The Man

The 1998 film Gods and Monsters was a fantasia on the last few months of James Whale's life. Following are my impressions of the film on the occasion of its release on home video.

This article was originally published on 6/8/1999.

For now, here are my first impressions of the GODS AND MONSTERS DVD from Universal Home Video. If I'm lucky in the next few weeks I hope to have time to post some other new material.

Today I received the GODS AND MONSTERS COLLECTOR'S EDITION DVD. The dual-layer DVD contains the 1h46m film in an anamorphic transfer at 2.35:1. The Dolby Surround audio is supported with a DVD caption track. No additional language or text tracks are available, nor are traditional line-21 captions. Supplemental features include a well-designed menu system, the Lion's Gate theatrical trailer, Production Notes and Cast & Filmmaker's Bios, a documentary entitled THE WORLD OF GODS AND MONSTERS: A JOURNEY WITH JAMES WHALE, and best of all a running commentary by director Bill Condon. GODS AND MONSTERS represents the first Whale-related material to appear on the DVD format.

GODS AND MONSTERS is a terrific film. I find it hard to write any critical appraisal of it because (A) so much has been written already that I could scarcely add more, and (B) this film is the closest I will ever get to actually meeting my hero in the flesh. I can summarize my appraisal briefly. Sir Ian is the best James Whale one could hope for (one only questions the voice.) The relationship between Whale and Boone is engagingly told and serves the dual purpose of exposing Whale's anxieties and giving him the notion of a way out of his increasingly unbearable existence. The back story with Fraser and Davidovich is interesting and entertaining as well. The evocation of the BRIDE set is almost breathtaking for a genre fan. It really couldn't have been done any better. Arthur Dignam is fruitier than Ernest Thesiger, a feat which I didn't think possible. It's not a strictly authentic portrayal, but it captures the actor's spirit nonetheless. Jack Betts as Boris Karloff (his screen credit bears a "tm" logo) isn't given much to do, but he looks great and it's nice to finally see the actor portrayed in a fiction film. (Who would have thought Lugosi would beat Karloff as the first of the two to be portrayed on screen?) The finale is almost painfully moving: the ghost of the long-dead lover beckoning him to carry out the direction of his final scene.

My impression of Whale has always been that he loved to be in control, and that he created his own world when the world around him failed him (in Dudley, in the Holzminden POW camp, in the world of the London theatre, at Universal, retirement from the screen, the European holiday, the pool party years, and finally the ultimate act of self-destiny.) He was truly a self-made man, and the film evokes this quality fabulously.

The supplemental documentary was written and directed by Hollywood historian extraordinaire David Skal. Its primary purpose is as a promotional, behind-the-scenes look at the making of GODS AND MONSTERS; James Whale's life and work is addressed, but in an secondary manner understandable considering the purpose of this work as a promotion for the film.

Onscreen speakers include FATHER OF FRANKENSTEIN author Christopher Bram, GODS AND MONSTERS producer Clive Barker, actors Sir Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, and Lynn Redgrave, screenwriter and director Bill Condon, plus Whale contemporaries Curtis Harrington and Gloria Stuart. The participants speak both about GODS AND MONSTERS and Whale's life and work. Whale's stage career is summarized in a few sentences but capped with a nice still from the London production of Journey's End which I had not seen before. Motion footage of Whale's films is limited to brief clips from the theatrical trailers of FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE and a few animated stills. Sadly, the non-horror films are addressed rather briefly with one still each from SHOWBOAT, THE GREAT GARRICK and MAN IN THE IRON MASK. Publicity photos and snapshots are used to illustrate the speakers' comments.

All the speakers generally have interesting comments about the film and about Whale. The element of Whale's art that seems to have made the greatest impression is what several participants refer to as his "gallows humor", which took root in his days at Holzminden. Gloria Stuart's remarks are largely repeats of her commentary on THE OLD DARK HOUSE, but it is nice to see as well as hear her this lovely actress deliver them. One precious anecdote I don't recall hearing before involves Stuart's last visit with Whale years after they worked on the trio of films they made together.

I frankly had higher hopes for the documentary (I was desperately wishing for extensive clips of the lesser-known films) but it serves its purpose well and has some gems for the Whale enthusiast as well as good background for more casual observers.

The commentary track on the other hand is marvelous and everything I could have hoped for. Bill Condon gives an informal, anecdotal talk about making the film but also a nicely rounded description of James Whale and his career. Technically, the commentary appears to run slightly behind the image onscreen, leading to a few confusing moments when Condon making a shot-specific comment.

Some of Condon's topics include:

the origins of the film as an aborted documentary
difficulties in getting financing; overcoming the inevitable comparisons of the project with ED WOOD (which was in the midst of bombing at the boxoffice)
Sir Ian's enthusiastic promotion
material that was scripted but not shot due to lack of time and budget (the film was budgeted for 21 days and $3 million). The CAMILLE premiere in FATHER OF FRANKENSTEIN was in the script but had to be cut.
the thought behind the art direction; stereotypical and non-stereotypical home decor at Amalfi drive; recreating Whale's studio based on his paintings
the trouble getting a national release after the Sundance premiere
the myth of Whale's death; Condon hopes his film will permanently dispel the Kenneth Anger hogwash
the myth of making Whale into a gay martyr; the popular misbelief that he lost his career over his homosexuality
rhapsodizing (jusitifiably) over the cast of GODS AND MONSTERS -- Sir Ian, Fraser, and Redgrave of course, but also Arthur Dignam (he did the picture as a favor to Condon), Rosalind Ayres, and even Matt McKenzie (portraying Colin Clive in the BRIDE flashback sequence).
DP Stephen M. Katz' color and 'scope photography (Super35 actually) were deliberate choices: Condon wanted to evoke 1950s filmmaking in the body of the film while suggesting Academy ratio in the flashbacks by dropping the light levels off at the edges of the frame
Carter Burwell's score; Condon questioned some of his initial choices but found later he was right
Fraser's reluctance to appear nude at the climax
how Jack Betts' makeup was designed from a life mask of Karloff.
The home representing George Cukor's mansion is an oft-used Hollywood location which appeared in DUCK SOUP among other films; Rosalind Ayers pointed out that in England, swans (like those swimming in Cukor's pond) are property of the Queen. Condon didn't point out yet another relation of swans to the subject at hand: Elsa Lanchester said she patterned the Bride's "hiss" after the swans in Hyde park.

GODS AND MONSTERS the film and the COLLECTOR'S EDITION DVD are always going to hold a special place in the hearts of Whale fans for giving us the gift of a living, moving portrait of our hero, for raising awareness of his life and work, and for amplifying his stature among the pantheon of cinema legends of the past.

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