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Cushing's Frankenstein/Thesinge r's Dr. Praetorius

posted 15 years ago by JanosSkorzeny
3 replies | jump to latest

Recently, I re-watched James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" and was struck at how similar Cushing's Baron in FMBD is to Ernest Thesinger's Dr. Praetorius in "Bride." Now, I'm not accusing Cushing or anyone at Hammer of 'plagiarism,' but the casual cruelty, sarcastic ruthless, and fey mannerisms that people have noted in FMBD's version of the Baron (which was decidedly more vicious than in the other installments of the series) could find direct antecedents in Thesinger's performance.

In fact, some plot elements are the same. Particularly the villain's (The Baron in FMDB/Praetroius in "Bride") blackmailing of a young scientist (Karlin FMDB/Henry Frankenstein in Bride)into helping him by threating his significant other (Maria in FMDB/Elizabeth in "Bride").

Any thoughts?

[–] chrismartonuk-1 13 years ago

I've always thought they shared a kinship. Victor is undeniably hetero and Praetorius as gay as they come, but Thesiger could almost be Cushing's Father in the Frankenstein films - an abusive Father perhaps!

[–] HorrorMetal (833) 3 years ago

Yeah I always found the two very similar as well. I wouldn’t be be surprised if they took some inspiration from Thesiger’s performance in Bride for this film.

[–] millsey72 (9542) 3 years ago

This was in no way a sequel to The Bride of Frankenstein. There is zero connection with the 2 films