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All Movie Info
Directed By
Bill Condon
Written By:
Bill Condon
Cast:
Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, David Dukes, Kevin J. O'Connor, Brandon Kleyla, Jack Plotnick, Rosalind Ayres, Arthur Dignam, Jack Betts, Martin Ferrero
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Gods and Monsters (1998)
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Movie Review by Jarrod 
August 24th, 2007
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'Gods and Monsters' tells the story of James Whale, the British director of the horror classics Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, as well as the sci-fi masterpiece The Invisible Man, and the lesser known works The Old Dark House and the musical Show Boat. Whale was homosexual, a rather famous fact now, but not-so-famous then, at the height of his career, and this film suggests that his homosexuality is what ultimately spelled the end of his Hollywood career. This is maybe why Rock Hudson chose to disguise his sexual orientation until the day he died. Whale is played by Ian McKellen, an English actor, also gay, and he fits comfortably into Whale's shoes, perhaps understanding the man's pain, internal agony, fear of stigmatization, though McKellen is fortunate to live in a more tolerant society, than the one that existed in the 1930s.
Whale reminisces about his past, recalling the iconic creatures he helped to create, the lumbering Boris Karloff, and the exotic and strangely beautiful Elsa Lanchester, he also has fond memories of former lovers, and he engages in conversations with his new gardener, the buff young Clay Boone (Fraser), who is straight, doesn't know Whale is gay, but views him much like a father, someone who takes an interest in him, but maybe not for the reasons he thinks. Lynn Redgrave is fantastic as Whale's maid, Hanna, who provides comic relief, and while she cares deeply for Whale, she harbors resentful disapproval of his homosexuality. One great scene has Whale taking Clay to a party thrown by George Cukor (who directed My Fair Lady and many other films), where he runs into old friends and acquaintances.
Whale tries to make a move on Clay, who reacts rather violently, but the old man seems like he wants to die, no longer having any reason to live. McKellen is superb, and so is Brendan Fraser, in the type of serious, dramatic role one might not be used to seeing him in, after George of the Jungle, Encino Man, Bedazzled, and Dudley Do-Right. The movie offers some insight into the film making process, or at least how it was 70 years ago, in the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood. In a way, it reminded me of Sunset Boulevard, with parallels between Whale and Norma Desmond, the faded starlet who still believes she can make a comeback, but Whale doesn't seem concerned with a comeback, but he is one of many relics of the movie industry, tossed aside by Hollywood after he had outlived his usefulness, or box office potential.
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