Tags: james whale

Every year, the Library of Congress chooses twenty-five films that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant to be preserved in the National Film Registry. This year's selections, announced today, are a varied lot, ranging from comedies (So's Your Man) to film-noir (The Asphalt Jungle) to satirical dramas (A Face in the Crowd). Significant to genre aficionados is the inclusion of James Whale's 1933 sci-fi/horror romp The Invisible Man (1933). One of my favorites of Universal's golden age, the movie follows the transparent Dr.(read more...)

In 1935, Universal Studios made their next horror spectacular, the sequel to Frankenstein titled Bride of Frankenstein. It is considered by many to be the greatest horror film ever produced by Universal. A prologue featuring Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester), Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton), and Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) starts the film. The story picks up right at the end of Frankenstein, at the burning windmill. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is brought back to Frankenstein manor and the monster (Boris Karloff) climbs from the ashes of the windmill.(read more...)

In 1933, Universal produced only one horror film. It was The Invisible Man. It was the third horror film directed by James Whale.

The film opens on the snow covered village of Iping. A mysterious stranger (Claude Rains), totally covered with bandages and wearing dark goggles, checks into the Lion's Head Tavern and Inn. Meanwhile in his lab, Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers) is trying to comfort his daughter Flora (Gloria Stuart) about the disappearance of her boyfriend Jack Griffin. Cranley's other assistant Kemp (William Harrigan) tells her of his feelings for her, but he is rejected.(read more...)

In 1932, Universal released its first horror film after Frankenstein. It was titled Murders in the Rue Morgue and it was loosely based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe. Murders in the Rue Morgue was the second film that Universal released starring Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi plays the mad scientist Dr. Mirakle. Dr. Mirakle works at a carnival in Paris with a giant gorilla named Erik. Mirakle uses his sideshow to promote his own theories of evolution. At night he kidnaps a young street girl and injects her with Erik's blood to test his theories, she dies from the experiment. Dr. Mirakle kills several women for his experiments.(read more...)

The success of Dracula caused Universal to believe that a second horror film would be remarkably profitable. The next logical film to make would be an adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." The film was released in December of 1931. Frankenstein told the story of Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) who, with his hunchbacked assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye), robs graves. He uses the body parts for his experiments. Henry needs a brain for his experiments, so he sends Fritz to Goldstadt University to acquire a brain. Fritz breaks in and steals a normal brain, but a loud noise frightens him and he drops it.(read more...)