This is a very handsome production with striking design and three good performances at its heart. Basil Rathbone and Lionel Atwill are always fun to watch, but Bela Lugosi is especially good in this movie. He plays evil with real relish.
Although it does not really add anything new to the Frankenstein saga, Universal are to be congratulated for trying to make a movie that is not merely cashing in on James Whale's two great movies but is a worthy successor to them. I wish I liked it more.
The problem is that, for all its merits, this picture is somewhat ponderous and a bit dull. Every scene is slightly over-written and allowed to drag on too long. Each small plot point is painstakingly established, with the result that it takes 55 minutes for Karloff's Creature to be restored. However, it is only at this point that the actual story can begin. The plodding literalism of the story-telling is in sharp contrast to the allusive spirit of the the production design.
Roland V Lee's direction does nothing to help. He is unable to get any energy into the picture because, too often, his camera is perched well away from the action so that he can give us beautifully composed wide shots of the elaborate expressionist sets. It looks like a succession of great stills rather than a movie.
I found myself wondering if a good editor could take 15 minutes out of the picture and give it some pace. I doubt it, because of the relatively static staging and the shortage of close-ups and two-shots. For good or ill, this is the picture that Universal made and there is no point in wishing it was any different.
It is an honest, earnest, decently-crafted movie, but there is no way to hide its basic problem: there is not enough plot to fill its generous 97 minutes.
I give it full marks for trying, but its good intentions cannot make it into the Gothic classic it aspires to be.
Although it does not really add anything new to the Frankenstein saga, Universal are to be congratulated for trying to make a movie that is not merely cashing in on James Whale's two great movies but is a worthy successor to them. I wish I liked it more.
The problem is that, for all its merits, this picture is somewhat ponderous and a bit dull. Every scene is slightly over-written and allowed to drag on too long. Each small plot point is painstakingly established, with the result that it takes 55 minutes for Karloff's Creature to be restored. However, it is only at this point that the actual story can begin. The plodding literalism of the story-telling is in sharp contrast to the allusive spirit of the the production design.
Roland V Lee's direction does nothing to help. He is unable to get any energy into the picture because, too often, his camera is perched well away from the action so that he can give us beautifully composed wide shots of the elaborate expressionist sets. It looks like a succession of great stills rather than a movie.
I found myself wondering if a good editor could take 15 minutes out of the picture and give it some pace. I doubt it, because of the relatively static staging and the shortage of close-ups and two-shots. For good or ill, this is the picture that Universal made and there is no point in wishing it was any different.
It is an honest, earnest, decently-crafted movie, but there is no way to hide its basic problem: there is not enough plot to fill its generous 97 minutes.
I give it full marks for trying, but its good intentions cannot make it into the Gothic classic it aspires to be.