:26:02
Well, this is not how one
speaks about organised religion.
:26:05
It's changed to "Bible stories",
which is a statement of fact.
:26:09
Follow the lead of nature,
:26:11
or of God, if you like your Bible stories.
:26:14
The way Ernest Thesiger reads the line,
:26:16
"Bible stories" contains
such invective and disdain
:26:19
that it's more offensive
than if he'd said "fairytales".
:26:23
This is how one got around the letter
of the censor and the spirit of intent.
:26:28
Bride initially had a fairly lengthy subplot
involving the Dwight Frye character.
:26:34
It was probably a misbegotten script idea
:26:37
that was meant to illustrate
the monster as victim.
:26:39
Carl had this uncle and aunt in the film,
:26:45
who he killed,
:26:47
and led everybody to believe
that the monster had killed them.
:26:51
It was probably about a ten-minute
sequence followed by a morgue inquest.
:26:56
It had no bearing on the narrative line
:26:58
and probably stopped the film
dead in its tracks at the midpoint.
:27:01
Whale, probably wisely, removed this,
:27:04
and that narrative bridge
was filled by a retake,
:27:07
where the monster is discovered
in the woods,
:27:09
quite benignly trying to get food
from some Gypsies,
:27:13
who of course react in abject terror.
:27:15
This leads us on to the monster
and the hermit sequence.
:27:18
Every time I watch that scene
with the hermit, the blind man,
:27:22
I'm struck by how sincerely moving it is.
:27:26
There is no overtone there
of condescension or ridicule
:27:31
or making fun of either of those
two characters in that scene,
:27:35
or of their relationship,
of their need for each other,
:27:38
and their relief at finding a friend.
:27:41
It wasn't just "I'm going to
play games with odd humour."
:27:45
It was sensitivity,
:27:47
and that sensibility of the warmth
and mutual need that those people find,
:27:56
that he indulged himself with too.
:27:58
That wasn't in the first film either.