The marvelous classic Universal horror film Bride of Frankenstein was on TCM again recently, and when I saw it again, the scene with the blind man struck me in a different way than it ever has before. You see, in the scene with the blind hermit, which is, I'm sure, intended to be sweet, the blind man teaches the Frankenstein monster to smoke, and he quickly becomes an enthusiastic smoker and (presumably) addict.* And then some hunters pass through the area, knock on the door, open it, and find the blind man and the monster. Well, a struggle ensues, and the blind hermit's house is set on fire and burns to the ground, and as he is led away by the hunters to safety, he says to them: "Oh my friends, why do you do this thing?" (or something like that). And immediately I thought: "Because you're a smoker! You deserve it for promoting smoking! You're the real monster in this movie, you cad, you!" (Or at least, that's what it seems like nowadays with all the anti-smoking bullying that's been going on lately. I mean, it's like you can't even try to get everyone addicted to smoking anymore without making someone mad at you, like maybe some undead creature.)
* See what I mean? (<The part from the beginning of the clip to 0:10 seconds in.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7BO_hqe_q0
(Hey, maybe if they legalize marijuana, someone can use the monster saying: "Smoke, good!" in a commercial for some specific brand of dope, and call it "Green Frankenstein". Yes, "Green Frankenstein" weed will resurrect you from the dead like a bolt from the blue!)
BTW: I don't know anyone who enjoyed smoking the first time nearly so much as the Frankenstein monster does here. I think it generally makes everyone feel sick from the first exposure to nicotine, but I guess not if you're cobbled together from different dead bodies by a mad scientist, huh? (Maybe the dead bodies he's made out of used to smoke and that's why he's used to it already? And maybe he was just having a "nic fit" from his body parts' previous addiction to cigarettes, and that's why he was irascible & lethal and killed people?)
