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Who really said it

Alone bad. Friend good

Screenplay and adaptation by William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston Hurlbut: screenplay; Hurlbut and Balderston: story/adaptation
Verified In copyright

Bride of Frankenstein (1935), the Monster (Boris Karloff). The words match apart from punctuation; they belong to the sequel rather than the 1931 film.

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Verified quote & credit

“Alone bad. Friend good” — William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Rights holders in the 1935 motion picture and any underlying work). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston — Hurlbut: screenplay; Hurlbut and Balderston: story/adaptation. Theme: "Alone bad. Friend good". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Alone bad. Friend good". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Documented source
Bride of Frankenstein
Date
1935

Alone: bad. Friend: good!

A short excerpt from the linked source, not a replacement for the full quotation above.

Read the documented evidence

How we verified this

  • The transcription supplies the speaker and words in the film. Read the source
  • The production account identifies the film and its credited writers. Read the source
In copyright

This screen dialogue is from a 1935 film and remains copyrighted in the United States; quotation for identification does not grant broader reuse rights.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Friendship Kindness

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Film transcriptionen.wikiquote.org

Read the evidence used here; the scope of the claim is stated in the provenance trail.
Publication and creditsen.wikipedia.org

Read the evidence used here; the scope of the claim is stated in the provenance trail.

The author

About William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston

William Hurlbut and John L. Balderston

Hurlbut: screenplay; Hurlbut and Balderston: story/adaptation

William Hurlbut wrote the screenplay. Hurlbut and John L. Balderston receive story/adaptation credit; the Monster is a fictional speaker performed by Boris Karloff.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Bride of Frankenstein. 1935. Evidence and bibliographical details reproduced in the linked source; no independent access to an original edition is claimed unless stated.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Alone bad. Friend good’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/alone-bad-friend-good/

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