:06:01
had enormous respect for Whale.
:06:04
I think that he felt that certainly
what Whale had done
:06:09
with Frankenstein, The Old Dark House,
The Invisible Man,
:06:12
with the other non-horror-genre films
that he had done,
:06:16
showed a great stylist at work.
:06:18
Although Junior Laemmle himself
was not a creative man,
:06:23
he had a very instinctive feel, I think,
for something that was good.
:06:28
I think he felt James Whale
was the director at Universal
:06:31
who probably had the best chance
of putting Universal on par with MGM,
:06:35
and with Warner Bros,
and with the big boys in Hollywood.
:06:39
So he really gave him free rein to do
whatever he wanted with the picture.
:06:44
After rejecting several scripts
for the Frankenstein sequel,
:06:47
Whale took personal control
over the screenplay's development.
:06:50
The fact that Whale didn't especially want
to make the film, and then agreed to,
:06:56
prompted him to offer ideas for the script
to the writers. Suggest things.
:07:04
At least, we have a very good indication
that he did this.
:07:07
People such as Elsa Lanchester
mentioned this,
:07:10
that this was his idea,
that that was his idea.
:07:13
The little people in the bottles
was his idea.
:07:16
He insisted that he have
the opening prologue
:07:21
with Mary Shelley
and Byron and Percy Shelley.
:07:24
That was essential,
otherwise he wouldn't do it.
:07:27
Elsa Lanchester, for example, told me
:07:29
that Whale insisted that she be
allowed to play Mary Shelley,
:07:37
and also the bride.
:07:41
It was either that
or he wouldn't make the film.
:07:44
It was a great thrill to meet
Elsa Lanchester. I met her in 1981.
:07:47
She said that it was Whale's intention
to show that very pretty people,
:07:53
which is how Mary Shelley
is presented in the film,
:07:56
actually inside
have very wicked thoughts.
:07:59
Can you believe that lovely brow
conceived of Frankenstein?