Mention the name Ernest Thesiger to a classic horror movie fan and his role of "Dr. Septimus Pretorius" in director James Whale's, 1935, "The Bride of Frankenstein", always comes to mind. However, that role has overshadowed character actor Thesiger's other work.
Above, Ernest
Thesiger with Boris Karloff in "The
Bride of Frankenstein".
Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, the third of four children, was
born on January 15, 1879, in Chelsea, London,
England.
His father was the Honorable
Sir Edward Peirson Thesiger, KCB (Order of the Bath), Clerk Assistant
to Parliament (The Chief Clerk of the House of Lords)".
His mother was Georgina Mary Sackville, daughter of William Bruce Stopford Sackville, of Drayton House, part of the family of the Irish Earl of Courtown.
On his father's side, his grandfather was Frederic Thesiger, 1st Earl of Chelmsford, twice Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. His uncle was Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron of Chelmsford, who on January 22, 1879, led Queen Victoria's modern British army against a Zulu native army, with only spears, in South Africa. The "Battle of Isandlwana" resulted in over 1,300 of Clemsford's command killed, see the 1979 motion picture, "Zulu Dawn", starring Peter O' Toole as Chemsford, and Burt Lancaster, as Colonel Dumford.
I could not locate
anything on Ernest Thesiger's early life, but he attended "Marlborough
College", Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. The word college has
a different meaning in the United Kingdom to the United States, the student
ages for instruction are 13 to 18-years-of-age.
Ernest wanted to be a painter and enrolled in the "Slade School of Fine Art", now part of the "University College London", Bloomsbury, London.
There he met William
Bruce Ellis Ranken, seen in 1907 below, a fellow painting
student, and the two became close friends.
However, Ernest switched careers to the
legitimate stage to become an actor.
In 1909, Ernest
Thesiger appeared for the first time on-stage in a play entitled, "Colonel
Smith", apparently not the 1909 play, "Smith", first
staged that same year and written by W. Somerset Maugham. Also
in 1909, Thesiger showed the first of his activism by joining
the "Men's League for Women's Suffrage" and
participating in demonstrations throughout London.
Shortly, after the outbreak of the First World War, on August 31, 1914, stage actor, Ernest Thesiger volunteered for the British Army's Territorial Force. His enlistment was in the 2nd Battalion, 9th London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles), as rifleman #2546. Three months later, Thesiger was fighting on the Western Front.
In France, both Thesiger
and Ranken found themselves together while serving in the army. At this time, William
Ranken, as a diversion to being in the trenches of the Western Front, found,
collected, and repaired pieces of historical embroidery and resold them. William
taught embroidery to Ernest and he worked with his friend repairing the pieces.
However, on January 1,
1915, Ernest Thesiger hands were badly damaged by a bomb and he was medically
evacuated out of France and returned to England. There he started creating small sewing
kits for other soldiers with hand injuries. These were designed to help elevate pain and improve morale, by giving these injured soldiers an activity to help keep them from thinking of
nothing but their injuries. This became "The
Disabled Soldiers Embroidery Industry", located at 42 Ebury
Street, London.
As time would pass, Thesiger started
taking in commissions and would be known as the "Honorary
Secretary Cross-Stitch". One of Ernest Thesiger's
embroidery commissions, was to make an altar frontal piece, for private use, at
Buckingham Palace.
To put Ernest Thesiger in proper
prospective after being evacuated from France to England. Starts with the
play "A Little Bit of Fluff". This comic farce
opened at the Criterion Theatre on October 27,
1915, starring Thesiger as "Bertrand Tully", and
ran for 1,241 performances into 1918.
My reader should note the following
poster indicating the safety of the theatre during the war.
On March
8, 1916, Ernest Thesiger appeared as a "Witch" in
drag, in his first motion picture. A parody of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", written
by playwright J.M. Barrie, 1904's, "Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who
Wouldn't Grow Up", entitled, "The Real Thing at
Last". The motion picture starred Edmund Gwenn", "Kris
Kringle", in 1947s' original, "Miracle
on 34th Street".
On May 30,
1917, Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, married Janette Mary
Fernie Ranken, William’s sister.
Below is a painting by William of his sister painted shortly after the wedding.
In May 1919, Thesiger appeared
as "Bertrand Tully" in his fourth motion picture, a filmed
version of "A Little Bit of Fluff". His second and
third films had been historical productions, in early 1918, the
actor appeared as "Joseph Chamberlain", in "The
Life Story of David Lloyd George" aka: "The Man Who
Saved the Empire". In December 1918, Ernest
Thesiger, below, portrayed "William Pitt" in "Nelson".
For Christmas, 1919, Ernest Thesiger appeared in a special stage production of William Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor", among the cast was a young actor starting to learn his craft that became a very close friend named James Whale.
In April 1920, the actor below, appeared on-stage in playwright J.M. Barrie's, "Mary Rose", at London's "Haymarket Theatre".
Critics considered "Mary Rose" as very "Hitchcockian", which brings me to Ernest Thesiger's seventh motion picture, the never released, 1922, "Number 13"aka: "Mrs. Peabody". This was the first motion picture completely directed by Alfred Hitchcock. However, Gainsborough Pictures, stopped the production when the financial backers ran out of money. The picture is considered "Lost". Below is a still of Thesiger as "Mr. Peabody", and Clare Greet as "Mrs. Peabody".
The following is a portrait of Ernest Thesiger painted by his brother-in-law, William Ranken.
The look of the portrait clearly reflects Thesiger's bisexuality and according to authoress Hillary Spurling's, 1974, biography of the actor's friend, authoress, Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, DBE (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), "Ivy When Young: The Life of I. Compton-Burnett 1884-1919". Ernest Thesiger didn't hide his bisexuality and his marriage to Janette Ranken was more out of their shared love for her brother William, then love of each other.
During the seven years after "Number
13", the actor only appeared on stage. On March 26,
1924, Ernest Thesiger appeared as "The
Dauphin" in playwright George Bernard Shaw's, "Saint
Joan", at the New Theatre, in London, for 244 performances. Below
the actor as "The Dauphin".
A review by James Agate in the March 30, 1924, edition of "The Sunday Times" includes:
the Dauphin was beautifully played by Mr. Thesiger, who showed beneath his astonishing grotesquerie the pity and and pathos of all weakness.
On March 17, 1925, he appeared in playwright Noel Coward's musical revue, "On with the Dance", at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, for the initial run of 229 performances. The British weekly newspaper, "The Era", includes:
The most comical thing in the revue is the Vicarage Garden Party on the lines of a musical comedy, with Miss Hermione Baddeley giving a clever and cruel burlesque of Nellie, the heroine, and Mr. Ernest Thesiger and Mr. Douglas Byng, as two clergymen, singing the funniest number of the evening.
After the run of "On with the Dance", Ernest
Thesiger worked on an autobiography, "Practically
True", about his stage career, which was published on January
1, 1927.
The actor returned to the silent screen for 1929's, "Week-end Wives", and "The Vagabond Queen". Then, in 1930, Ernest Thesiger made his first sound film, a short subject entitled "Ashes". The story is a science fiction comedy about a slow-moving cricket match starting in 1940 and ending in the year 2000. I could not locate any still from the 23-minute short, but portraying "The Girl", was Elsa Lanchester, in her eighth on-screen appearance.
James Whale, had crossed "The Pond" in 1929, to direct "Journey's End", on Broadway. He brought his original London production leading men, Colin Clive and David Manners, with him. The three turned the play into a 1930 motion picture for Universal Pictures, and now, in 1931, Whale contacted his friend Ernest Thesiger to cross the pond and come to Hollywood and Universal Pictures.
The story of "Journey's
End" will be found in my article, "JAMES WHALE: Jean
Harlow to Louis Hayward", at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2020/07/james-whale-jean-harlow-to-louis-hayward.html
THE OLD DARK HOUSE released on October 20, 1932
According to IMDb, this motion picture is an adventure comedy drama. While, according to Wikipedia, the motion picture is a pre-motion picture code, comedy horror feature.
The website, Film Magazine, gets a little more specific saying:
It’s a crying shame that The Old Dark House, through a combination of an intellectual property rights mismanagement and studio blinkers, isn’t better known outside the die hard Gothic horror fan base. It’s comfortably James Whale’s best film – even better than his two Frankenstein installments – and today it stands out as the scariest Universal Horror.
https://www.thefilmagazine.com/old-dark-house-1932-movie-review/
Whichever of the above three, or perhaps another description altogether,
properly defines this motion picture's genre. One thing stands out, 1932's,
"The Old Dark House", has an outstanding thespian cast for
the year.
However, before James Whale contacted
his friend Ernest Thesiger to come to Hollywood to play the
role he had in mind for him, there had to be a screenplay.
An to have a screenplay, there had to be a source.
That source was the novel, "Benighted", written
by British author J. B. Priestley, and published in October,
1927. This was Priestley's look at the British class system after the
First World War in a, no pun intended, novel way.
John Boynton Priestley, OM (Order of Merit), was a British playwright,
novelist, screenplay writer, broadcaster, and social commentator. The title of
this work is defined by "Merriam Webster", as overtaken
by darkness, or night. The example given is from Irish poet. W.B.
Yeats:
Benighted travelers....have seen his midnight candle glimmering
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benighted
As described on the website "goodreads", Priestley's novel starts out as:
Philip and Margaret Waverton and their friend Roger Penderel are driving through the mountains of Wales when a torrential downpour washes away the road and forces them to seek shelter for the night. They take refuge in an ancient, crumbling mansion inhabited by the strange and sinister Femm family and their brutish servant Morgan. Determined to make the best of the circumstances, the benighted travellers drink, talk, and play games to pass the time while the storm rages outside. But as the night progresses and tensions rise, dangerous and unexpected secrets emerge.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11096912-benighted
Should my reader read my article on James Whale, they
will discover that he directed the 1931 version of
playwright Robert E. Sherwood's, "Waterloo Bridge", with
the screenplay written by British writer Benn W. Levy. That
outstanding pre-code work had impressed Universal Pictures owner Carl
Laemmle, Sr. and he invited Levy to return from England to adapt and
write the screenplay for what would be entitled, "The Old Dark
House".
As with many screenplays there would be another writer working on
what was called "additional dialogue". The uncredited position
went to British playwright Robert Cedric "R.C."
Sherriff, who had written "Journey's End". Immediately
after this motion picture, Sherriff adapted and wrote the entire screenplay for
Whale's, 1933 version of H.G. Wells', "The
Invisible Man". His name would also be associated with James
Whale's, 1935, "The Bride of Frankenstein".
As for director James Whale, his latest release was 1932's,
"The Impatient Maiden", a comedy romance, that starred
actor Lew Ayres, and from Whale's 1931,
"Frankenstein", Mae Clarke, and Una Mekell. James
Whale followed this motion picture with the forgotten 1933 murder
mystery, "The Kiss Before the Mirror", co-starring Nancy
Carroll, Frank Morgan, and Paul Lukas.
Those Thespian's:
Boris Karloff, billed as "KARLOFF", portrayed "Morgan". He
had just been seen in the Warren William and Maureen
O'Sullivan, 1932, romantic drama, "Skyscraper
Souls", in the uncredited role of the "Man
Approaching Ticket Counter". The actor followed this motion
picture with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's, 1932, "The Mask of Fu
Manchu". His role is part of my article, "Boris
Karloff, Christopher Lee: Fu Manchu the Movies", at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2016/10/boris-karloff-christopher-lee-fu-manchu.html
For some reason, Universal Pictures seemed to believe that it was necessary to publish in newspaper ads and at the theaters showing the original release of "The Old Dark House", the following statement.
Melvyn Douglas portrayed "Roger Penderel". This was only Melvyn Douglas's sixth motion picture. He had just co-starred with Greta Garbo and Eric von Stroheim in 1932's, "As You Desire Me", and followed this feature co-starring with Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, in 1933's, "The Vampire Bat".
Charles Laughton portrayed "Sir William Porterhouse". Laughton had just co-starred with Tallulah Bankhead and Gary Cooper, in 1932's, "Devil and the Deep". The actor would follow this film with 1932's, "Payment Deferred", co-starring with Maureen O'Sullivan and Ray Milland. Laughton was two motion pictures away from both director Cecil B. DeMille's, 1932, "The Sign of the Cross", portraying "Emperor Nero", and the H.G. Wells "The Island of Lost Souls", based upon the novel "The Island of Dr. Moreau".
Lilian Bond, as Lillian Bond, portrayed "Gladys DuCane/Perkins". Bond had just appeared in the Warner Baxter and Karen Morley, 1932 drama, "Man About Town", and followed this motion picture appearing in the Cary Grant, Nancy Carroll, and Randolph Scott, 1932 drama, "Hot Saturday".
Ernest Thesiger portrayed "Horace Femm". As I previously mentioned Thesiger had appeared in the 1930 short subject "Ashes". His next motion picture and the next one I will speak to is, 1933's, "The Ghoul".
Eva Moore portrayed "Rebecca Femm". British actress Moore had just been seen in 1932's, "--But the Flesh is Weak", starring Robert Montgomery, this forgotten film was written by Ivor Novello based upon his play of that name. Novello played the possible "Jack the Ripper", in director Alfred Hitchcock's, 1927, "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog". Eva Moore would next be seen in the Herbert Marshall, Conrad Veidt, and Madeleine Carroll, 1933, "I Was a Spy".
Raymond Massey portrayed "Philip Waverton". Massey had just been in the 1932 crime drama, "The Face at the Window", he followed this picture with 1934, "The Scarlet Pimpernel", in which Massey co-starred with Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon.
Gloria Stuart portrayed "Margaret Waverton". Stuart had just co-starred with Richard Arlen and Andy Devine in the "B" adventure, 1932's, "The All-American". She would follow this picture co-starring with Pat O'Brien and Ralph Bellamy in the 1932 adventure, "Air Mail". In 1933, she co-starred with the unknown and unseen Claude Rains, in director James Whale's, "The Invisible Man". In 1987, 87-years-old Gloria Stuart portrayed the elderly "Old Rose", in director James Cameron's, "Titanic".
Elspeth Dudgedon as "John Dudgedon", yes an actress billed as a man for the role of, "Sir Roderick Femm". The British character actress had just been in the Ruth Chatterton and George Brent, 1932, "The Crash", as an uncredited, "Solitaire player". She followed this motion picture with the uncredited role of "Mrs. Weeks", in the Roland Colman and Kay Francis, 1932, "Cynara".
Brember Willis portrayed "Saul Femm". Willis's entire on-screen appearances were six, between 1931 and 1937. His first appearance was in the 1931 motion picture, "Carnival", portraying "The Stage Manager" and starring Joseph Schildkraut. His last role was in a 1937, British made for television production of "Cinderella" as "The Chancellor".
The Screenplay:
Note:
It is important for my reader to understand, that the following is only a
description of the story. It does not reflect the required subtilties
within the actor's characterizations, that combine with the mood filming of
the uncredited cinematographer Arthur Edeson, and
the set designs of the uncredited Russell A. Gausman, under
the direction of James Whale, to make this Ernest
Thesiger feature relate the comedic horror of the screenplay to
the viewing audience.
It is a wild and stormy night in
Wales, husband and wife, "Philip Waverton", and "Margaret
Waverton", and their friend, "Roger Penderel", are trying to drive
through the storm. The "Waverton's", in the front seat of the car,
are bickering like old married couples, and "Penderel" is being
totally ignored in the back seat.
The road ahead of them becomes washed out by a landslide and the three "Benighted" see "The Old Dark House" in the distance off the road and debate about going up to it to seek shelter. As "Mr. Waverton" says during their debate:
We're somewhere in the Welsh mountains, it's half-past-nine, and I'm very sorry.
Looking at the house, the
three still think about going up to it. "Penderel" jokes, to stay his
fear of the ancient looking house.
The whole above quote and its set-up is:
wouldn't it be dramatic, supposing the people inside were dead, all stretched out with the lights quietly burning about them.
Knocking on the door, it is answered by "Morgan",
described in the screenplay, as in the novel, as "The Brutish Servant".
Once inside the house, the three meet their host,
my name is "Femm", "Horace Femm"
Who is joined by his sister, "Rebecca".
Above, note the signed insert of Eva Moore during her stage and motion picture career.
"Horace Femm", is described as an effeminate hysteric, and his sister
"Rebecca Femm", is described as a religious fanatic.
"Horace" is
concerned that the storm may trap their "Guests" inside the house, not for the obvious reason they believe, but who is behind a locked door. The three are taken to the fire place to warm themselves.
Taking "Philip Waverton" aside, "Horace", warns, that "Morgan" is a heavy drinker and becomes very dangerous when drunk.
However, "Margaret Waverton" is more concerned about
getting out of her wet clothing than anything else, or
anybody. "Rebecca Fem" takes her upstairs to a bedroom to
change, but on the way there, "Margaret" is told a little about the
sinful and godless "Femm" family.
The following stills may give my reader an idea of what directors could get away with in the pre-motion picture code period including total nudity as seen in DeMille's previously mentioned, 1932, "The Sign of the Cross". Two-years later and this entire sequence would be censored out.
"Rebecca" leaves, and a strong storm wind opens a window and blows into the room.
After getting the window closed, "Margaret" returns to a table with a weird looking mirror to apply her make-up, but the house and its occupants seem to be getting to her.
Now, "Philip", with his on-edge wife "Margaret, and still easy going "Roger", sit down for dinner with the "Femms". There's another knock at the door and two more "Benighted" travelers arrive and are escorted to the fire place. The new arrivals are, "Sir William Porterhouse", described as a braggart, and his lady friend, "show girl", "Glady DuCane".
At the dinner table, both groups of "guests" first meet and Ernest Thesiger starts to steal the movie from the other actors, if he hasn't already.
During the dinner, "Gladys" reveals, even to "Sir William", that her last name is really "Perkins", but it is "Horace" who reveals that he and "Rebecca" had a sister named "Rachel", who died under mysterious, unnamed, circumstances.
As the group starts to chat, "Roger" and "Gladys" excuse themselves to go and get a bottle of liquor from the car. Suddenly, the electricity goes out throughout the house, "Rebecca" tells "Horace" to go get a lamp on the landing, but to the others "Horace" seems extremely frightened of going up to the landing in the dark. "Philip" says he will and searching for the lamp, finds a locked room, and hears a voice in another. Downstairs, "William" leaves to help "Rebecca" close a window, leaving "Margaret" by herself, who starts to make shadow figures in the dining room wall.
Enter a drunken "Morgan" who attacks "Margaret" and chases her up the stairs as "Philip" is coming down them.
"Philip" tosses the lamp at "Morgan" who loses his balance and falls down the stairs.
Meanwhile, "Gladys" and "Roger" have gone into the barn to drink and smoke. There, she tells him that her relationship with "William" is purely platonic and that she should now live with "Roger". The two also decide to go back into the main house, find and wake a sleeping 'William", who is just fine with their new relationship, because he still loves his late wife.
Upstairs, "Philip" and "Margaret" enter
the room he heard a voice, to find "Sir Roderic Femm" in his bed.
"Sir Roderic" warns "Philip" and the
already on edge, "Margaret", that behind the locked door is his
eldest son, "Saul", a pyromaniac.
Downstairs, "Roger" has gone over to a window and
is looking out at the storm as "Glady's" comes over to him.
Upstairs, "Philip" and "Margaret" go to the locked door, but discover that "Morgan" has freed "Saul". They go downstairs to warn the others, but "Morgan" goes after "Margaret" with "Rebecca" present.
"Philip" and "William" grab and drag "Morgan" into the kitchen and lock him in it. Confused and in fear, "Rebecca" flees to her room. In another part of the house, "Saul" now confronts the unaware "Roger", who has moved to the dining room table.
"Roger" gets up, but "Saul" knocks him out and leaves the dining room. "Saul" steals a burning branch from the fire place and sets the curtains on fire. "Roger" has regained consciousness, sees the fire and tells "Margaret" and "Gladys" to get in the closet for safety and locks it, he then attacks "Saul" and the two fight on the upper landing.
The two men land on the floor, "Saul, " is killed
and "Roger" injured from the fall.
"Morgan" breaks out of the kitchen. He lets "Margaret" and "Gladys" out of the closet, and goes over to his friend, "Saul".
"Morgan" gently lifts "Saul's" body up and takes him upstairs to his room.
The following morning the storm has gone, the sun is out, and there's little damage to the house from "Saul's" fire. "Philip" and "Margaret" leave to have an ambulance sent to treat the injured "Roger", who will ask "Gladys" to marry him.
Both Ernest Thesiger and Boris Karloff returned to England for the same motion picture by Gaumont British Productions, a seldom seen, or known motion picture.
THE GHOUL premiered on August 7, 1933 in London
The motion
picture was directed by T. Hayes Hunter. Hunter was an
American director who started in the film industry with a 1912 short,
entitled, "Papa's Double". He worked as the chief producer
for the Biograph Film Company, then in 1919 became a director for Samuel Goldwyn, later, patented a means of showing
a commercial in a frame at the bottom of the movie without disrupting the
story, and in 1927, Hunter moved to England to work within that
country's film industry.
The motion picture was loosely based upon a 1928 novel and
play by co-writer Dr. Frank King, his only film, of three, until a BBC
television program in 1950, and co-writer, Leonard Hines, his
only film until that same 1950 television episode for the BBC
Sunday-Night Theatre, "Tusitala", about Robert Lewis
Stevenson.
Their novel was adapted by Rupert Downing. This was his last
adaption of for a screenplay of four between 1931 and 1933.
The actual screenplay was written by two writers; the first writer was Roland
Pertwee. He started writing for films in 1919. Roland
and his eldest son Michael, created the first soap opera for
British television, "The Grove Family", that ran
from 1954 through 1957. His youngest
son, Jon Pertwee, was BBC television's third "Dr.
Who".
The other writer was John Hastings Turner. Turner co-wrote
sixteen screenplays between 1920 and 1940. This
picture was number eleven!
The producer of the film was Michael Balcon, in 1927, he gave an "Art Director" and "Title Designer" his first actual directing position. That man was Alfred Hitchcock, and the silent classic was, the aforementioned, "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog".
Boris Karloff portrayed "Professor Henry
Morlant". Karloff went to England while his salary dispute was going
on with Universal Pictures. "Karloff" had just been seen in 1932's,
"The Mummy", and would follow this feature with the
sometimes overlooked, RKO Pictures, 1934, "The Lost
Patrol", a classic First World War story, directed and co-produced
by John Ford.
My article on "The Mummy", entitled, "The
Mummy (1932) vs The Mummy (1959) vs The Mummy (1999) vs The Mummy
(2017)" will be found at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2022/12/the-mummy-1932-vs-mummy-1959-vs-mummy.html
Sir Cedric Hardwicke portrayed "Mr.
Broughton". Hardwicke was seen in the 1933 British
comedy "Orders is Orders", starring American character
actor James Gleason. He followed this picture co-starring
with Leslie Howard and Binnie Barnes, in 1934's,
"The Lady Is Willing". He was six motion pictures away from
co-starring with Frederic March and Charles Laughton in
the 1935 version of author Victor Hugo's, "Les
Misérables".
Ernest Thesiger portrayed "Laing". Thesiger
would next appear as "The Chamberlain", in the
German UFA studio and British Gainsborough Pictures, musical co-production, 1933's, "The Only Girl", starring Charles
Boyer. Which would be followed by two other forgotten motion
pictures, 1934's, "The Murder Party", and another
musical, 1935's, "My Heart Is Calling"
Dorothy Hyson portrayed "Betty
Harlon". American actress Hyson was noted for her beauty and good
looks and the song writing team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar
Hammerstein II dedicated their song, "The Most Beautiful
Girl in the World" to her, that was written for their 1935 musical "Jumbo". This
was Dorothy Hyson's second feature film, she first appeared on-screen in 1921 as "The
Baby". During the Second World War, Hyson worked as a top-secret
cryptographer in Bletchley Park.
Sir Ralph Richardson portrayed "Nigel
Hartley". This was Shakespearian actor Richardson's first
on-screen appearance. He had been appearing on-stage with the "Old
Vic", for the last two-years, and in four plays, one by George
Bernard Shaw, from late 1932 until this film role.
Above, the uncredited George Relph as "Doctor", and Ralph
Richardson as the "Fake Minister".
Anthony Bushell portrayed "Ralph Morant". Bushell
started on-screen acting in the 1929, George Arliss biographical motion picture, "Disraeli", he
had fifth-billing in director James Whale's, 1930, "Journey's
End", and had just been seen in the musical comedy, 1933's,
"Soldiers of the King", co-starring Edward Everett
Horton. Bushell would follow this motion picture with 1933's, "I Was a Spy", starring Madeleine
Carroll, Herbert Marshall, and Conrad Veidt.
The Screenplay:
The story is familiar, but with a
British twist and contains many sequences without speaking, making it ideal for
the background of director T. Hayes Hunter. The picture is considered the first
sound horror film made in the United Kingdom, but is it really horror. Look at how Gaumont British describes the story on the above poster.
The screenplay opens with "Sheikh Aga Ben Dragore", played
by Harold Huth, right below, and "Mahmoud", played
by D.A. Clark Smith, left below, arguing over the stolen jewel
known as the "Eternal Light".
"Mahmoud" accuses "Aga" of stealing the jewel, but the other tells him that it was sold to "Professor Henry Morlant". "Morlant" is a renowned Egyptologist who has been looking for the ancient Egyptian jewel for decades. All three men believe the "Eternal Light" has the power of rejuvenation, with eternal life, if offered to the god Anubis.
The new vicar, "Nigel Hartley", knocks on the front door of "Professor Morlant's" manor house. His knock is answered by the professor's servant of many years, "Laing". The new vicar claims he wants to redeem a "Lost Soul", but in reality, he's a fraud looking for the "Eternal Light". "Laing" sends "Harley" away, after informing him that "Morlant" is a pagan.
"Professor Morant" has an unnamed disease, is close to dying, and issues specific instructions to "Laing". Upon his death, "Laing" will bind the "Eternal Light" to his hand, and he will be placed in the sarcophagus within the recreation of an Egyptian tomb on his property, reminiscent of the sets in Boris Karloff's, 1932, "The Mummy".
Then at the appointed time, he will rise
from his death, place the "Eternal Life" jewel in the hands of the
statue of Anubis, within his tomb, and be rejuvenated as a young immortal man.
"Henry Morlant" next tells "Laing", that he will return from the dead to seek revenge, if the jewel is taken from him:
When the full moon strikes the door of my tomb
"Morlant's"
doctor arrives, only to pronounce that the professor has died from his disease.
"Henry Morlant" is buried in
the sarcophagus within his recreated Egyptian tomb, apparently with the
"Eternal Light" bound to his hand.
However, the "Eternal Night" has not been entombed with "Professor Henry Morlant" as "Laing" promised him. Upon removing the shoe on his clubfoot, the jewel is in a special compartment in the sole. "Laing" now places the jewel in a coffee container in the kitchen.
Meanwhile, going over the paperwork for the professor's estate, "Mr. Broughton" discovers that "Henry Morlant" spent 75,000-English-pounds on the purchase of one item. He discovers it’s a jewel on a ring that the professor was buried with. This means there is no money to pay him for his work and "Broughton" decides he needs to get the jewel for himself.
"Laing" contacts the professor's niece, "Betty Harlon", and sets up a meeting with her for that night. He is unknowingly now being followed by "Broughton's" chauffer. Back at "Broughton's" office, the other heir, "Morlant's" nephew, "Ralph", learns that his uncle is almost penniless, but thinks otherwise and wants to meet with "Betty".
At their
meeting, "Laing" gives "Betty" a note telling her that
there is something of value at the manor house. Almost immediately, in the
darken street, her purse is stolen, the note read by the thief, torn up, and the pieces
left on the street. The thief is "Broughton", but also observing all
of this is the "Aga Ben Dragore", who puts the torn pieces of the
note together and reads the message.
While, "Ralph" finds
"Betty", and the two agree to go to the manor house and figure out
what is actually happening. As the story progresses, the two cousins will begin
to fall in love, but at first, they represent two sides of the
"Morlant" family tree that have been feuding for years and there
remains a little friction between the two. Along with "Betty", comes
her roommate, "Miss Kaney", played by Kathleen
Harrison.
At the tomb, somebody is planting dynamite around the tomb with an attached
blasting cap.
"Mr. Broughton" arrives at the manor house and starts searching for
the jewel. There's a knock at the door and he goes to answer it and lets
"Betty", "Ralph", and "Kaney" inside. The vicar
happens to be outside and before the door is closed, he enters the house.
"Aga Ben Dragore" and
"Mahmoud" also come to the house, but only "Aga" enters
and the other hides outside with a large knife. "Kaney" is very taken by
the Egyptian "Dragore" and starts to envision being married to him.
He wants to enter the tomb, but is told that is impossible.
Alone, the friction between "Betty" and "Ralph" ends, and "Laing", who hadn't return from the meeting on the street, now does.
However, the moon's light strikes the tomb of
"Henry Morlant".
At this point, the film basically becomes a classic silent horror movie, with Boris Karloff not speaking any lines and using his expressive face, as he did in 1931's, "Frankenstein". One cannot overlook 1927's, "The Cat and the Canary", which was directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, because of T. Hayes Hunter's obvious copying of Leni's style for "The Ghoul" and especially from this point to its conclusion.
"Professor Henry Morlant" now goes after those he believes have stolen the "Eternal Light" jewel from him. He finds "Mahmoud", but his knife does not stop the professor from killing him. In the house, "Kaney" and the "Aga" go into the kitchen to make coffee, but "Laing" interrupts them and while they are distracted with each other, removes the jewel. He leaves and hides in it "Betty's" over-night case.
"Aga Ben Dragore" goes outside followed by the scared to be left alone
"Kaney". Meanwhile, the professor encounters his servant, learns
the location of the "Eternal Light", and in a struggle manages to strangle "Laing" into unconsciousness.
"Betty" goes upstairs with her
over-night case and is followed by her uncle. While outside, looking up at the second floor and through a window,
"Aga Ben Dragore" sees that "Morlant" has the jewel. After he also strangled "Betty" into unconsciousness.
Regaining consciousness, "Betty" comes down stairs and relates
the events to "Ralph", and "Broughton", who are in an argument,
and then she faints. After she recovers, led by "Laing", the cousins go to
"Henry Morlant's" tomb, which their uncle had entered earlier with the
"Eternal Light". The cousins enter, but the frightened "Laing"
remains outside. "Aga Ben Dragore" finally is able to get himself away from the
aggravating "Kaney".
While, inside the tomb, the cousins watch as "Professor Morlant" cuts
into his chest the sign of Anubis.
"Morlant" then places the "Eternal Light" in the hands of the statue of
Anubis and waits for something to happen.
Again, one cannot wonder if the above scenes set design was to remind the United Kingdom audience of 1932's "The Mummy", that had recently been seen there?
As the cousins watch, the statue of Anubis apparently comes alive, as did the statue of Isis in "The Mummy", and closes its hand around the jewel. "Professor Henry Morlant"
collapses dead on the ground in front of Anubis.
Except, now the vicar now comes out from
behind the statue with the "Eternal Light" in his hand, it was his
hand that "Morlant" placed the jewel in.
"Nigel Hartley" now points a pistol at "Ralph Morant", but
"Ralph" throws an object from the tomb at him, knocking the vicar
unconscious. Immediately, the "Aga" appears, also with a pistol
demanding the jewel, "Ralph" attacks him and is shot by a glancing
blow to the head, knocking him out. The "Aga Ben Dragore" leaves, locking
everyone inside the tomb, as one of the torches falls from the wall and starts
a fire.
Plot switch:
Apparently, earlier "Ralph" had spoken to his uncle's doctor and
asked him to bring the police to the manor house. On their way there, the
doctor tells the main police officer that he now believes that "Henry
Morant" didn't die when he examined him, but suffered from an attack of
catalepsy. In short, he was buried alive. Thank you Edgar Allan Poe.
The "Aga" now runs into
"Kaney" and the two argue, he slaps her, and unknown to him the
"Eternal Light" falls from his pocket. He leaves her and she picks it
up as he runs to a car. Inside the car is "Mr. Broughton", also with
a pistol, and demanding the jewel. The "Aga" agrees, but discovers he
doesn't have the jewel and both realize "Kaney" has it and chase
after her.
She stops at a deep well and holding the jewel over it, tells the two she'll drop it
into it. The two men decide to let her do that, because they can come back
later to retrieve it. However, the police now arrive and arrest both "Mr.
Broughton" and the "Aga Ben Dragore" and "Kaney" turns the
jewel over to them.
Inside the tomb, "Nigel Hartley" comes to and detonates the
explosives he placed around the door to the tomb. "Ralph" and
"Betty" stagger out of their uncle's tomb and kiss each other.
According to Merriam Webster, there
are two definitions for a "Ghoul":
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghoul
First, a legendary evil being that robs
graves and feeds on corpses.
Second, one who shows morbid interest in things considered shocking or repulsive.
Neither definition fits the character of "Professor Henry Morlant" or
the screenplay, and the following poster from Argentina is completely off the
story.
After the three motion pictures with Ernest Thesiger that I mentioned earlier that followed "The Ghoul" into 1935, came a return to the direction of James Whale.
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN premiered on April 19, 1935, in
Chicago, Illinois, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, California. It would be released to a limited run-on April 30, 1935, and to general audiences on May 3,
1935
James Whale had just directed Colin Clive in the forgotten mystery, 1934's, "One More River". Noted as being the first motion picture to have major censorship by Joseph Breen, under the new Motion Picture Code, and containing the first on-screen appearance of actress Jane Wyatt. Whale would follow this feature film with the comedy mystery, 1935's, "Remember Last Night?", starring Edward Arnold, Robert Young, and Constance Cummings.
Carl Laemmle, Jr. had considered doing a sequel to 1931's, "Frankenstein", after the results of the preview audiences were in. Before that features general release, the ending was reshot with "Henry Frankenstein" now surviving to be in the sequel. However, Whale refused to do the sequel at the time, but after 1932's, "The Invisible Man", he made a deal with Laemmle, Jr. He would direct the sequel, but only if he could film "One More River", first.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley aside, it took ten writers to write the screenplay. The first treatment was written in 1932 by the uncredited Robert Florey, entitled, "The New Adventures of Frankenstein--The Monster Lives!", but it was rejected. In 1933, Tom Reed wrote a treatment entitled, "The Return of Frankenstein", and was given the go ahead to write a full screenplay. Even in 1933, Reed's screenplay passed Joseph Breen and the Hayes Censorship Office.
However, according to James Curtis, in his 1998, "James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters", contracted director Whale's view of Tom Reed's screenplay was:
it stinks to heaven!
Carl Laemmle, Jr. next
assigned screenplay writers L.G. Blochman and mystery writer Philip
MacDonald, author of 1959's, "The List of Adrian
Messenger", to rewrite the screenplay, but James Whale disapproved of their rewrite.
In 1934, James Whale turned to playwright and screenplay
writer, John L. Balderston, both 1931's,
"Dracula" and "Frankenstein", and 1932's,
"The Mummy", to write a screenplay. It was Balderston
that took the obscure section of Shelley's novel about creating a mate for the
creature and turned it into the main screenplay basis, he also added the Mary Shelley prologue. My
article, "John L. Balderston: Writing Classic Fantasy, Horror, and
Science Fiction Screenplays", may be read at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2022/08/john-l-balderston-writing-classic.html
However, Whale
wasn't completely satisfied with Balderston's screenplay and now turned it over
to playwright William J. Hurlbut and librarian and
author "Edmund Pearson to work on it. Before the
screenplay was finally cleared by Hays Office censor, Joseph Breen, Josef Berne, R.C.
Sherriff, and Morton Covan would also have worked on it in
some capacity.
What the viewer now would see was not what either James Whale, or Carl Laemmle, Jr. originally envisioned for the motion picture.
The following seven names are based upon the above poster. It should be noted that the "Official Cast Listing" and other lists have two other names in the top seven acting positions that are not listed on the posters. While two of the names on the posters are shown in the eighth and ninth positions,
All the posters for "The Bride of Frankenstein" use familiar actor names for potential
audience recognition and box-office.
Boris Karloff, billed as "KARLOFF", portrayed "The
Monster" for the second of three times. Just prior to this motion
pictures release, the actor portrayed "The Phantom", in
the Edmund Lowe, and Gloria Stuart, comedy, 1934's,
"Gift for Gab". He followed this feature with top billing
as KARLOFF and co-starring with Bela (Dracula)
Lugosi, in 1935's, "The Raven".
Colin Clive portrayed "Henry Frankenstein", the role he portrayed in director James Whale's, 1931, "Frankenstein". The actor had just been seen in the 1935 drama, "The Right to Live", and followed this picture with the Bette Davis vehicle, 1935's, "The Girl from 10th Avenue". My article, "Colin Clive, Henry Not Victor Frankenstein and Alcoholism!", can be read at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2020/08/colin-clive-henry-not-victor.html
Valerie Hobson took over the role of "Elizabeth
Frankenstein". Immediately after this motion picture, Hobson
portrayed Henry Hull's wife in 1935's, "Werewolf
of London". However, it is from her marriage, in 1954, to John
Dennis Profumo, that most people in the United Kingdom know of Valerie
Hobson. While the world knew her husband, in 1961, for
a scandal with the prostitute, Christine Keeler. My
article, "Valerie Hobson: From Frankenstein's Bride To Bringing
Down the British Government", can be read at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2021/01/valerie-hobson-from-frankensteins-bride.html
Una O'Connor portrayed "Minnie". Popular
character actress O'Connor had appeared in director Alfred Hitchcock's,
1930, "Murder", director James Whale's, 1933,
"The Invisible Man", and just before this picture,
director George Cukor's, 1935, version of author Charles
Dickens', "David Copperfield". Una O'Connor would follow
this motion picture in director John Ford's, 1935, "The
Informer".
Ernest Thesiger portrayed "Doctor Septimus Pretorius". I have already mentioned the motion picture Thesiger appeared in prior to this role and I will speak to the motion picture that followed later.
Universal Pictures did not want Thesiger in the role, but had selected Claude Rains. Whale let it be known that if Ernest Thesiger didn't get the role, he would not direct.
When Thesiger arrived in Hollywood, he set up a booth to sell his embroidery work in his hotel's lobby and very successful.
Elsa Lanchester portrayed both "Mary
Wollenstonecraft Shelley" and the, technically, "Second Bride of
Frankenstein". Like her husband Charles Laughton, Lanchester
was an outstanding British character actor. In 1933, she
portrayed "Anne of Cleves", the fourth wife, in her
husband's, "The Private Life of Henry the VIII". She
had just been seen in the Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson
Eddy, operetta, 1935's, "Naughty Marietta", and
followed this feature film with the comedy fantasy horror film, 1935's,
"The Ghost Goes West", starring Robert Donat and Jean
Parker.
Edward "E.E." Clive portrayed the "Burgomaster". Character
actor Clive had just portrayed the uncredited role of "Westbrook
- Thrope's Chauffeur", in 1935's, "Gold Diggers of
1935", starring Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, and Gloria
Stuart. He followed this picture portraying "Jevons,
Courtney's Butler", in 1935's, "We're in the
Money", starring Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell, and Hugh
Herbert.
Dwight Frye, not on the poster, portrayed "Karl". Character
actor Frye had just portrayed an uncredited reporter in James
Whale's, 1933, "The Invisible Man". After this
motion picture he appeared in the Lloyd Nolan and Nancy
Carroll, comedy mystery, 1935's, "Atlantic
Adventure". My article, "DWIGHT FRYE: Overlooked
Horror Icon", will be found at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2019/07/dwight-frye-overlooked-horror-icon.html
An Overview of the Joseph Breen Approved
Screenplay:
It is a wild and stormy night as "Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley" sits
in a corner sewing.
Her husband, "Percy Bysshe Shelley", played by Douglas Walton, invites her to join "Lord Byron", played by Gavin Gordon, and himself. She sits between the two men as they compliment "Mary" on her story of "Frankenstein". However, to tie this motion picture to the 1931 film, she replies that the story wasn't complete:
The screenplay now switches to shortly after the events of the 1931 motion picture have ended. The windmill is a still smoldering structure with a pit beneath it completely revealed and the villagers are still cheering what they believe is the death of the "Frankenstein Monster".
Things have calmed down and "Hans", this time played by Reginald Barlow, the father of the little girl killed by the monster in 1931, wants to see the burnt bones of the creature. Looking into that pit revealed from the burning of the mill, "Hans", falls into it and finds not bones, but the living monster.
Having seen her husband fall into the pit, when a hand comes out, thinking it is "Hans", his wife, played by Mary Gordon, "Mrs. Hudson" in the Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" series, helps the monster out and is killed for her efforts by it.
The monster now encounters "Minnie", the maid at the Frankenstein house, who flees is blind terror.
The body of "Henry Frankenstein", whom the family and his fiancée "Elizabeth" believes died in the windmill with his creation, is now brought to the Frankenstein ancestorial home. Just as "Minnie" arrives to inform everyone that the monster lives, but no one will believe her.
"Elizabeth" notices movement from "Henry", realizes "He's Alive", and will nurse him back to health.
"Henry" has renounced his creation, but still
believes he might be able to unlock the secret of life and
immortality. However, "Elizabeth" still fears for his future.
During the night, there is a knock on the front door and "Minnie"
opens it to receive a strange person. Who identifies himself as "Dr.
Pretorius" and wishes to speak to "Dr. Henry Frankenstein".
"Dr. Septimus Pretorius", "Henry's" former mentor, tells "Henry Frankenstein" about his own experiments and wants the other to see them.
"Henry" visits "Pretorius" and sees that his experiments have created homunculi, miniature people, including a king and queen.
"Dr. Pretorius" wants "Henry" to assist
him in creating a mate for his monster. Suggesting that with his technique, "Pretorius" will create an artificial brain, and "Henry"
would assemble the body parts.
"Dr. Pretorius" proposes a toast to "Henry":
"Henry Frankenstein" is not interested in his
mentor's proposal and leaves.
Several events are taking place to change the monster's perceptions and his life. According to Mark A. Vieira, in his 2003, "Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic", James Whale believed:
the Monster would have the mental age of a ten-year-old boy and the emotional age of a lad of fifteen
Adding that:
Whale and the studio psychiatrist selected 44 simple words for the Monster's vocabulary by looking at test papers of ten-year-olds working at the studio.
So, how did these changes occur and lead to the
tag line:
The Monster Speaks
In the screenplay, the monster sees a "Young Shepherdess", played by Ann Darling, drowning and saves her, but coming too and seeing her rescuer, she begins screaming in fright.
Two hunters come along and shoot and wound the
monster. They rise a mob, go looking for the monster, capture and chained the
monster to a pole, bring monster into the village and placed the chained
monster in a dungeon.
The monster escapes and goes back into the forest and discovers a "Blind Hermit", played by O.P. Heggie, who accepts him as a "friend". Teaches him, the proper way to eat, to smoke, to speak those 44 simple words, and to appreciate music.
This strange friendship is interrupted by the arrival of two hunters that are lost in the woods.
The closest lost hunter to the hermit was played
by the uncredited Frank Terry. While, the lost hunter at the
doorway, was played by the uncredited John Carradine. The monster
attacks the hunters, and accidently starts a fire that burns the cottage down. While the two hunters take the
hermit to their perceived safety and organize another mob to find the monster.
Taking refuge from the new mob in a cemetery, the monster observes "Dr. Pretorius", "Karl", and "Ludwig", played by Ted Billings, opening a coffin.
A short time later, "Karl" and "Ludwig" leave and "Pretorius" sets down for a light supper on the coffin and meets the monster.
The monster approaches "Pretorius" asking "Friend"?
The monster now shares some of the food of his "New Friend" and learns that "Dr. Pretorius" wants to create a mate for him, if they can get "Henry Frankenstein" to co-operate.
"Henry" and "Elizabeth" are now married and he is surprised by a visit from "Pretorius". Who once again asks "Henry" to help him build a mate for the monster. Once more, "Dr. Henry
Frankenstein" refuses the offer and "Dr. Septimus Pretorius"
puts his plan into effect, the monster will kidnap "Elizabeth
Frankenstein".
After the kidnapping, "Elizabeth" is taken to the laboratory, and "Karl" secures her to prevent an escape.
"Pretorius" tells
"Frankenstein" that nothing will happen to "Elizabeth", IF
he helps him create a mate for "Henry's" monster. "Henry Frankenstein" reluctantly agrees to protect his wife and the
creation of the monster's mate begins.
As the work to create a body continues, "Henry Frankenstein" becomes as obsessed with the mate's creation as his old mentor, "Septimus Pretorius".
A storm is raging as the final preparations to bring to life the monster's mate continues. As with the monster itself, his mate is raised on a platform into the storm so that bolts of lightning will electrify the newly created body.
On the rooftop as the storm rages, the monster stands watching and kills
"Karl" who was interfering. The monster comes down as the bandages
are being removed from his now living mate.
The monster approaches his new "Friend" and she sees him. Her reaction is the same as the young shepherdess, that of fear, and not love as the monster wished for.
She screams and retreats to "Henry" for safety.
The “human” monster realizes the situation:
She hate me! Like others!
He tells "Henry" and "Elizabeth":
Go! You live! Go!
He tells "Dr. Pretorius":
You stay. We belong dead
While shedding a tear, the monster blows up the lab with his mate, "Dr. Pretorius", and himself in it.
Herbert George "H.G." Wells wrote two motion picture screenplays.
The first was based upon his 1933 novel, "The Shape of Things to Come", and had its London, England, premier on February 21, 1936. The plot of this classic science fiction film starts in 1940's, "Everytown", goes through a Second World War that lets loose a plague, and ends in "Everytown", in the year 2036. While following the everyman, "John Cabal" portrayed by Raymond Massey, in 1940, and in 1970, below, and then Massey as "Oswald Cabal" in 2036.
Of interest to this article is the role of the 2036 agitator and anti-science leader, "Theotocpulos", initially cast and shot by director William Cameron Menzies as portrayed by Ernest Thesiger, below.
However, H.G. Wells saw that original pre-release cut, did not like the way
Thesiger was portraying "Theotocpulos", and demanded he
be removed from the production. This resulted in all of Ernest Thesiger's scenes
being deleted and reshot with the future Sir Cedric Hardwick, below.
However, Ernest Thesiger did appear in the
second motion picture written by H.G. Wells.
THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES released on July 23, 1936
The motion picture was directed by Berlin born, Lothar Mendes. Just prior to this feature, Mendes directed the German production, 1934's, "Jew Suss (Jew Sweet)" aka: "Power", starring Conrad Veidt, about life in an 17th Century Jewish Ghetto. Mendes would follow this film with 1937's, "Moonlight Sonata", starring world famous pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
H.G. Wells wrote the original short story, the films scenario, and screenplay.
The uncredited Lajos Biro, 1935's, "Sanders of the River", starring the great African American singer and activist, Paul Robeson, and Leslie Banks, also worked on the screenplay. After this picture, Biro wrote, 1936's, "Rembrandt", starring Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, and Gertrude Lawrence.
The Four Leads:
Roland Young portrayed "George McWhirter Fotheringay". Roland Young's first motion picture had the actor portraying "Dr. Watson" to John Barrymore's "Sherlock Holmes" in the 1922 feature based upon Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's consulting detective. In 1937, Young portrayed "Commander Good", to Sir Cedric Hardwicke's, "Alan Quatermain", in H. Rider Haggard's "King Solomon's Mines", featuring Paul Robeson. That same year Roland Young first played "Cosmo Topper", in the Cary Grant and Costance Bennett fantasy comedy, "Topper". He would play the role two more times and in 1945, would appear in the classic version of playwright and authoress Agatha Christie's, "And There Were None".
Sir Ralph Richardson, below left, portrayed "Colonel Winstanley". Richardson had just portrayed "The Boss", in the 1970 segment of "Things to Come", and would follow this motion picture with a 1937 British television production of playwright William Shakespeare's "Othello", in the title role.
Edward Chapman portrayed "Major
Grigsby". Chapman had just portrayed "Pippa
Passworthy" in 1940, and "Raymond
Passworthy" in 2036, in "Things to
Come". Chapman was in director Alfred Hitchcock's, 1930,
"Murder", and British science fiction fans know Chapman
as "John Elliott", co-starring with Dean
Jagger in 1956's, "X-the Unknown".
Ernest Thesiger portrayed "Vicar Maydig". Thesiger followed this role with 19th billing in the Clive Brook and Jane Baxter, 1938 mystery, "The War Case".
Joan Gardner portrayed "Ada Price". This was the tenth of her fourteen on-screen appearances. Gardner married filmmaker Zolton Korda, brother of producer Alexander and set designer Vincent, and remained married until Zolton's death in 1961.
Of interest is that the cast also included actors George
Zucco as "The Colonel's Butler", George
Sanders as "Indifference", he was also
an uncredited pilot in the Alexander Korda produced "Things to Come",
Torin Thatcher, the evil magician in Ray Harryhausen's "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad ", as the "Observer", and Michael
Rennie, "Klaatu" in director Robert Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood Still", as a "San Francisco Cop".
The Very Basic Screenplay:
Three
superhuman entities, or Gods, discuss humanity and can't reach a decision. So,
they pick a man at random and give him powers to see what will happen. What
follows is a series of misadventures on human nature.
Above is George Sanders as
"Indifference", Ivan Bryant as "Player" and Torin Thatcher
as "Observer".
In a typical English pub, "George Fotheringay" gets into argument with his friends that miracles are an impossibility.
To prove his point, he tells them that he'll concentrate on a lamp to make it raise. Suddenly, the lamp does just that and the shocked "George" has created a miracle.
"George" returns home, believing that he was just drunk and the lamp flying in the air was his imagination. However, at home he does the same thing and other "miracles". Such as making a kitten appear and turning his bed into a cornucopia of fruits and bunnies.
"George" goes to the clothing store he works at and removes the freckles off a clerk who hated them. A bothersome policeman comes into the store and in anger, "George" tells the man to go to hell. The officer finds himself surrounded by flames and smoke. Horrified over what he just did, "George" has the cop relocated to San Francisco instead, still keeping the police officer away from himself.
Concerned over what these miracles can do, "George Fotheringay" goes
to "Vicar Maydig" and tells him of his power. "Maydig"
has a plan, "George" can abolish famine, plague, war, poverty, and
the ruling class as represented by "Colonel Winstanley".
Starting the vicar's plan, "George"
plays a trick on the "Colonel", but "Winstanley"
discovers the truth about "Fortheringay" and feeling threatened by "Maydig's" plan, decides to kill "George". However,
"George" makes himself magically invulnerable.
Now realizing that others, including the vicar, wish to exploit him, "George" stops following "Maydig's" plans and creates an old-fashion kingdom with "George Fortheringay" the center of the universe. Next, he makes the girl, from the clothing store, that he loves, his queen.
"George" turns the "Colonel's" house into a palace of gold and marble and commands the leaders of the world to create a utopia, free of greed, war, plague, famine, jealousy and toil. However, "Maydig" asks "Fortheringay" to wait until the following day to make this miracle go into effect and he agrees. To prevent the day from taking place, "George Fortheringay" stops the earth's rotation.
However, that causes all living creatures and objects to whirl off of the earth into outer space and all life except "George's" has been obliterated. Floating in space, "George Fortheringay" realizing that no person should have such power, creates one last miracle, returning the world to the state it was before he entered the pub.
The audience now sees "George" enter the pub, the argument with his friends, attempting to move the lamp, but can't, proving there is no such thing as a miracle.
After the world is put back
together. One of the three God like entities, "Indifference", remarks
that their experiments only result was:
Negativism, lust, and vindictive indignation.
"Player" remarks:
Humans were only apes yesterday, and to give them time to grow up.
While the
"Observer" remarks:
That humanity was made for the mess, and will never get out of the mess.
When "The
Man Who Could Work Miracles" was released in New York City. Film critic Frank
Nugent of the "New York Times" called the film:
a delightfully humorous fantasy with an undertone of sober Wellsian philosophy,
Four forgotten motion pictures followed and Thesiger returned to the legitimate stage. In 1942, he appeared in Sir John Gielgud's production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth". The play was at the Piccadilly Theatre, London, from July 8 through October 10, 1942. The following is from "Ernest Thesiger.org":
http://www.ernestthesiger.org/Ernest_Thesiger/Macbeth.html
This production of “Macbeth,” produced by and starring John Gielgud, is notorious for being particularly cursed. The story has become exaggerated over time, as this typical example demonstrates: “A 1942 production starring John Gielgud holds the record for most misfortune. Three actors died during its run, and the costume designer killed himself right after the premiere.” Here are the facts as accurately as can be determined: The first Duncan, Marcus Barron, suffered an attack of angina and had to quit the production. He was replaced by Nicholas Hannen. Milton Rosmer, cast as Macduff, fell ill and was replaced by Francis Lister. One of the Weird Sisters, Beatrix Fielden-Kay, died in Manchester during the tour and was replaced by Dorothy Green. Ernest was brought in to replace the First Witch, Jean Cadell, when she left the production. The Piccadilly Theatre was severely damaged by a German bomb. The production designer, John Minton, committed suicide in 1957.
In 1950 a production of William Shakespeare's "As You Like It" would open on Broadway at the "Cort Theater" and run for 145 performances. The production starred Katherine Hepburn portraying "Rosalind", and Ernest Thesiger portraying "Jacques", seen below. Also in the cast was Cloris Leachman portraying "Celia", and William Prince portraying "Orlando".
Thesiger was also seen in two productions based upon the works of George Bernard Shaw. The first was the major 1945 motion picture version of Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra", starring Vivian Leigh and Claude Rains, with the actor as "Theodotus.
The third screenplay writer was John Dighton. Among his work are 1949's, "Kind Hearts and Coronets", starring Sir Alec Guinness and Valerie Hobson, and 1952's, "Roman Holliday", starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2020/09/michael-gough-before-and-after-tim.html
"Sidney Stratton" is a brilliant research scientist, but has one flaw, he demands expensive research facilities to create his dream cloth and has been fired many times. "Sidney" now finds himself working as a day laborer at the "Birnley Mills. He accidently becomes a researcher for the mills and is able to create his dream cloth.
The motion picture is a comedy, the motion picture story line is science fiction in nature, but underneath it's social commentary on England at the time and a favorite theme of Earling Studios during the period, the common man against the establishment
Ernest Thesiger was the "Judge" in 1957's "The Truth About Women", starring Laurence Harvey, Julie Harris, and Diane Cilento.
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Above, Ernest Thesiger with Jill St. John portraying "Barbara Bingham".
ERNEST FREDERIC GRAHAM THESIGER passed away on January 14, 1961, at the age of 81-years, in Chelsea London, England. He never was able to see his final on-screen performance.
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