Plot
The last days of Frankenstein director James Whale are explored.
Release Year: 1998
Rating: 7.5/10 (17,836 voted)
Critic's Score: 74/100
Director:
Bill Condon
Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave
Storyline The story of
Writers: Christopher Bram, Bill Condon
Cast: Ian McKellen
-
James Whale
Brendan Fraser
-
Clayton Boone
Lynn Redgrave
-
Hanna
Lolita Davidovich
-
Betty
David Dukes
-
David Lewis
Kevin J. O'Connor
-
Harry
Mark Kiely
-
Dwight
Jack Plotnick
-
Edmund Kay
Rosalind Ayres
-
Elsa Lanchester
Jack Betts
-
Boris Karloff
Matt McKenzie
-
Colin Clive
Todd Babcock
-
Leonard Barnett
Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy
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Princess Margaret
Brandon Kleyla
-
Young Whale
Pamela Salem
-
Sarah Whale
Filming Locations: Arden Villa - 1145 Arden Road, Pasadena, California, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $3,500,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $75,508
(USA)
(8 November 1998)
(6 Screens)
Gross: $6,390,032
(USA)
(23 May 1999)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
There are five original James Whale drawings in this film.
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
The Eagle Globe and Anchor on Clay's lighter at the top of the movie is backwards.
Quotes: Clayton Boone:
You must think the whole world is queer.
User Review
And the Oscar in 1998 went to....who???
Rating: 9/10
Admittedly, I am a sucker for films about Hollywood. From "Sunset
Boulevard" to "The Bad and the Beautiful" and even "The Carpetbaggers,"
watching a film about movies is always a pleasure, guilty or otherwise.
"Gods and Monsters" can be added to that short list. The semi-fictionalized
story of director James Whale's last days is a melancholy tale of an
intelligent, creative mind that is beginning to fail and Whale's desperate
fear of that mental failure. He sees in the handsome hulking form of his
gardener an individual that reminds him of his most famous film creation,
Frankenstein's monster, and he tries to reach out to him and offer the
friendship that his film creation was denied. However, his mind is swimming
in and out of fantasy, memory, and reality, and his gesture initially
confuses the gardener, who sees it only as a sexual advance. In one of the
Motion Picture Academy's most bewildering choices, the Best Actor Oscar for
1998 went to an Italian comic who has not been heard from since instead of
to the brilliant Ian McKellan in what is arguably his finest film role as
James Whale. Lynn Redgrave is funny and touching as his housekeeper, and
Brendan Fraser, an adventurous actor who does not shy away from stretching
his abilities, has yet to find a better role than that of Clayton Boone, the
gardener. Beautifully written and directed by Bill Condon, the film is more
than just an homage to old Hollywood. "Gods and Monsters" echoes some of
the themes of "Sunset Boulevard" in its portrayal of a Hollywood veteran,
who has been banished and forgotten by the industry and has retreated into a
private world of his own making where he still directs the scenes.
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