A community for classic cinema enthusiasts who engage in discussions, share insights, and celebrate films from the early 20th century to the mid-1960s. Members appreciate the rich history, themes, techniques, and cultural significance of classic movies.
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My pick, by far, of the best classic Universal horror movies. Every October I watch this, Frankenstein, and Invisible Man, and have an absolute blast. They packed in so much entertaining storytelling in 70 mins back then.
I do the same thing. 🍻 James Whale was a hell of filmmaker. I think I have Franksenstein at number 1 with Bride closely behind it, but I LOVE invisible Man. The performances are great, and it just goes off the rails. Probably the most fun one to watch for me. I hate to even try to rank the three.
I have the soundtrack for Bride, and listen to it around the house around Halloween time.
“Goes off the rails” quite literally hahaha.
Bride’s score is an absolute banger, darn rights. Not just the best movie but also the best soundtrack of dang near any horror movie pre-1950 in my books.
Absolutely. Has the theme for The Invisible Ray on it, too. I'd love to find a soundtrack for The Invisible Man, but no luck so far
Get the actual Franz Waxman score on CD and/or vinyl. It's great.
Love all of these, watched Frankenstein, Bride and Invisible Man in quick succession recently and all three are great. I'd almost call it feel-good horror.
I watched this just two weeks ago and LOVED it. Even more than the original Frankenstein by Whale.
I honestly can't pick between the 2. It depends on my mood.
I can understand that. I think Whale preferred the first one and I understand. It's a much more serious film and I think it has far more impact/influence. The number of "It's Alive!" copies throughout pop culture is probably in the hundreds. I really enjoyed it. I think for me it was the unexpected fun of the second. I watched them both this year and I expected something far more serious with the second. Una O Conner who plays the maid is such a delight and Dr Pretorius too.
Bride is definitely more fun with more humor.
Is it true that her hair was bright red in these pictures?
Yes. Elsa was a redhead. Many female actors were (are) as that hue photographed well in b/w films.
I hadn't heard that. David Niven said in his books that blue eyes tended to make people look dishonest in B&W.
Love classic films, and always thought that many of the female actors were brunette. I was wrong. I read a great article on "henna color" i.e. redhead years ago. It seems many that were not blondes were indeed redheaded. Web search many of those wonderful ladies and read what their hair color was....Myrna Loy....Maureen O'Hara...etc. Being a fan of those classic horror films and Bride of Frankenstein specifically, always knew Elsa was a redhead. You can likely find a 'colorized' photo of her as the Bride, w/red hair...but we can't be sure of the intensity of the shade. I need to research to see if Elsa did any color films, but she did a lot of theater and a number of recordings so there are photos out there to see her true hair color. Speaking of blue eyes: Bela Lugosi and Conrad Veidt.
She is in Lassie,Come Home, filmed in Technicolor.
She definitely did colour films, her film career lasted over 40 more years. You can see her colour hair in Bell, Book and Candle - darker red.
I've seen pics of a red wig, but more accounts say it was Elsa Lanchester's auburn hair over a wire cage with the gray stripes dyed into the side.
Wow. She had a lot of hair.
That story is correct. It is her hair, with 'stripes' added.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️
I wish she had more screen time. What little we saw was fascinating to watch.
That's how you know she's Iconic!
I just watched The Private Life of Henry VIII in which she portrayed Henry VIII's fourth wife Anne of Cleves. She was such a treasure!
One of my absolute favorite movies.
It has good atmosphere. Karloff is menacing. Thesiger is hilarious.
'31 Frankenstein gave me nightmares as a kid....then saw Bride of Frankenstein and realized the Monster was the victim.
He really always was the victim. He was brought to life and treated cruelly by Frankenstein's assistant, Fritz, from the start. He had a "criminal brain," but was pretty much childlike when he started.
When the 'tossing of Little Maria into the lake' was cut from the prints, it gave the monster an undeserving meme as a child murderer. This was carried on for decades until the film was fully restored in the late 70s and we now see that it was an accidental death.
The Frankenstein movies hit way different when you watch them as an adult. You see the tragedy and emotions in a different way
In the 3 Karloff films, yes....those that followed showed the monster as simply a mute killing machine, except for the part of Chaney and Cloestine in Ghost of Frankenstein.
Yeah I stop after Son Of Frankenstein at this point. Son didn't even have too much tragedy regarding the Monster, except for the scene where he finds Ygor shot
Thesiger steals most of the scenes he's in. Flamboyant, over the top and hilarious, but still menacing and evil.
I like how he's not the least bit startled or perturbed when the monster walks into the tomb, where Pretorious is dining off of a coffin.
Love his catch phrase line: "It is my only weakness."
"Do you like gin? It is my only weakness."
"Have a cigar....it is my only weakness."
Thesiger was an accomplished knitter/embroiderer.
"Friend?" "Yes, I hope so."
The fact that he's eating on a coffin and laughing with/at a skull while getting drunk says a lot about the good doctor