Sir Ian McKellen as British director James Whale in 'Gods and Monsters' (1998)
Here's a little background information on British director, stage actor and painter James Whale, who the horror genre owes several debts of gratitude for his excellent work for Universal Pictures and other studios. Whale lent his flamboyant personality and insightful interpretation to such classics as FRANKENSTEIN (1931), THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932), THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), his masterpiece; and the first sound version of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's SHOW BOAT (1936). His life and career, as well as his mysterious "end," were dramatized in the film GODS AND MONSTERS (1998). In it, Whale was played by the equally formidable Ian McKellen. Along with a fabulous performance by Lynn Redgrave as Hanna, his insistent housemaid, the film features Brendan Fraser (not so marvelous) as his handsome gardener Clayton Boone, Lolita Davidovich, David Dukes and Rosalind Ayres as Elsa Lanchester. An early icon of gay culture, Whale's lifeless body was found floating in his swimming pool, his death never fully explained. The film hints at a possible suicide. McKellen's take on Whale as a washed-up old "flame" is spot-on all the way. But the tired old device of interjecting biographical data via the lazy artifice of someone - in this case, a local university student working on his PhD of Hammer Horror Films - interviewing the lead character about his life and experience is dead on arrival. Whale's interest in his pretty boy gardener is a key diversion. However, Fraser plays him as if he wandered in from another movie entirely. Still highly recommended for McKellen and Redgrave's cantankerous yet understated rapport.
Copyright (c) 2021 by Josmar F. Lopes
