Fictional speculation, from the Christopher Bram novel Father of Frankenstein, on the final days of the ostracized Hollywood director James Whale, his incomplete recovery from stroke, his haunted memories of World War I, his hankering for his well-built gardener ("You have the most architectural skull"), his suicide in his swimming pool. It rehashes in word and in picture his humble beginnings and his career highlights (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein -- "I much prefer," he is made to say, "The Invisible Man and Show Boat"), and in doing so it spearheads a commendable campaign for increased name recognition. The campaign would have been still more commendable had it been less talky, static, lethargic. With Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave; written and directed by Bill Condon. (1998) — Duncan Shepherd
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