Bride of Frankenstein

On a stormy night, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron praise Mary Shelley for her story of Frankenstein and his Monster. She reminds them that her intention for writing the novel was to impart a moral lesson, the consequences of a mortal man who tries to play God. Mary says she has more of the story to tell. The scene shifts to the end of the 1931 Frankenstein, in 1899.

Villagers gathered around the burning windmill cheer the apparent death of the Monster. Hans, the father of the girl the creature drowned in the previous film, wants to see the Monster's bones. He falls into a flooded pit underneath the mill, where the Monster—having survived the fire—strangles him. Hauling himself from the pit, the Monster casts Hans' wife to her death. He next encounters Minnie, who flees in terror.

The body of Henry Frankenstein, who is thought to have died at the windmill, is returned to his fiancée Elizabeth at his ancestral castle home. Minnie arrives to sound the alarm about the Monster, but her warning goes unheeded. Elizabeth, seeing Henry move, realizes he is still alive. Nursed back to health by Elizabeth, Henry has renounced his creation, but still believes he may be destined to unlock the secret of life and immortality. A hysterical Elizabeth cries that she foresees death.

Henry visits the lab of his former mentor Doctor Septimus Pretorius, where Pretorius shows Henry several homunculi he has created. Pretorius wishes to work with Henry to create a mate for the Monster, with the proposed venture involving Pretorius growing an artificial brain while Henry gathers parts for the mate.

The Monster saves a young shepherdess from drowning. Her screams upon seeing him alert two hunters, who shoot and injure the Monster. The hunters raise a mob that sets out in pursuit. Captured and trussed to a pole, the Monster is hauled to a dungeon and chained. Left alone, he breaks his chains, overpowers the guards, and escapes into the woods.

That night, following the sound of a violin playing "Ave Maria," the Monster encounters an old blind hermit who thanks God for sending him a friend. He teaches the monster words like "friend" and "good" and shares a meal with him. Two lost hunters stumble upon the cottage and recognize the Monster. He attacks them and accidentally burns down the cottage as the hunters lead the hermit away.

Taking refuge from another angry mob in a crypt, the Monster spies Pretorius and his cronies Karl and Ludwig breaking open a grave. The henchmen depart as Pretorius stays to enjoy a light supper. The Monster approaches Pretorius and learns that Pretorius plans to create a mate for him.

Henry and Elizabeth, now married, are visited by Pretorius. When Henry expresses his refusal to assist with Pretorius' plans, Pretorius calls in the Monster, who demands Henry's help. Henry again refuses, and Pretorius orders the Monster out, secretly signaling him to kidnap Elizabeth. Pretorius guarantees her safe return upon Henry's participation. Henry returns to his tower laboratory where, despite himself, he grows excited over his work. After being assured of Elizabeth's safety, Henry completes the Bride's body.

A storm rages as final preparations are made to bring the Bride to life. Her bandage-wrapped body is raised through the roof, where electricity is harnessed from lightning to animate her. Henry and Pretorius lower her and, after realizing their success in bringing her to life, remove her bandages and help her to stand.

The Monster comes down the steps after killing Karl on the rooftop and sees his mate. The excited Monster reaches out to her and asks: "Friend?" The Bride, screaming, rejects him. The dejected Monster observes: "She hate me! Like others." As Elizabeth races to Henry's side, the Monster rampages through the laboratory. When Pretorius warns that the Monster's actions are about to destroy them all, the Monster pauses and tells Henry and Elizabeth: "Go! You live! Go!" To Pretorius and the Bride, he says: "You stay. We belong dead." While Henry and Elizabeth flee, the Monster looks at the Bride, sheds a tear, and pulls a lever to trigger the laboratory and tower's destruction.

Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster in Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Universal considered making a sequel to Frankenstein as early as its 1931 preview screenings, following which the film's original ending was changed to allow for Henry Frankenstein's survival.[7] James Whale initially refused to direct Bride, believing he had "squeezed the idea dry"[8] on the first film. Following the success of Whale's The Invisible Man, producer Carl Laemmle, Jr. realized that Whale was the only possible director for Bride; Whale took advantage of the situation in persuading the studio to let him make One More River.[9] Whale believed the sequel would not top the original, so he decided instead to make it a memorable "hoot".[8] According to a studio publicist, Whale and Universal's studio psychiatrist decided "the Monster would have the mental age of a ten-year-old boy and the emotional age of a lad of fifteen".[8]

Screenwriter Robert Florey wrote a treatment entitled The New Adventures of Frankenstein — The Monster Lives!, but it was rejected without comment early in 1932.[10] Universal staff writer Tom Reed wrote a treatment under the title The Return of Frankenstein, a title retained until filming began.[11] Following its acceptance in 1933, Reed wrote a full script that was submitted to the Hays office for review. The script passed its review, but Whale, who by then had been contracted to direct, complained that "it stinks to heaven".[12] L. G. Blochman and Philip MacDonald were the next writers assigned, but Whale also found their work unsatisfactory. In 1934, Whale set John L. Balderston to work on yet another version, and it was he who returned to an incident from the novel in which the creature demands a mate. In the novel Frankenstein creates a mate, but destroys it without bringing it to life. Balderston also created the Mary Shelley prologue. After several months Whale was still not satisfied with Balderston's work and handed the project to playwright William J. Hurlbut and Edmund Pearson. The final script, combining elements of a number of these versions, was submitted for Hays office review in November 1934.[13] Kim Newman reports that Whale planned to make Elizabeth the heart donor for the bride,[14] but film historian Scott MacQueen states that Whale never had such an intention.[10]

Sources report that Bela Lugosi and Claude Rains were considered, with varying degrees of seriousness, for the role of Frankenstein's mentor, Pretorius;[15] others report that the role was created specifically for Ernest Thesiger.[16] Because of Mae Clarke's ill health, Valerie Hobson replaced her as Henry Frankenstein's love interest, Elizabeth.[10] Early in production, Whale decided that the same actress cast to play the Bride should also play Mary Shelley in the film's prologue, to represent how the story — and horror in general — springs from the dark side of the imagination.[17] He considered Brigitte Helm and Phyllis Brooks before deciding on Elsa Lanchester. Lanchester, who had accompanied husband Charles Laughton to Hollywood, had met with only moderate success while Laughton had made a strong impact with several films including The Private Life of Henry VIII (for which he had won an Oscar) and Whale's own The Old Dark House. Lanchester had returned alone to London when Whale contacted her to offer her the dual role.[18] Lanchester modeled the Bride's hissing on the hissing of swans. She gave herself a sore throat while filming the hissing sequence, which Whale shot from multiple angles.[19]

Colin Clive and Boris Karloff reprised their roles from Frankenstein as creator and creation, respectively. Hobson recalled Clive's alcoholism had worsened since filming the original, but Whale did not recast the role because his "hysterical quality" was necessary for the film.[17] Karloff strongly objected to the decision to allow the Monster to speak. "Speech! Stupid! My argument was that if the monster had any impact or charm, it was because he was inarticulate – this great, lumbering, inarticulate creature. The moment he spoke you might as well ... play it straight."[20] This decision also meant that Karloff could not remove his dental plate, so now his cheeks did not have the sunken look of the original film.[10] 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.[8] Dwight Frye returned to play the doctor's assistant, Karl, having played the hunchback Fritz in the original. Frye also filmed a scene as an unnamed villager and the role of "Nephew Glutz", a man who murdered his uncle and blamed the death on the Monster.[10] Boris Karloff is credited simply as KARLOFF, which was Universal's custom during the height of his career.[21] Elsa Lanchester is credited for Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, but in a nod to the earlier film, the Monster's bride is credited only as "?" just as Boris Karloff had been in the opening credits of Frankenstein.

Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein. The bride's conical hairdo, with its white lightning-trace streaks on each side, has become an iconic symbol of both the character and the film.

Universal makeup artist Jack Pierce paid special attention to the Monster's appearance in this film. He altered his 1931 design to display the after-effects of the mill fire, adding scars and shortening the Monster's hair.[21] Over the course of filming, Pierce modified the Monster's makeup to indicate that the Monster's injuries were healing as the film progressed.[10] Pierce co-created the Bride's makeup with strong input from Whale, especially regarding the Bride's iconic hair style,[18] based on Nefertiti.[11] Lanchester's hair was given a Marcel wave over a wire frame to achieve the style.[10] Lanchester disliked working with Pierce, who she said "really did feel that he made these people, like he was a god ... in the morning he'd be dressed in white as if he were in hospital to perform an operation."[11] To play Mary Shelley, Lanchester wore a white net dress embroidered with sequins of butterflies, stars, and moons, which the actress had heard required 17 women 12 weeks to make.[8] Lanchester said of her bride costume, "I drank as little liquid as possible. It was too much of an ordeal to go to the bathroom--all those bandages--and having to be accompanied by my dresser."[22]

Kenneth Strickfaden created and maintained the laboratory equipment. Strickfaden recycled a number of the fancifully named machines he had created for the original Frankenstein for use in Bride, including the "Cosmic Ray Diffuser",[23] and the "Nebularium".[24] A lightning bolt generated by Strickfaden's equipment has become a stock scene, appearing in any number of films and television shows.[25] The man behind the film's special photographic effects was John P. Fulton, head of the special effects department at Universal Studios at the time.[26] Fulton and David S. Horsely created the homunculi over the course of two days by shooting the actors in full-size jars against black velvet and aligning them with the perspective of the on-set jars. The foreground film plate was rotoscoped and matted onto the rear plate. Diminutive actor Billy Barty is briefly visible from the back in the finished film as a homunculus infant in a high chair, but Whale cut the infant's reveal before the film's release.[10]

Whale met Franz Waxman at a party and asked him to score the picture. "Nothing will be resolved in this picture except the end destruction scene. Would you write an unresolved score for it?" asked Whale.[19] Waxman created three distinctive themes: one for the Monster; one for the Bride; and one for Pretorius. The score closes, at Whale's suggestion, with a powerful dissonant chord, intended to convey the idea that the on-screen explosion was so powerful that the theater where the film was being screened was affected by it.[27] Constantin Bakaleinikoff conducted 22 musicians to record the score in a single nine-hour session.[28]

Shooting began on January 2, 1935,[29] with a projected budget of US$293,750 ($5.48 million as of 2021) – almost exactly the budget of the original – and an estimated 36-day shooting schedule.[30][31] On the first day, Karloff waded in the water below the destroyed windmill wearing a rubber suit under his costume. Air got into the suit and expanded it like an "obscene water lilly".[11] Later that day, Karloff broke his hip, necessitating a stunt double.[20] Clive had also broken his leg.[17] Shooting was completed on March 7, 1935. The film was ten days over schedule because Whale shut down the picture for ten days until Heggie became available to play the Hermit.[32] With a final cost of $397,023 ($9.27 million as of 2021), Bride was more than $100,000 ($1.86 million as of 2021) over budget.[30][29] As originally filmed, Henry died fleeing the exploding castle. Whale re-shot the ending to allow for their survival, although Clive is still visible on-screen in the collapsing laboratory.[14] Whale completed his final cut, shortening the running time from about 90 to 75 minutes and re-shooting and re-editing the ending, only days before the film's scheduled premiere date.[1]

Boris Karloff, director James Whale, and cinematographer John J. Mescall on set of Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Bride of Frankenstein was subjected to censorship, both during production by the Hays office and following its release by local and national censorship boards. Joseph Breen, lead censor for the Hays office, objected to lines of dialogue in the originally submitted script in which Henry Frankenstein and his work were compared to that of God. He continued to object to such dialogue in revised scripts,[33] and to a planned shot of the Monster rushing through a graveyard to a figure of a crucified Jesus and attempting to rescue the figure from the cross.[34] Breen also objected to the number of murders, both seen and implied by the script and strongly advised Whale to reduce the number.[10] The censor's office, upon reviewing the film in March 1935, required a number of cuts. Whale agreed to delete a sequence in which Dwight Frye's "Nephew Glutz"[10] kills his uncle and blames the Monster,[1] and shots of Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley in which Breen felt too much of her breasts were visible. Curiously, despite his earlier objection, Breen offered no objection to the cruciform imagery throughout the film – including a scene with the Monster lashed Christ-like to a pole – nor to the presentation of Pretorius as a coded homosexual.[33] Bride of Frankenstein was approved by the Production Code office on April 15, 1935.[1]

Following its release with the Code seal of approval, the film was challenged by the censorship board in the state of Ohio.[33] Censors in England and China objected to the scene in which the Monster gazes longingly upon the as-yet unanimated body of the Bride, citing concerns that it looked like necrophilia.[35] Universal voluntarily withdrew the film from Sweden because of the extensive cuts demanded, and Bride was rejected outright by Trinidad, Palestine, and Hungary. Additionally, Japanese censors objected to the scene in which Pretorius chases his miniature Henry VIII with tweezers, asserting that it constituted "making a fool out of a king".[33]

Colin Clive, Elsa Lanchester, Boris Karloff, and Ernest Thesiger

Bride of Frankenstein was profitable for Universal, with a 1943 report showing that the film had by then earned approximately $2 million ($29.6 million in 2021 money) for the studio, a profit of about $950,000 ($14 million as of 2021).[30][36] The film was critically praised upon its release, although some reviewers did qualify their opinions based on the film's being in the horror genre. The New York World-Telegram called the film "good entertainment of its kind".[37] The New York Post described it as "a grotesque, gruesome tale which, of its kind, is swell".[37] The Hollywood Reporter similarly called the film "a joy for those who can appreciate it".[37]

Variety did not so qualify its review. "[It is] one of those rare instances where none can review it, or talk about it, without mentioning the cameraman, art director, and score composer in the same breath as the actors and director." Variety also praised the cast, writing that "Karloff manages to invest the character with some subtleties of emotion that are surprisingly real and touching ... Thesiger as Dr Pretorious [is] a diabolic characterization if ever there was one ... Lanchester handles two assignments, being first in a preamble as author Mary Shelley and then the created woman. In latter assignment she impresses quite highly."[38]

In another unqualified review, Time wrote that the film had "a vitality that makes their efforts fully the equal of the original picture ... Screenwriters Hurlbut & Balderston and Director James Whale have given it the macabre intensity proper to all good horror pieces, but have substituted a queer kind of mechanistic pathos for the sheer evil that was Frankenstein."[39] The Oakland Tribune concurred it was "a fantasy produced on a rather magnificent scale, with excellent stagecraft and fine photographic effects".[40] While the Winnipeg Free Press thought that the electrical equipment might have been better suited to Buck Rogers, nonetheless the reviewer praised the film as "exciting and sometimes morbidly gruesome", declaring that "All who enjoyed Frankenstein will welcome his Bride as a worthy successor."[41] The New York Times called Karloff "so splendid in the role that all one can say is 'he is the Monster.'"[42] The Times praised the entire principal cast and Whale's direction in concluding that Bride is "a first-rate horror film",[42] and presciently suggested that "The Monster should become an institution, like Charlie Chan."[42] Bride was nominated for one Academy Award, for Best Sound Recording (Gilbert Kurland).[43][44]

The film's reputation has persisted and grown in the decades since its release. In 1998, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[45] In 1998, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry, having been deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".[4][5] Frequently identified as James Whale's masterpiece,[46] the film is lauded as "the finest of all gothic horror movies".[47] Time rated Bride of Frankenstein in its "ALL-TIME 100 Movies", in which critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel overruled the magazine's original review to declare the film "one of those rare sequels that is infinitely superior to its source".[48] In 2008, Bride was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[49] Also in 2008, the Boston Herald named it the second greatest horror film after Nosferatu.[50] In 2016, James Charisma of Playboy ranked the film #7 on a list of 15 Sequels That Are Way Better Than The Originals.[51] Entertainment Weekly considers the film superior to Frankenstein.[52]

In 1985, MCA Home Video released Bride of Frankenstein on LaserDisc.[61] In the 1990s, MCA/Universal Home Video released the film on VHS as part of the "Universal Monsters Classic Collection", a series of releases of Universal Classic Monsters films.[62]

In 1999, Universal released Bride of Frankenstein on VHS and DVD as part of the "Classic Monster Collection".[63][64] In April 2004, Universal released Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection on DVD as part of the "Universal Legacy Collection".[65][66] This two-disc release includes Bride of Frankenstein, as well as the original Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, and The House of Frankenstein.[65][66]

In 2012, Bride of Frankenstein was released on Blu-ray as part of the Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection box set, which also includes a total of nine films from the Universal Classic Monsters series.[67][68] In September 2013, Bride of Frankenstein received a standalone Blu-ray release.[69] That same year, Bride of Frankenstein was included as part of the six-film Blu-ray set Universal Classic Monsters Collection, which also includes Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man.[70] The next year, Universal released Frankenstein: Complete Legacy Collection on DVD.[71] This set contains eight films: Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, The House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.[71] In 2015, the six-film Universal Classic Monsters Collection was released on DVD.[72] In 2016, Bride of Frankenstein received a Walmart-exclusive Blu-ray release featuring a glow-in-the-dark cover.[73][74] That same year, the Complete Legacy Collection was released on Blu-ray.[75][76] In September 2017, Bride of Frankenstein received a Best Buy-exclusive steelbook Blu-ray release with cover artwork by Alex Ross.[77]

On August 28, 2018, Bride of Frankenstein was included in the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection Blu-ray box set.[78][79] This box set also received a DVD release.[80] In October 2018, Bride of Frankenstein was included as part of a limited edition Best Buy-exclusive Blu-ray set titled Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection, which features artwork by Alex Ross.[81]

Universal Pictures has sought to remake Bride of Frankenstein on several occasions.[82] While the novel Frankenstein has been adapted to film many times, Bride of Frankenstein's closest remake was The Bride (1985), starring Sting, Clancy Brown, and Jennifer Beals.[83] In 1991, the studio sought to remake the film for cable television, and Martin Scorsese expressed interest in directing.[82]

In the first decade of the 21st century, Universal paired with Imagine Entertainment and contracted Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who wrote the screenplay for American Splendor, to write a remake. The screenwriters set the story in contemporary New York. Jacob Estes was also involved with the project at one point and wrote a draft.[83] In June 2009, Universal and Imagine entered discussions with director Neil Burger and his writing partner Dirk Wittenborn,[83] and producer Brian Grazer was assigned to oversee the development of the remake.[84]

In December 2015, Variety reported that David Koepp will write the script.[85] In May 2017, Universal Pictures announced their shared universe film series of rebooted, modern-day interpretations of their classic Universal Monsters titled, Dark Universe. The film series began with the 2017 film The Mummy, and was expected to continue with Bride of Frankenstein on February 14, 2019 with Bill Condon directing the film,[86] but Universal and Condon have decided to postpone this movie.[87] By October 2017, it was reported that pre-production had begun when the creative team and studio decided to postpone the release in order to further work on the script with intentions being to improve the story.[88] Deadline reported that Javier Bardem and Angelina Jolie are still attached to the movie as Frankenstein's monster and the film's reluctant bride, respectively.[89] The same month Condon stated that should Jolie decide to leave the project, he would be interested in seeing Gal Gadot play the titular character.[90] But on November 8, 2017, Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan moved on to other projects, leaving the future of the Dark Universe in doubt.[91]

In January 2018, it was reported that Condon was assembling a production team, consisting of cinematographer Tobias A. Schliessler, production designer Sarah Greenwood, composer Carter Burwell, and costume designer Jacqueline Durran.[92]

In November 2019, Condon reflected on the proposed Bride of Frankenstein remake not entering production.[93] He stated: "That was a heartbreaker, really [...] the simplest way to say it is that I think The Mummy, and not to say anything against the movie, but the fact that that hadn't worked for them and it was the beginning of this whole reinvention of their monsters gave them cold feet at the end of the day. Because David Koepp was writing the script, I thought it was unbelievably good, and we were on the verge of making a really beautiful movie, I thought. So that was a shame."[94][95] He also noted his uncertainty regarding his ability to publicly discuss the project "because [Koepp], I think, is still involved in figuring out the new approach [...] The movie that we started was devised as a great big movie, and at the end of the day, probably these movies should be smaller."[94][95]

By February 2020, it was announced that Amy Pascal will serve as producer, with the project becoming a joint-venture production between Universal Pictures and Pascal Pictures. The studio is courting David Koepp to continue his work as screenwriter. Filmmakers John Krasinski and Sam Raimi have individually had discussions with the studio regarding potentially directing, while Variety reported that Krasinski was given options to develop films from the roster of monsters owned by Universal Pictures.[96][97] In June 2020, Koepp stated that, in addition to still being actively involved with the project, and stated that he was inspired by the success of The Invisible Man.[98] He stated that the story will explore the modern-day desire to extend our lives, create life, and cheat death. Furthermore, the filmmaker intends to include plot devices that are relevant to the #MeToo era, stating that "it's horror effortlessly lending itself to metaphor."[99]

• Boris Karloff filmography
• List of films featuring Frankenstein's monster
• Frankenstein in popular culture
• Gods and Monsters, a 1998 James Whale biopic that draws its title from a quote from Bride of Frankenstein
• List of horror films of the 1930s
• List of films featuring miniature people

Notes

Bibliography

• Brunas, Michael, John Brunas & Tom Weaver (1990). Universal Horrors: The Studios Classic Films, 1931–46. Qefferson, NC, McFarland & Co.
• Curtis, James (1998). James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters. Boston, Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19285-8.
• Gelder, Ken (2000). The Horror Reader. New York, Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21355-X.
• Gifford, Denis (1973) Karloff: The Man, The Monster, The Movies. Film Fan Monthly.
• Goldman, Harry (2005). Kenneth Strickfaden, Dr. Frankenstein's Electrician. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-2064-2.
• Johnson, Tom (1997). Censored Screams: The British Ban on Hollywood Horror in the Thirties. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0394-2.
• Lennig, Arthur (1993). The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2273-2.
• Mallory, Michael (2009) Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1896-2.
• Mank, Gregory W. (1994). Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Films from the Genre's Golden Age. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1112-0.
• Picart, Carolyn Joan, Frank Smoot and Jayne Blodgett (2001). The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31350-4.
• Russo, Vito (1987). The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies (revised edition). New York, HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-096132-5.
• Skal, David J. (1993). The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024002-0.
• Vieira, Mark A. (2003). Hollywood Horror: From Gothic to Cosmic. New York, Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-4535-5.
• Young, Elizabeth. "Here Comes The Bride". Collected in Gelder, Ken (ed.) (2000). The Horror Reader. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-21356-8.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Bride of Frankenstein

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

• Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein – essay by Richard T. Jameson on the National Film Registry site
• The Bride of Frankenstein essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 ISBN 0826429777, pages 234-235
• Bride of Frankenstein at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Bride of Frankenstein at IMDb
• Bride of Frankenstein at AllMovie
• Bride of Frankenstein at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bride of Frankenstein at the TCM Movie Database