:07:01
The parts were written
for these specific performers.
:07:04
The unforgettable role of Dr Pretorius
was apparently tailored for Claude Rains.
:07:08
It is not known why Rains bowed out.
:07:10
According to later studio memos,
:07:12
he declined the Basil Rathbone part
in Son of Frankenstein
:07:15
because it was a horror picture.
:07:17
Ernest Thesiger, another Whale favourite,
filled the gap,
:07:20
dramatically changing the movie's orbit.
:07:23
The old Baron Frankenstein, referred to
here, is never mentioned again.
:07:28
In the preview version, the news of
Henry's alleged death did the old man in.
:07:33
The baron wasn't shown, but the priest
and altar boys attending last rites were,
:07:37
and they can still be found
in one or two production stills.
:07:41
The parents of Maria,
the child drowned in the original film,
:07:44
are played by Reginald Barlow
and Mary Gordon.
:07:47
Michael Mark, the father in Frankenstein,
was called Ludwig.
:07:51
Reginald Barlow, here called Hans,
:07:54
appeared in the concurrent Werewolf of
London as the estate caretaker, Timothy.
:07:58
Upon reviewing the November 30th, 1934,
shooting script,
:08:02
Joseph Breen, the omnipotent censor
of the Production Code Administration,
:08:06
wrote the studio "We counted
ten separate scenes
:08:09
in which the monster either strangles
or tramples people to death -
:08:13
this in addition to murders
by secondary characters."
:08:16
"Such a great amount
of slaughter is unwise,
:08:18
and we recommend earnestly that you
do something about toning this down."
:08:23
Whale balked: "Kill them all.
Let Breen sort them out."
:08:26
Whale's first cut contained no less than
21 deaths either committed or alluded to.
:08:31
After Breen's sorting,
:08:33
the casualty rate plummeted
to a mere ten confirmed decedents.
:08:37
Franz Waxman's famous five-note motif
for the monster, usually played by brass,
:08:41
provides the backbone of the score,
:08:43
and will recur in various
guises and developments,
:08:46
including flutter tonguing for danger
and harmon mutes for comic effect.
:08:51
As developed, it comments
both on the creature
:08:53
and other characters' reactions to him.
:08:56
Poor Mary Gordon is Hans' wife.
Her Mrs Hudson suffered for years