The monster blithely walks out the front door and goes wandering the countryside looking for understanding, but getting none. Each peaceful moment he finds is ruined by skittish villagers, or his own innocent, but deadly, blundering, or his uncontrollable anger. In one scene lost to the censors, but eventually restored, his happy moment of play with little Maria is cut short when he runs out of flowers to float on the water. He tosses her in to see if she will float instead, but not being a water lily, she doesn’t. He panics and runs away when he realizes he’s drowned the poor kid.
Henry, nursed by Elizabeth and his father, has returned to health by this time. Finally ready to marry Elizabeth, their wedding day is marred by little Maria’s death and the monster’s sudden attack on Elizabeth. Say, how’d he know where Frankenstein lived? Beginning with Maria’s father’s solemn walk through the singing and dancing villagers carrying her little limp body, leading to the hasty assemblage of torch-wielding mobs to hunt down the monster, and finally ending with Henry’s confrontation with his now loathed creation, the film moves to its incendiary climax at the old windmill in a lively fashion. Henry and his creation have a dad and son reunion that leaves both apparently dead, but never say die when boffo box-office receipts are involved.
It took four years and lots of coaxing to get the reluctant Whale to direct the sequel, Bride of Frankenstein. Karloff, who acted in over eighty films before finally hitting stardom in Frankenstein, in spite of sustaining severe back injuries manhandling Henry in the first film, was eager to reprise his star role. Dwight Frye, whom Whale liked very much, definitely dead after the first film, was given a new role--sort of. He will now play Karl, the murdering, club-footed assistant to Dr. Pretorius. Colin Clive is back, too, as the even more morose and unbalanced Henry Frankenstein, still looking for peace of mind after his near fatal fall from the windmill. Clive unluckily broke his leg before filming began, forcing him to be seated in his scenes. It’s Ernest Thesiger as the effete, nefarious Dr. Pretorius who steals the show this time around, though.
Originally intended for Claude Rains, Whale preferred the melodramatic Thesiger in the role of the malevolent doctor, and his choice has stood the test of time. Thesiger’s Pretorius is a flamboyant, superficially whimsical yet deeply sinister gentleman dabbling in dark alchemical arts. He knows he’s naughty and he likes it!
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