As a follow-up to my previous post, here, a bit scuffed and yellowed, is a surprising
front-of-house still — a British lobby card — for Thursday’s Child (1943) revealing the Frankenstein cameo. I wonder if
patrons were confused, wondering what this posed shot of Kathleen O’Regan
reacting to the iconic Monster had to do with this particular movie. Any
concern about scary content was relieved by the “U” rating on the card,
standing for “Universal”, signifying all ages admitted and suitable for
children.
Ironically, the very same year as The Monster’s gag
appearance in Thursday’s Child, Universal Pictures’ 1935 Bride of Frankenstein was re-released in the UK with a dreaded “H”
certificate, indicating “horror”, alerting parents and strictly limiting
admission to 16 year-olds and over. Starting in 1932, the “H” cert was slapped
on any horror film that wasn't banned outright. The “H” was replaced by the
“X” certificate in 1951. The equivalent today is the “18” certificate.
The British classification system, first introduced in 1912,
has been revised through the years, with horror, in particular, being
re-evaluated as the shock effect of older films attenuates. Classic horror that
rated an “H” in the Thirties are routinely reclassified as “15” today.
Image from the collection of Robert Kiss.
1 comment:
One more reason to see this film, which I became curious about after reading the director's autobiography. He later developed Queen of Spades but was unjustly fired during filming: Thorold Dickinson took over and made a masterpiece and also got all the credit.
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