Daily Dialogue — October 24, 2011

Pretorious: [toasting to a skull] I give you the Monster. [The Monster enters] Oh, I thought I was alone. Good evening.

Monster: Smoke? Friend.

Pretorius: Yes, I hope so. Have a cigar. They are my only weakness.

Monster: Drink. Good. You make man like me?

Pretorius: No. Woman. Friend for you.

Monster: Woman — Friend — Yes — I want Friend, like me.

Pretorius: I think you can be very useful. And you will add a little force to the argument if necessary. Do you know who Henry Frankenstein is and who you are?

Monster: Yes, I know. Made me from dead. I love dead. Hate living.

Pretorius: You’re wise in your generation. We must have a long talk, and then I have an important call to make.

Monster: Woman — Friend — Wife.

— Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), Monster (Boris Karloff), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), screenplay by William Hurlbut, adapted by William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston, inspired by a novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is monsters, suggested by Teddy Pasternak. The Bride of Frankenstein suggested by Adam Gottschalk.

Trivia: Director James Whale originally did not want to do a sequel to Frankenstein. For a time, Universal considered producing a sequel without Whale’s involvement. One possible story included an educated monster continuing Henry’s research, while another chronicled Henry’s creation of a death ray on the eve of a world war. However, after 4 years of badgering by Universal, Whale agreed to do the film.

Dialogue On Dialogue: This is one of the most fascinating dialogue exchanges I’ve read in a long time. First we have Monster tasting the pleasures of life in the form of tobacco and alcohol, then confessing “I love dead. Hate living.” What is going on here? I have some ideas…

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