:14:03
a ghost of Christmas yet-to-come,
bearing a strong whiff of the monster.
:14:06
It would have been dangerous
to go over the top so early on,
:14:09
with so many fancies yet to come.
:14:12
Far better to drop the other shoe
with the arrival of Dr Pretorius,
:14:15
a literal figure of death.
:14:18
We're ready for our wake-up call, Dr P.
:14:22
Promethean hubris drives the story -
or this telling of it.
:14:25
Henry rationalises his blasphemy
:14:27
by conjecturing that his actions
are part of the divine plan:
:14:30
The devil didn't make him do it, God did.
:14:34
Having created a shambling revenant
with unpredictable powers,
:14:37
Frankenstein refuses to take
responsibility for its care or destruction.
:14:42
Whale was a man
of absolutely no religious convictions,
:14:45
according to his biographer,
James Curtis.
:14:47
It is fashionable to view
the religious parable
:14:50
and Christ imagery
in Bride of Frankenstein as mocking,
:14:53
and to attribute it
to Whale's nonconformity.
:14:56
This view assumes the fey Dr Pretorius
is the director's absolute alter ego,
:15:00
and that the godless reprobate
represents an alternative
:15:03
to the vulgar Philistines of Goldstadt.
:15:06
As the movie unfolds, I will suggest
that the story's thesis is larger.