The Bride of Frankenstein (Working Title: "The Return of Frankenstein") Universal Studio File Script (Universal, 1935)...

Description

The Bride of Frankenstein (Working Title: "The Return of Frankenstein") Universal Studio File Script (Universal, 1935). Vintage original studio bound and bradded, 100+-page screenplay for the Universal Pictures Classic Horror movie, The Bride of Frankenstein. The oversize script measures 8.5" x 13" and features a baby blue, printed, and typed studio wrapper with the front cover bearing the title, which would remain right up to filming, "THE RETURN OF FRANKENSTEIN" and "Screenplay by William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston. Further ink stamped with, "File Copy Return to Central Files" and twice, "729". The cover is dated "December 1, 1934." The inside front page is stamped, "Property of Universal Studios Return to Central Files." Typed on the interior title page in red ink:
"So I turned to the Garden of Love That so many sweet flowers bore; And I saw it was filled with graves WILLIAM BLAKE."
Even while Frankenstein was in previews, Universal was already eager to make a sequel. In fact, based on audience response and the studio's belief that the movie would break big, the ending was changed ensuring "Henry Frankenstein's" survival and thus, the possibility of a sequel. In 1932 a treatment titled "The New Adventures of Frankenstein - The Monster Lives!" was submitted by writer (Murders in the Rue Morgue) director (Cocoanuts) Robert Florey, which was rejected. Next, Universal staff writer Tom Reed submitted a treatment, "The Return of Frankenstein" followed by a full script, but James Whale, who barely consented to direct the sequel to his previous success, hated the script. Lawrence G. Blochman and Philip MacDonald's efforts were also rejected by Whale, who then arranged for John L. Balderston, who had previously adapted Frankenstein for Whale, to have a crack at it. While Whale was dissatisfied even with Balderston's results, the writer did include the novel's creation of a mate for the Monster as well as creating the lavish prologue featuring Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley assembled on the stormy night that would produce the teenage Mary's profoundly important novel "Frankenstein."
All the epic beauty, horror, and comedy are intact in this draft. Apparently Whale assumed he'd never top his original, so he decided to make his sequel a memorable "hoot." But what resulted is one of the finest examples of a sequel that maintains all of the successful parts of the original while pushing the envelope in the areas of romance, theater, and comedy. The satisfying nature of The Bride of Frankenstein has made it universally acknowledged as one of the greatest classic horror/monster movies ever made.
The script opens with vivid and picturesque scenic descriptions typical of the era of screenwriters literate in classic literature and the vocabulary of filmmaking:
u Sequence 'A' /u , u /u Behind the titles, the sounds of a storm - weird howling, thunder rolling, and the sound of violins - eerie, unearthly music. It seems to be shrieking - and horrid laughter such as might come up from fiends in the pits of hell. This continues as we : u /u DISSOLVE TO: u /u A-1 EXT. LANDSCAPE...(NIGHT) u , ..(MINIATURE)..LONG SHOT /u Of a wild, storm-riven landscape - Lake Geneva with the mountains beyond. The CAMERA MOVES SWIFTLY over the landscape - menacing rock formations, a frightening precipice, trees bent and torn under the storm - TOWARD a distant light coming from a house set high and solitary in the hills.
The incredible creation of "the Bride" scene is described in visual and vivid detail. And the tragic ending is present, but is missing the Monsters unforgettable line, "We belong dead..." Uttered as the miserably lonely creature contemplates depressing the lever that will blow the entire lab to oblivion.
H-99 MONSTER....MED. CLOSEUP, His hand is on the lever - in his eyes the gleam of a wild vengeance. He utters an ugly cry - and with one great gesture swings the deadly lever - Then there are cries and shouts - a blinding flash - a blast like thunder - smoke, sparks - hell let loose.
Exhibiting age, chipped cover edges, and shattered wrapper spine. With some minor soiling to covers and toning to page edges. Content in vintage Very Good condition.

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