Septimus Pretorius is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
who appears in the
Universal
Universal is the adjective for universe.
Universal may also refer to:
Companies
* NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company
** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal
** Universal TV, a t ...
film ''
Bride of Frankenstein
''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karlo ...
'' (1935). He is played by
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
stage and film actor
Ernest Thesiger
Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE (15 January 1879 – 14 January 1961) was an English stage and film actor. He is noted for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935).
Biography
E ...
. Some sources claim he was originally to have been played by
Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
or
Claude Rains
William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man'' (1933), he appeared in such highly regarded films as '' ...
. Others indicate that the part was conceived specifically for Thesiger.
Character overview
Doctor Pretorius is a renegade
mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...
who persuades
Henry Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy) who, after studying ch ...
to resume his experiments with bringing dead flesh to life. An amoral egomaniac, he has no regard for human life or ethics and cares only for his own prestige as a scientist.
Along with his sinister qualities, Pretorius is responsible for a large share of the film's dark humor. He eats a picnic dinner in a crypt, trades prissy banter with
the Monster, and laments that the tiny ballerina he created "will only dance to
Mendelssohn's 'Spring Song'". He claims that
gin
Gin () is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its flavour from juniper berries (''Juniperus communis'').
Gin originated as a medicinal liquor made by monks and alchemists across Europe, particularly in southern Italy, Flanders and the Ne ...
is his only weakness. Then later in the film, he claims his
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...
s are his only weakness when he first meets the Monster. Pretorius also delivers the famous toast "To a new world of gods and monsters!" midway through the film.
Pretorius is based on the Monster's own personality from the original novel.
In the film
Frankenstein's former teacher Septimus Pretorius is a tall, emaciated-looking man with an unusually large nose and devilish pointed ears. A professor of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at the
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law, and medicine, all o ...
, Pretorius first points young Henry on the path toward his unwholesome
experiment
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into Causality, cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome oc ...
s in giving life to the dead. He himself is "booted out" from his teaching post "for knowing too much". Pretorius seeks out his former student after learning that the Monster has survived being trapped in the burning
windmill
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
in the
climax
Climax may refer to:
Language arts
* Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work
* Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance
Biology
* Climax community, a biological community th ...
of the first film. Pretorius himself acknowledges that he may be insane in a conversation with Frankenstein by quoting "You think I'm mad? Perhaps I am!"
Pretorius performs experiments creating life similar to Henry's. He unveils to Henry a group of various
homunculi
A homunculus ( , , ; "little person") is a representation of a small human being, originally depicted as small statues made out of clay. Popularized in sixteenth-century alchemy and nineteenth-century fiction, it has historically referred to the ...
—miniature living humans which he has kept in
bottle
A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stopp ...
s and claims to have grown from "
seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
" like cultures. Each figure represents a different character:
* A
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
which he claims was his first experiment.
* A
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
which is madly in love with the Queen and has a resemblance to
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. Pretorius has to be very careful with the King and works to keep the King and Queen separated. This is even shown when the King briefly breaks out of his bottle only to be caught by Pretorius and put back in his bottle with his cup on top of the bottle.
* An
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
which disapproves of what the King is doing to win the Queen's heart.
* The Devil who is depicted as a man in a black suit and a cape. Pretorious gleefully compares his own visage to that of the Devil by quoting "There's a certain resemblance to me, don't you think? Or do I flatter myself?" He says sometimes, he thinks life would be more interesting if they were all devils.
* A
Ballerina dancer who will only dance to
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
's "
Spring Song".
* A
Mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
grown from "an experiment with seaweed" which lives in a water-filled bottle.
* An
Infant
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
who was mostly edited out except for certain camera shots.
He has been unsuccessful in creating a full-sized human. He proposes to Henry that together they create a mate for his
monster
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...
with Henry building the body and Pretorius supplying an artificially-grown
brain
A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
. Henry initially balks at the idea, but Pretorius reminds him that he is capable of exposing him to the authorities as the creator of the Monster who has done so much damage.
Later, he meets the Monster in a crypt where he has gone to steal bodies with his hired help Karl and Ludwig. Pretorius is dining using the top of a coffin as a picnic table. When the Monster asks him "Friend?", he gives him the remains of his chicken. He tells the Monster of his plans to create a mate for him.
The Monster, eager for companionship of any kind, considers Pretorius his friend. From then on, the Monster is willing to do anything that the impish scientist desires such as kidnapping Henry's wife Elizabeth in order to force him to help Pretorius. Henry agrees and together the two scientists create the
Bride of Frankenstein
''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karlo ...
.
However, even the Bride finds her would-be husband repulsive and the heartbroken Monster decides to end his life by blowing up the laboratory. He instructs Henry and Elizabeth to run, but barks at Pretorius and the Bride to stay saying "we belong dead". Before Pretorius can move, the Monster blows up the laboratory and the castle, presumably killing Pretorius, the Bride, and himself.
Psychosexual aspects of the character
Dr. Pretorius is frequently identified as
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, or as near to homosexual as could be presented on-screen in 1935. There is no direct reference to homosexuality in the film. ''Bride of Frankenstein'' director
James Whale
James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fran ...
was openly
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
and frequently included
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
elements in his films. He directed Thesiger (himself identified in some sources as more or less openly gay) to play the part as an "over the top caricature of a bitchy and aging homosexual".
Gay film historian
Vito Russo
Vito Russo (July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990) was an American LGBT activist, film historian, and author. He is best remembered as the author of the book ''The Celluloid Closet'' (1981, revised edition 1987), described in ''The New York Time ...
stops short of identifying Pretorius as gay, calling him instead "sissified" ("sissy" itself being Hollywood code for "homosexual"). Pretorius serves as a figure of seduction and temptation, pulling Frankenstein away from his bride on their wedding night to engage in the unnatural act of non-procreative life. The
Breen Office
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
, responsible for enforcing Hollywood's
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
, let Pretorius' behavior pass unchallenged. A novelisation of the film published in England made the implication even more clear, having Pretorius say to Frankenstein: "Be fruitful and multiply. Let us obey the
Biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
injunction: you of course, have the choice of natural means; but as for me, I am afraid that there is no course open to me but the scientific way".
[Egremont, Michael, quoted in Skal p. 189]
Other appearances
Pretorius appears in
Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...
's crossover novel ''
Dracula Cha Cha Cha
''Anno Dracula: Dracula Cha Cha Cha'' (re-titled ''Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959'' upon initial U.S. release) is an alternate history/ horror novel by British writer Kim Newman. First published in 1998 by Carroll & Graf, it is the third ...
'', as a colleague of
H. P. Lovecraft's
Herbert West
Herbert may refer to:
People Individuals
* Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert
Name
* Herbert (given name)
* Herbert (surname)
Places Antarctica
* Herbert Mountains, Coats Land
* Herbert Sound, Graham Land
Australia
* Herbert, ...
. He appears as one of the horror movie spoofs in ''
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
''Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter'' is a 2001 Canadian horror film, horror parody film from Odessa Filmworks which deals with Jesus, Jesus Christ's modern-day struggle to protect the lesbians of Ottawa, Ontario, from vampires with the help of Lucha ...
'' and also appears in
Allan Rune Pettersson
Allan Rune Pettersson (9 March 1936 – 15 August 2018) was a Swedish author.
After a varied career as a producer of children's programmes on Swedish radio and later as an innkeeper in Portugal, he became a freelance writer on his return to Swed ...
's novel ''
Frankenstein's Aunt Returns
''Frankenstein's Aunt Returns'' is a novel by Allan Rune Pettersson that was first published in Sweden in 1989. The book is a sequel to the first book ''Frankenstein's Aunt''. The story is about Franklin (named after Benjamin Franklin), a child ...
''.
In the Amicus horror film ''
The House That Dripped Blood
''The House That Dripped Blood'' is a 1971 British anthology horror film directed by Peter Duffell and distributed by Amicus Productions. It stars Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Nyree Dawn Porter, Denholm Elliott, and Jon Pertwee. The ...
'' (1970),
Geoffrey Bayldon
Albert Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924 – 10 May 2017) was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series ''C ...
, playing a mysterious antique shop owner, is made up and costumed to look like
Ernest Thesiger
Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE (15 January 1879 – 14 January 1961) was an English stage and film actor. He is noted for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935).
Biography
E ...
as Pretorius.
In the 1973 NBC-TV miniseries ''
Frankenstein: The True Story'',
James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...
portrays a Pretorius-like figure named Dr. Polidori (named for
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
's real-life physician,
John William Polidori
John William Polidori (7 September 1795 – 24 August 1821) was a British writer and physician. He is known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy
Fantasy is a ...
, who was part of the 1816 gathering that produced
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...
's novel and also the author of the story "
The Vampyre
"The Vampyre" is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori taken from the story Lord Byron told as part of a contest among Polidori, Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, and Percy Shelley. The same contest produced the novel '' ...
"). Mason's Dr. Polidori enlists Victor to assist in creating the female creature Prima (portrayed by
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...
).
The 1986 film ''
From Beyond'' adds a Dr. Edward Pretorius at
Miskatonic University
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River (also fictional). After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story "Herbert West–Rea ...
(played by
Ted Sorel
Theodore Eliopoulos (November 14, 1936 – November 30, 2010), known as Ted Sorel, was an American actor whose numerous credits included '' Guiding Light'', '' Law & Order'' and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''. He also appeared in film productio ...
) as a dark mentor for Crawford Tillinghast (
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fra ...
). This Pretorius is an impotent sadist (with a room full of bondage gear) who is assimilated by "the Beyond" and attempts to drag others into it, boasting that the
pineal gland
The pineal gland, conarium, or epiphysis cerebri, is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep, sleep patterns in both circadian rhythm, circ ...
growth brought on by the resonator is like "an orgasm of the mind".
The 1989
Akif Pirinçci
Akif Pirinçci (; born 20 October 1959) is a Turkish-born German writer who is best known internationally for his novel ''Felidae''.
Biography
Pirinçci was born on 20 October 1959 in Istanbul, Turkey, but emigrated to Germany together with ...
novel ''
Felidae
Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the ...
'' and its 1994
animated feature film adaptation feature an insane Professor Preterius in the backstory performing increasingly dark experiments on the cat Claudandus.
In the 1998 independent film ''
Gods and Monsters'', directed by
Bill Condon
William Condon (born October 22, 1955) is an American director and screenwriter. Condon is known for writing and/or directing numerous successful and acclaimed films including '' Gods and Monsters'', ''Chicago'', '' Kinsey'', ''Dreamgirls'', ' ...
, Ernest Thesiger as Pretorius is played by
Arthur Dignam
Arthur Dignam (9 September 1939 – 9 May 2020) was an Australian stage and screen actor.
Biography
Dignam was born on Lord Howe Island. He attended Newington College in Sydney as a boarder in 1955 and 1956 and then the University of Sydney.
...
in a flashback about the filming of ''Bride of Frankenstein''. An earlier scene shows Whale's gardener Clayton Boon (portrayed by
Brendan Fraser
Brendan James Fraser ( ; born December 3, 1968) is an American-Canadian actor known for his leading roles in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic films. Having graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts in 1990, he made his film debut in '' ...
) watching ''Bride of Frankenstein'' on television, specifically the climactic scene of Pretorius and Frankenstein unveiling the Bride.
In the 2007 ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
'' TV film, the character of Professor Jane Pretorius is based on Septimus Pretorius and served as Victoria Frankenstein's boss.
In the
Dark Horse
A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might.
Origin
Th ...
"Universal's Monsters" novel ''The Bride Of Frankenstein: Pandora's Bride'', Pretorius somehow survives the destruction of the tower lab along with the Bride. They escape to Germany where he teaches her to become her own woman.
In ''
Mary Shelley's Frankenhole
''Mary Shelley's Frankenhole'' is an American adult stop-motion animated television series created by Dino Stamatopoulos. The series premiered on June 27, 2010 on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. It ended on March 25 ...
'', the character Professor Sanguinaire Polidori (voiced by
Scott Adsit
Robert Scott Adsit (born November 26, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Adsit joined the mainstage cast of Chicago's The Second City in 1994 after attending Columbia College Chicago. He app ...
) is based on Septimus Pretorius.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pretorius, Septimus
Film characters introduced in 1935
Male horror film villains
Fictional mad scientists
Frankenstein characters
LGBT themes in horror fiction