Classic Hollywood: 'Bride of Frankenstein,' Harry Houdini and Greta Garbo

Oct. 30, 2015 12:05 AM PT

his is Susan King, veteran movie writer at the Los Angeles Times, and guardian of the Golden Age of Hollywood galaxy. Every Friday in the Classic Hollywood newsletter, I get to wax poetic about legends I have interviewed, notable births and deaths, the latest in DVD releases, movie and TV milestones and fun events around town.

There’s a plethora of vintage horror films screening at local theaters for Halloween on Friday and Saturday. And here’s my recommendation: Head over to the newly reopened Laemmle Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills Friday evening to catch the 80th anniversary screening of “Bride of Frankenstein."

Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester starred in 1935's "Bride of Frankenstein." (Universal Pictures)

James Whale’s exceptional sequel to his 1931 “Frankenstein” stars Boris Karloff reprising his iconic role as the Monster and Colin Clive returning as the tormented doctor. The addition of Elsa Lanchester in the dual role of “Frankenstein” novelist Mary Shelley and the hissing, beehive-haired Bride just adds to the enjoyment.

Sara Karloff, the only child of the actor, will participate in a Q&A after the screening.

Though her father was best known for his horror films, Karloff told me in a 2010 interview that he “preferred the word 'terror' to 'horror.' He preferred the word 'thrill' to 'chill,' where [a story] went right up the spine of the viewer and kept them on the edge of their seat.”

Though he was already lean and mean when he made “Frankenstein,” he shed 25 pounds during the production.

“The entire wardrobe including the boots weighed about 70 pounds,” Sara Karloff said. “They shot the outside scenes in the hot August heat in L.A. climbing that back hill on the Universal lot, carrying actor Colin Clive up the hill time and time again until James Whale thought he had got the shot just right.”

Ironically, she noted, “nobody expected that film to be the huge success that it was, and they certainly didn’t expect my father to be the star of it. He wasn’t even invited to the premiere. Everybody expected Colin Clive to be the star. What a pivotal difference that made in my father’s life, both professionally and personally. You know, it was his 81st film, but no one had seen the first 80!”

The great escape

Halloween seances try to contact Harry Houdini. (Associated Press)

Master magician and escape artist Harry Houdini died on Halloween 1926 at 52 of peritonitis, the result of a ruptured appendix. Besides performing death-defying stunts, Houdini was obsessed with investigating psychic phenomena and debunking mediums and psychics. He also promised his wife, Bess, he would try to reach her after his death. For a decade after his passing, Bess, friends and family would go to the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood for a seance to try to reach him. There are still Houdini seances held around the country on Halloween. And one of the most popular attractions at the Magic Castle in Hollywood is the Houdini Seance Chamber.

Here is Houdini’s obituary as it appeared in the L.A. Times on Nov. 1, 1926.

Movie milestone

Greta Garbo was one of the queens of heavy drama at MGM, starring in such classics as “Anna Christie” (1930), “Anna Karenina” (1935) and “Camille” (1936), for which she received Oscar nominations. But in 1939, not only did she smile, she laughed in Ernest Lubitsch’s “Ninotchka,” which opened in New York on Nov. 3.

Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas in "Ninotchka." (MGM)

In fact, “Garbo laughs” was the tagline for this sophisticated witty comedy penned by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. The Swedish actress sparkled as a stern Russian Bolshevik sent on a mission to Paris and discovers that opposites attract when she falls in love with a handsome capitalist (Melvyn Douglas). The comedy was nominated for four Academy Awards, including actress in a leading role for Garbo. Not so surprising, the film was barred in the Soviet Union.

From the vault

I love those risque, naughty and sexy pre-Code movies of the early 1930s. And I’m champing at the bit to binge-watch Warner Archives' “Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 9." This latest set features Mervyn LeRoy’s 1932 comedy drama “Big City Blues,” starring pre-Code fave Joan Blondell with Humphrey Bogart in a small role; Rowland Brown’s 1932 chain-gang melodrama “Hell’s Highway,” starring Richard Dix; Michael Curtiz’s scrumptious 1932 melodrama “Cabin in the Cotton,” in which Bette Davis proclaims, “I’d love to kiss you, but I just washed my hair!"; Harry Beaumont’s 1933 romantic comedy “When Ladies Meet,” with Ann Harding, Myrna Loy and Robert Montgomery; and Robert Florey’s 1934 comedy drama “I Sell Anything” with popular pre-Code stars Pat O’Brien and Ann Dvorak.