Gods and Monsters (1998)
Directed by Bill Condon
It's 1957, and James Whale's heyday as the director of "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man" is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past. When his dour housekeeper, Hannah, hires a handsome young gardener, the flamboyant director and simple yard man develop an unlikely friendship, which will change them forever.
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Although he did a handful of other intelligent films, he is remembered for the witty, leisurely horror classics Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (Claude Rainss 1933 starring début) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
For that matter, there was no housekeeper named Hannah (Oscar-nominated Lynne Redgrave, who was robbed that year by the Academy), but both probably are loose fits for Whale’s last lover and character actress Una O’Connor, who had remained Whale’s friend since The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
Whale (1889-1957) directed some 21 films, but is best remembered for seven made between 1931 and 1939: "Frankenstein," "The Old Dark House," "The Invisible Man," " Bride of Frankenstein ," "Show Boat," "The Great Garrick" and " The Man in the Iron Mask."
Adapted from the book "Father of Frankenstein" by Christopher Bram, the new movie Gods and Monsters tells the story of film director James Whale, who completed 21 movies in Hollywood but will forever be remembered for only four: Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
He lifts scenes from these and Whale's other movies (which also include "The Invisible Man" and the 1936 version of "Show Boat") for dream sequences and he draws a parallel between Frankenstein's monster and a hunky, uncultured yard man named Clay (Brendan Fraser), with whom Whale forms an uneasy, esoteric bond.
"Gods and Monsters" is very loosely based on the last days of 1930s film director James Whale (played, in the best performance of his screen career, by Ian McKellen), an un-closeted homosexual who was responsible for directing such memorably off-kilter films as "Frankenstein," "The Bride of Frankenstein," "Show Boat," and "The Invisible Man."
In telling Whale's story, he lifts from his subject's distinctive directorial tack in much the same way Tim Burton did in "Ed Wood," almost as if the movie were a Whale autobiography.
I will confess to experiencing flashbacks to Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters, Lucky McKee’s May, and other riffs on the story while I was watching this…