least when the newly-deads gatecrash New York high society and perform a raucous dance routine to Puttin’ on the Ritz (wryly referencing Mel Brooks’s sublime spoof Young Frankenstein).
Also, dogging their heels is dour detective Jake Wiles (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal's husband, Peter Sarsgaard) and his smart secretary/assistant Myrna Malloy (Penélope Cruz), who has her own fight to be taken seriously in a man’s world, conjuring up such battle-of-the-sexes classics like The Thin Man and His Girl Friday, albeit without the quickfire patter.
View Green Video on the source websiteMeanwhile, Bale channels Karloff and gives a restrained, sympathetic performance as a world-weary creation who would rather woo than wound.
Gyllenhaal should be applauded for her ambition, stylish flourishes and obvious respect for the original film. However, there’s a sense that all the elements don’t cohere entirely, with subplots involving the Chicago Mob and even the Sarsgaard/Cruz dynamic just getting in the way of the couple’s bizarre but captivating cross-country courtship. Pity, because the stars, the roving cinematography and Sandy Powell’s costumes are all first-class.
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