1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: I'm from and I'm Tracy Wilson, and this is part 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: two of our Elsa Lanchester podcast. We're leading up to 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: her becoming a Brian of Frankenstein. So, just to recap, 6 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: she grew up in very unconventional ways. It's kind of 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,959 Speaker 1: radical too. Yeah, parents who were in the early nine 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 1: Dred's already socialists, vegetarian, anti vaccination atheists, which shaped her 9 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,199 Speaker 1: a lot. I think she grew up and became kind 10 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: of an unconventional, free spirited woman. Uh. And she had 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 1: started a theater in a nightclub in her early twenties. Uh. 12 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: And then her acting career started to pick up, which 13 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: is kind of where we are coming back in today. 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: So in Elsa was cast in Arnold in its play Mr. 15 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: Pro Hack, and on the first day of rehearsal, she 16 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: met Charles Lawton, who would become her husband. My first impression, 17 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,800 Speaker 1: she writes in her book, was that he looked like 18 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: a baker's assistant who just left a bakery and was 19 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: all dusty with flower. Yeah. And at this point Lawton 20 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: already had some notoriety as an actor, so he was 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: kind of like the big name coming into this production 22 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: they were working on. And Lanchester's description of their early 23 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: relationship really describes one of friendship. Uh. They were kind 24 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: of like two misfits finding each other. Lawton, despite uh 25 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: being a popular actor, was very lonely. He was considered 26 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: ugly um, so he didn't even though he was famous, 27 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: he did not really have a lot of romantic prospects. 28 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: And Elsa was to bohemian and independent for most men. 29 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: She was, you know, a little She wasn't exactly a 30 00:01:55,440 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: shrinking violet. She wasn't a demure coquette. She was a 31 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: woman very much in charge of herself in her own 32 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: life and it it made finding an equal partner for 33 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: her a little bit tricky. And she always wasn't interested 34 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: in in long term relationships either. Charles was from a 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: hotel family. His parents had started out as servants basically 36 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,600 Speaker 1: and had built a fortune from nothing um and really 37 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: kind of at this point had owned a lot of 38 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: hotels and we're very well off. Elsa, ever, the independent, 39 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: really struggled. She had some odd feelings. At the beginning 40 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: of their friendship and spending time together at the idea 41 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: of a man, for example, paying for her meals, but 42 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: she kind of negotiated with herself and was able to 43 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: kind of let go of that feeling because she knew 44 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: that Charles wasn't struggling financially. The two of them went 45 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,799 Speaker 1: on long walks together, but it wasn't what you might 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: think of as like a typical courtship walk. They would 47 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: go on these really long walks out in the country, 48 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: but sometimes they didn't even talk to each other. Yeah, 49 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: for two you know, artistic twentysome things, you would think 50 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: it would be a lot of outpouring of feelings and 51 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 1: discussion and mind melding, and they really it was more 52 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: of a very quiet companionship, particularly in the beginning and 53 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: once they realized that they actually wanted to be together 54 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: as a couple. Uh. One of the things and because 55 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: her career was becoming more and more successful and she 56 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: was in the public eye more, Charles wanted her to 57 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: get a proper wardrobe, and this actually caused a fight 58 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: between them. She had been largely making her own clothes 59 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,119 Speaker 1: at the time, but she was not an especially good seamstress, 60 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: and so it showed that they were homemade and so 61 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: he wanted her to visit this dressmaker that he knew 62 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: of that was clearly out of her price range. Elsa 63 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: still felt like she should be paying her own way 64 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: in life, but he was insistent about it, and in 65 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: her account, she says, Charles finally had to pay and 66 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: resented my resentment about it. We never did quite recover 67 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: from this financial tennis match about my wardrobe, nor have 68 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: I yet recovered from his pressure that I follow his taste. 69 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: His ideas and taste were very good, nevertheless, and no 70 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: one could resist his enormous enjoyment of a few hours 71 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: with the dressmakers. Uh So, And she wrote about this 72 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: in the eighties, so decades later she was still kind 73 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: of angry about sort of being put in this position 74 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: where she felt like she had to depend on a 75 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: man for something that she needed. I just think it's 76 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: very interesting that she writes about this so much later, 77 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: almost sixty years later, she was still kind of fuming 78 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: about it. On so they talked about marriage. Charles wanted it, 79 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: but Elsa didn't really care, and they were teetering on 80 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: the brink of respectability. But at about this time Elsa 81 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: became pregnant that they chose to terminate the pregnancy, and 82 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,280 Speaker 1: then after this they moved into a flat together, and 83 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: then after that they then decided to get married. Yeah. 84 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: She talks about a little bit this period in their 85 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: lives where um, people treated them as though they were respectable, 86 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: and they even would sometimes check into hotels as the 87 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: Lawtons and people so I thought they were already married, uh, 88 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: And how they kind of felt like they were living 89 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: a lie and the pregnancy termination made them feel like 90 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: we'd look respectable to people, but we know that we're 91 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: really not, and it's all just a big fib and 92 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: that probably played into their decision to actually marry uh. 93 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: And Lanchester describes their wedding day as a French farce 94 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: because both actors were popular enough at this point that 95 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: their romance had been covered in the press. Uh. And 96 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: though they had arranged to get married on a day 97 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: that the registry office was normally closed so that they 98 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: could avoid attention, when they were getting ready to leave, 99 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,160 Speaker 1: their street was so crowded with journalists that they actually 100 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: had to like try laugh in grade kind of juggling 101 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: of multiple taxis. They tried to go out at different times, uh, 102 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: separately and then at the same time but in separate taxis, 103 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: and eventually they shook off enough of the crowd that 104 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: they were able to make their way to the ceremony, 105 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: and they did make it to the registry and they 106 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: were married, and that was on February tenth. Lawton's mother 107 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: and his brother went on their honeymoon in Switzerland with them, 108 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: which is very odd um And eventually though, Lawton and 109 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: Lanchester moved on to Italy for a second stage of 110 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: their honeymoon without additional family members. But apparently there was 111 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: a good bit of teasing in their social circlet, like 112 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: you took your family on your honeymoon with you. Two 113 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: years into their marriage, Lawton was forced, due to a 114 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: slightly confusing interaction with police, to tell Elsa that he was, 115 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: in his words, homosexual. Partly her initial reaction to this 116 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: was that that was fine with her, but the deception 117 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: was pretty upsetting. She didn't have to have a problem 118 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: with his sexual orientation, just with the fact that he'd 119 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: been keeping it from her. She claimed to have no 120 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: indication prior to this that he had any interested interest 121 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 1: in men, and she hinted that she had tripped ne 122 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: did this seemingly sudden change to a midlife crisis. She wrote, 123 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: it was his change of life. Yeah. Uh, the the 124 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: crazy police interaction. To give a little more flesh to that, 125 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: they're the police stopped Lawton. They had a young man 126 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: in custody and they thought he was trying to possibly 127 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: extort money from Lawton. Uh. And it turned out it 128 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: had been someone he had been sexually involved with, and 129 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: there was a court case over the young man, and 130 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: they had been concerned because they were being covered in 131 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: the press. Uh. And somehow some money had changed hands 132 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: between Lawton and this gentleman. And but the press and 133 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: the judge and the matter handled it all very kindly, 134 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: And I think they basically wrote it off as saying 135 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: that Lawton was quote he had performed a misguided generosity 136 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: in giving this person money. It was a very weird 137 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: sort of you know, very um polite and proper handling 138 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: of kind of a subject that I think none of 139 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: the people involved at the time we're really ready to 140 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: deal with. And I just it's I didn't want to 141 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: gloss over it, uh completely and not mentioned kind of 142 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: what it was. But it is a very hazy, weird 143 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: account like what actually went down that actually surprises me 144 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: for a number of reasons, given the treatment of other 145 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: gay people in UH in Britain at the time, Yeah, 146 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: and in entertainment. And I think part of it is 147 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: that Lawton was this sort of you know, one he 148 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: was highly regarded as an actor and as an artist, 149 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: and too he had this sort of sweet, bumbling way 150 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: about him in some ways. And I think part of 151 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: it is just that people didn't believe any of this 152 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: could be the case. You know, it was kind of 153 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: one of those maybe, but it's hard for me to 154 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: believe that this man would be involved in anything untoward, 155 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: and so I think that was part of why they 156 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: kind of got a very kind and gentle treatment in 157 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: the whole thing. So their marriage, though continued even though 158 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: it had problems, problems even aside from Lawton's indiscretions, and 159 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: Charles would allegedly sometimes bully Elsa if he was unhappy 160 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: in his work UH, and she felt that when her 161 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: career was thriving, that he would become jealous and would 162 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: kind of be a little bit mean to her. That 163 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: two of them moved to Hollywood not long after Lawton's 164 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: play payment deferred clothes and he was signed to a 165 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: picture alongside Gary Cooper and to Lula Bank had called 166 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: The Devil and the Deep. They arrived in California before 167 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: the movie's script was ready, so he was loaned to 168 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: James Wales's project, The Old Dark House. And as Lawton's 169 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: Hollywood career continued, Lanchester's acting career really sputtered. She wasn't 170 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: working at the time and it was making her a 171 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: little bit crazy. Uh. And she eventually went back home 172 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: to London, and the years following this we're really filled 173 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: with a lot of back and forth travel. They were 174 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: both working and acting in both film and theater, and 175 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: they would just go back to London, go back to California. 176 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: It was a very sort of transient life they were living. Uh. 177 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: And in the early nineties MGM offered Lanchester a contract 178 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: uh and it kicked off a very busy decade for her, 179 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: and of course smack Dab in the middle of that 180 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: decade was the role that made her an icon, which 181 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: was The Bride. And now we will get into The 182 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 1: Bride of Frankenstein. During a stint in London in which 183 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: she really missed Charles and she felt overwhelmed at taking 184 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:31,719 Speaker 1: care of both their flat in the city and their 185 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: country home, Elsa was offered the role of the bride 186 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: of Frankenstein by the director himself. He had danced the 187 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: Tango with the Cave of Harmony back in the day, 188 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: and he and Elsa had remained friends throughout the years. Yeah, 189 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: and James Whale, who directed Um Brandon, Frankensteini and Frankenstein, 190 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: had also, you may recall, been working with Lawton on 191 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:56,719 Speaker 1: another picture in the early thirties, and whales first Frankenstein 192 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: picture had really made Boris Karloff a household name, so 193 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 1: getting to work on the follow up was exciting exciting 194 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,199 Speaker 1: for Elsa, but she was also really excited that the 195 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: script actually had two parts for her. The bride, of course, 196 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: but at the beginning of the picture she also plays 197 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: Mary Shelley, and she describes that character as quote dressed 198 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: extremely elegantly, sweeter than sugar, and some screenings the early 199 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: part of the film is cut, so not everybody who's 200 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:27,239 Speaker 1: ever seen it has been treated to else's Mary Shelley performance. 201 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,120 Speaker 1: The idea that Wale was working with was that there 202 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: must be something dark inside such a woman to make 203 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: her be able to come up with a story like Frankenstein, 204 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: so he wanted the same actress to appear both as 205 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: the seemingly delicate Shelly and the seemingly monstrous bride. And 206 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: while the role made her famous, if you watch the movie, 207 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: she really doesn't have all that much screen time in it. 208 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: All the same, the time that she did spend on 209 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: set was grueling by all accounts, at least the segments 210 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: where she was filming as the bride. The Mary Shelley 211 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: Prologue only took a few days to film, and Elsa 212 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: was just charmed by the costume that she wore for 213 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,439 Speaker 1: this segment, and it had this really intricate handworked and 214 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: sequence embroidery. It was a long and white dress, but 215 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: it had a delicate, refined hint at the look that 216 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: the bride would have later on in the film. Yeah, 217 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: and it's uh. I remember reading a um a film 218 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,439 Speaker 1: history account that described to the bride as being evocative 219 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: of both a burial shroud and a wedding night nightgown. 220 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: Just something I had not thought about that much until 221 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,640 Speaker 1: I read that, and I just loved it. So filming 222 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: The Monster's Bride took ten a week to ten days 223 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: to film, according to Lanchester's recollection. Uh, and it was 224 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: a really uncomfortable affair for many, many reasons. Her hair 225 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: was built up over this horsehair and wire cage that 226 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: was anchored onto four arrow braid tracks tight around her head. Yeah, 227 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: so similar to the way hair extensions are put in. 228 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: These braided tracks were run along the top of her 229 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: scalp and then they would sow the cage into that 230 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: for the day, uh, comb her hair up around it, 231 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: and then add those two white streaks those are hair pieces. 232 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: Her makeup would take three to four hours to do 233 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:26,319 Speaker 1: each day, and the makeup artist, Jack Pierce, who uh 234 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: it was an interesting character himself, would work in silence. 235 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: He would be slowly layering on putty and pigment, and 236 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: he was intolerant of interruption or chatter. She wasn't allowed 237 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: to speak to him first, like he If he said 238 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,839 Speaker 1: good morning to her, she could say it back, but 239 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: if he didn't greet her, she just had to sit 240 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: in the chair and get the makeup app life and 241 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: he wore a lab coat the whole time. He was 242 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: almost like his own. Dr Frankenston, a studio nurse, would 243 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: wind elsa into her bandages every day, and she drank 244 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: as little fluid as possible while shooting because going to 245 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: the bathroom was just such an or deal with all 246 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: these bandages on. Yeah. She also mentioned in her book 247 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: that she Emboris Karlof didn't like to go to the 248 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: commissary during meal breaks because they didn't like being stared 249 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: at because they both looked so completely bizarre in their 250 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: costumes that Karloff, who didn't like to miss meals, apparently 251 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,000 Speaker 1: would wear like a cheese cloth veil and go down 252 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: to the commissary and like lift the veil to pop 253 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: food in. That seems weirder than showing up in your makeup. Yeah, 254 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: but when you think about what that makeup looked like, 255 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: and it was in the nineteen thirties when backlots were 256 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: probably more filled with people trying to look pretty and cute, Uh, 257 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: you could see her, it would be weird. But the 258 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: shroud does, Like having a shroudy cheese cloth of ale 259 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: while you eat your meals does seem odd as well. 260 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. I think there's no winning in that 261 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: point in the shot where the bandages come off from 262 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: her eyes and they pop open as she looks around. 263 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: She wasn't supposed to blink, so she'd have to open 264 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,040 Speaker 1: her eyes as wide as she possibly could and and 265 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: keep them open, which really caused her a lot of 266 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: pain as the day war on. Yeah, each day of shooting. 267 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: By the end of it, she was really in a 268 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: lot of pain. Uh. And then all the screaming that 269 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: she did throughout uh, because it's pretty much what she 270 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: does as the bride really took such a toll on 271 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: her throat that she was left unable to speak for 272 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: several days after the shoot, and she was even prescribed 273 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: coding for the pain because it had really ravaged her 274 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: throat quite badly. So all of these tribulations aside as 275 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: often happens with really grueling movie set stories. She spoke 276 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: very fondly ever time on the set with Wale, and 277 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: for those two weeks of filming, she became just a 278 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: really indelible part of the cinema's history. Yeah. And as 279 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: an aside, I love when people first see Brida Frankenstein 280 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: and they have that charming revelation that it's actually somewhat 281 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: of a comedy. I don't know if you've ever sat 282 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: through it in a theater, but you have these moments. 283 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: There's a few characters, particularly at the beginning, that are 284 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: played very broadly and kind of for laughs, and it's 285 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: fun to kind of look around and watch people go 286 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: I thought I was seeing a classic horror film kind 287 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 1: and they're like, but it's funny, the horror comedy. There's 288 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: there's funny in it. I really love that film. It's 289 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: so beautiful and so fun to watch, and I love 290 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: the the play of contrasts. It's just gorgeous. But rather 291 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: than wax rapsodic about how much I love the bride 292 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: at Frankenstein, shall we get back to Elsa now? Of course? 293 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: So she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars twice 294 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: in her career. The first was in ninety nine for 295 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: her role Income to the Stable, and then again in 296 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: seven for Witness for the Prosecution, which was her last 297 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: picture with her husband. Yeah, she and Charles Lawton did 298 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: a lot of projects together. She tried to keep her 299 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: career separate from his, but there were times when it 300 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: would work out or they wanted to be together. Uh, 301 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: you know, because they really did are very deeply about 302 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: each other. Even though they had had this revelation early 303 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: on in their marriage that he was gay, they still 304 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: really seemed to build this life together and were very 305 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: devoted to one another, so sometimes they would try to 306 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: work on the same projects, and throughout this time, Elsa 307 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: would continue to sing and dance in cabaret style shows. 308 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: She really never lost her love of performing live theater, 309 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: and she would sometimes two are in tandem with Charles. 310 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: He did a couple of book tours, and she would 311 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: try to set up cabaret tours that would follow the 312 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: same path as him. They became American citizens in nineteen fifty, 313 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: after having gotten lots of criticism back home for staying 314 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: in the United States during World War Two. According to Elsa, 315 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: Charles would often tell her, I was in the First 316 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: World War in the trenches bayonetting men and getting gassed. 317 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: I think once in a life is enough. Yeah, I 318 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: could see not wanting to do that again. The parents 319 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: stayed married, As I said, they were really quite devoted 320 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: to each other until Charles died into member of nineteen 321 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: sixty two, and he had had a really prolonged battle 322 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:07,920 Speaker 1: with cancer. His lengthy treatments had really eaten a way 323 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: at the couple's finances, so when he died it wasn't 324 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: like she was left with a lot of money. She 325 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:16,719 Speaker 1: had a small allowance that they had arranged after a 326 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: lot of legal sorting of his assets. Uh and there 327 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: was a pretty significant art collection that had to be 328 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: dealt with. But she needed to fiscally or support her 329 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: ailing mother who was back in London, and she needed 330 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: to supplement her income, so she started working in television series. 331 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: Uh and at that point, the one that she was 332 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: working on was The John Prescith Show. And she would 333 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: send funds to her mother Biddy regularly, and she really 334 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,399 Speaker 1: often had throughout her life. Sadly, one of her cousins 335 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: thought that she had just abandoned her mother for Hollywood 336 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: and just wrote scathing letters accusing her of negligence. Yeah, 337 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: she uh prints she reprints those letters in her autobiography 338 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,719 Speaker 1: and they really are just super mean, really accusing her 339 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: of basically being of extremely shallow and low character and 340 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,679 Speaker 1: that she's just been, you know, completely entranced by Hollywood, 341 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: and and that clearly all she cares about is being 342 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,959 Speaker 1: famous and important and she doesn't have any regard for family, 343 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: and that it's basically like, you're a horrible person. You're 344 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,959 Speaker 1: so horrible and shallow, I hate you. And she just 345 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: keeps getting these letters. They're awful, but eventually, four years 346 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: after Charles died, Biddy also passed away. Uh. And it's 347 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: interesting because she did financially support her mother a great deal, 348 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: but also it was quite clear in all of her 349 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: writings that she never really liked her mother, though she 350 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: kept trying to, and she's, you know, pretty self reflective 351 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: about it. And it's like, I recognize that many people 352 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: say were a lot of light and that may be 353 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: a significant part of why we never really had a 354 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 1: meeting in the minds. Uh and her father had actually 355 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: died in the nineteen forties, but they weren't terribly close 356 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,119 Speaker 1: and it wasn't something she really dwelled upon. Um. I 357 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,640 Speaker 1: don't think she mentions it in her book until after 358 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: Biddy dies, where she's like, oh, yeah, Shamus had already 359 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 1: died like twenty years before that, and it's pretty glossy. 360 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: So even though she had this ongoing relationship with her 361 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:13,360 Speaker 1: parents in a very interesting childhood and early adulthood where 362 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,439 Speaker 1: she was still with them, she does seem to have 363 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: had some emotional separation from them, like she never she 364 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: didn't maintain a closeness with her family. Her career continued 365 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:28,199 Speaker 1: through the eighties and primarily involved appearances on TV, and 366 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 1: a lot of roles in Disney films. She played Katie 367 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: Nanna in the opening scenes of Mary Poppins Yeah, which 368 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 1: a lot of people don't recognize her. She's much older 369 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: at that point, and she is for anyone who has 370 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: only vague recollection of that film, she is the nanny 371 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: at the very beginning who loses the children and because 372 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: the children ran away from her in the park and 373 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: she's quitting her job the big Suffragette song number at 374 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 1: the beginning. So that was really like the latter part 375 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: of her career. That was those last two decades where 376 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: spent mostly doing small parts on television, UM and in 377 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: these Disney films. UH. But then as she was getting older, 378 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: of course, she suffered two strokes in and UH. In 379 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six she contracted bronchial pneumonia and she died 380 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: at the end of that year, on December six, when 381 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: she was eighty four. At the time, she wrote of 382 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: her life, it was felicitous to be born in nineteen 383 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: o two. Anyone born around that time he had a 384 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: jackpot era. That is, if they lived through the two wars, science, 385 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: medicine and the arts. In this century tumbled over each 386 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: other at such speed that our human span of three 387 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 1: score years and ten seems more like living two hundred years. Yeah, 388 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: she was pretty, uh, kind of turned on by the 389 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: development of of culture and science and how quickly she 390 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 1: was watching technology develop and industry change. Uh. When it 391 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: came to talking about the Bride later in her life, 392 00:21:57,240 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 1: Lanchester once wrote that the quickest way to make her 393 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: shut up was to ask her about the Bride of Frankenstein, 394 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: because she was a very talkative and loquacious woman. And 395 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: in her books she says to this day, nine out 396 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: of ten photographs I get in the mail for autographing 397 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,400 Speaker 1: or of the bride, I'm grateful for the Bride of Frankenstein. 398 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 1: It became a sort of trademark for me. But such 399 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 1: trademarks can cause typecasting and boomerang for some actors. Such 400 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: actors work all the time, some like it, some grumble. 401 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: Perhaps even more grateful for her turn in Frankenstein's sequel 402 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: are fans of horror and classic cinema. There's this just 403 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 1: instantly recognizable image of the bride, and that has been 404 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:41,360 Speaker 1: all over all kinds of memorabilia. It's been made into dolls. 405 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,200 Speaker 1: This year. It's part of a marketing campaign for for 406 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: Matt Cosmetics based around a line of products develops with 407 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: developed with effects artists Rick Baker, And like that clip 408 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:56,240 Speaker 1: of her screaming, it's just everywhere it is. It's it 409 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 1: shows up in all kinds of pop culture references. It's 410 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: been mimt eyes, It'll show up in your Facebook feed periodically. 411 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: It really is quite a h an iconic to the 412 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: point that people who have never ever seen that movie, 413 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: and a lot of people haven't because it is quite 414 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: old and you don't always get to screenings, but it's, uh, 415 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 1: everybody knows that it's the Bride of Frankenstein without I 416 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: can't think of anybody who's ever seen it and gone, 417 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: what's that? Um, it's just instantly knowable. Uh. I remember 418 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: wanting to dress as her for Halloween one time when 419 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: I was a child, and I can't remember if I 420 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: actually got to do it or not. Like I remember 421 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: my mom being like that hair is the hair is 422 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,200 Speaker 1: always what holds people back because I I've always had 423 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,879 Speaker 1: extremely fine hair. I was like, that is not ever 424 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: going to take on your head well in wigs or 425 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: even tricky, you know. I don't know if the legs 426 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,119 Speaker 1: don't always work right. I don't know if they had 427 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: Brad Frankenstein wigs for seven years the early eighties. I 428 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: guess that was early he might. Uh. There is also 429 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: a fan driven effort underway at the moment to get 430 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: the Motion Picture and Television Fund, which is the MPTF 431 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:14,880 Speaker 1: to reprint else's autobiography. Um, if you're interested in investigating 432 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: that cause or adding your voice to it, you can 433 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: google reprint Elsa and you'll get to all the pertinent 434 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,359 Speaker 1: sites and information. That effort is also on Facebook at 435 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: facebook dot com slash reprint Elsa. And for me, it 436 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: was one of those things that when I found out 437 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: that people were trying to get reprinted, I was in 438 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: in a minute because she really is uh so fun 439 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,719 Speaker 1: to read, even though and she knew so many interesting 440 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,120 Speaker 1: people throughout her life, and she recalls with a great 441 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: deal of clarity some of these really fascinating interactions. Uh, 442 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: it's just a fun read even if you weren't interested 443 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,479 Speaker 1: in Elsa Lanchester. I think her wit uh makes the 444 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: story of her life very fun and kind of enjoyable. Uh. 445 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 1: It is dense, though it's a lot of Uh, it's 446 00:24:58,359 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: a lot of book. I mean, it's not like a 447 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 1: fluffy read. There's a lot of interesting information there. Do 448 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: you have some listener mail for ends? I do, indeed, 449 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: and uh I did not check with this listener on pronunciation. 450 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,920 Speaker 1: I don't know if his name is Josiah or Josiah, 451 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: because I know people that have done in both ways. 452 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: And he says, first off, let me say I love 453 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: the show. I had a decent amount of physics in college, 454 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: and I thought I may be able to shed some 455 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: light on the Vixen radar system and how it worked. 456 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: He's referring to the Louis Alpharez podcast. The basic principle 457 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: is that, in general, the closer you are to a 458 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,439 Speaker 1: radio wave transmission, the stronger the signal you will receive. 459 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: So as an airplane approached a U boat, each successive 460 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: transmission of radio waves a ping, if you will, would 461 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:42,679 Speaker 1: be stronger. Alvarez and company brilliantly designed a system that, 462 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: after initially detecting a submarine, would reduce the power of 463 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: each successive ping by a certain ratio, so while the 464 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 1: plane was actually getting closer and closer, the strength of 465 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,439 Speaker 1: the radar transmission would actually get weaker, making it appear 466 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: as though it's going away from the target boat that 467 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: my athematical complications arise from the fact that the intensity 468 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,159 Speaker 1: of a wave is inversely proportional to the square of 469 00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 1: its radius. I did not fact check that of just 470 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: trusting you um in a simple example, ignoring some of 471 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: the more complicated behavior of waves. If you have the 472 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 1: distance between yourself and the target, reducing your radio power 473 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: to one quarter of its original strength will make you 474 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: appear stationary. The signal reaching the target will be the 475 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,199 Speaker 1: same strength, even though you are much closer. Taking this 476 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,879 Speaker 1: a step further, have the distance and reduce ratio power 477 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: by an eighth, and you will in effect appear to 478 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: be twice as far away. A slightly better explanation, he says, 479 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: would involve a whiteboard. But maybe this will help a little. Uh, 480 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: it doesn't make sense mathematically well. And I was hampered 481 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: a little bit and doing some of the research for 482 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: that episode because a lot of what I was reading 483 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 1: was definitely written for other physicist And when I started 484 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: trying to look up how to better explain multiple things 485 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,840 Speaker 1: in the episode, there were there were some things that 486 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 1: I was able to come up with, like a lay 487 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: person's explanation for pretty quickly, and then others where I 488 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: just kept finding densely tynical explanations that were beyond my 489 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: ability to understand. So I am super happy that we 490 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: got a listener's thoughts on It was a really good 491 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: way to explain it, because I did not have time 492 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: to read an entire manual on Radar long. And I know, uh, 493 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: I and probably many other people, I really love science, 494 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 1: but I do get kind of watted up in a 495 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,439 Speaker 1: little confused sometimes by the mathematics involved, and uh, some 496 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 1: of the more esoteric concepts I have to really kind 497 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:39,920 Speaker 1: of fight my way in to get a handle on them. 498 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: So it's nice when it's laid out so nicely in uh, 499 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: normal people speak. So if you would like to write 500 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: to us, you can do so at History Podcasts at 501 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: Discovery dot com, or you can visit us on Facebook 502 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: dot com slash history class stuff. We're on Twitter at 503 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: missed in History. You can also find us on Pinterest 504 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: in anyway all the things. If you would like to 505 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,679 Speaker 1: learn more about what we've talked about today, you can 506 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: go to our website and type in for Frankenstein in 507 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: the search bar, and you will get a number of 508 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:15,119 Speaker 1: different things, including how Frankenstein's Monster Works, and uh another 509 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: one called quiz called how well do you know Frankenstein's Monster? 510 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: It was very, very fun. How Frankenstein's Monster Works was 511 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 1: written by Robert Lamb who's on Stuff to bow your Mind, 512 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: and it's a really cool examination of literally how are 513 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: reanimated human that has been pieced together could scientifically work. 514 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: There's really fun stuff in it. I highly recommend it. 515 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,240 Speaker 1: If you'd looks learn more about that or anything else 516 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: you can think of, you should do that at our website, 517 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: which is how Stuff Works dot com. But more on 518 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics because it has to 519 00:28:50,600 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: works dot com. 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