Back in 2011, here on
this blog, we determined that Universal’s original FRANKENSTEIN (1931) had
actually been released on November 20, a day earlier than most sources claim.
Dial up Google, check the IMDB, they still say November 21, but we have proven
otherwise. Now, supported by the ads posted here, we can demonstrate that BRIDE
OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) actually started playing three days earlier than the “official” release date
generally quoted in books and online.
The actual “release” date is, by definition, the day when a
film begins playing on a regular schedule. There may be prior screenings, as
“Premieres” or “Preview Showings”, but these do not count towards the actual
release date. The classic, Hollywood-style Premiere is a stand-alone
promotional event with fanfare, klieg lights and attending movie stars. The
“Preview Showing” describes when a new film is sneaked into a movie house for
the purpose of gauging the moviegoers’ reactions. For instance, the original
FRANKENSTEIN (1931) was shown in a Santa Barbara theatre about three weeks
prior to its actual release. This particular screening, by the way, created the
stubborn myth that Boris Karloff was not invited to the film’s premiere. Nice
story, but false. Point is, there was no official premiere for FRANKENSTEIN.
If you Google “Bride Frankenstein Release”, your first hit,
in large characters, claims “April 22, 1935”. Go to the IMDB, and the USA release date is stated, again, as April
22. A possible explanation is that the date was quoted by Universal as the planned release date, even though films rarely if ever
launched on Mondays.
Did some digging and, to settle the issue, here are two
contemporary ads from the pages of the Chicago Tribune. At top, dated April 18, 1935, an ad for the RKO
Palace announces, “Tomorrow.. The World Premiere!” And what a show it was, with The Bride supported by
a “Huge Stage Review”. The next
day ad, also shown here, from Good Friday, April 19, proclaims, “The
World Premiere… Today — 10:45 A.M.”
featuring “Twice the Terrific Thrills of Frankenstein”.
And there you have it. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN was actually
released on April 19, 1935. Not April 22.
It must be noted that Stephen Jacobs, in his superb
biography Boris Karloff, More Than a Monster, points to San Francisco as the premiere city, also on April 19. Who
knows, maybe Chicago’s RKO Palace scored the “World’s Premiere” claim by virtue
of its early first show, 10:45 AM, while it was still 7:45 on the West Coast!
And so we wrap up our BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN 80th
Anniversary series. No worries, as we return to our regular posting, I’ve lots
of BRIDE material on hand and ongoing research to be posted in the weeks and
months to come.
I hope you enjoyed our visit with the Bride of
Frankenstein!
5 comments:
Great, great stuff, Pierre. It's heartening to see that there's still information to be gleaned about all these movies we think we know so well.
Many thanks.
Loved it. Sorry for the deleted comment. Life does get in way sometimes. Happy Belated Boris Karloff!
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