1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Hey everybody. Tracy here with news about some live appearances 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: we have coming up. Saturday July seven, I will be 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: at History Camp Boston, where I will be part of 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: the History Podcaster panel. And then the next day, Sunday, 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: July eight, at two pm, Holly and I both will 6 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: be doing a live podcast at Adams National Historical Park 7 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: in Quincy, Massachusetts, where our show will be John Quincy 8 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: and Luisa Catherine Adams Abroad. This is an outdoor show 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: and it will happen rain or shine, and we're coming 10 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: back to Convention Days in Seneca Falls, New York. Our 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: show is at four pm on Saturday, July twenty one 12 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: in the historic Wesleyan Chapel. You can get more information 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: about all of these shows with links to buy tickets 14 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,279 Speaker 1: where applicable at missed in History dot Com. Click on 15 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: live shows in the menu. Welcome to steph you missed 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: in History class from how Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry and I'm 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson. Tracy, I have been kind of working 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: through my list, as you may have noted. I think 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: we've both been doing some of that lately. Yeah, this 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: is another episode that has been on my list for 22 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: a very long time, and originally I thought I might 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: use it as one of our October Halloween programming episodes, 24 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: but I changed my mind, and I will explain why 25 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: I changed my mind at the end of this episode. 26 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: We are talking today about the film director James Whale, 27 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: who created such iconic imagery in the early half of 28 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, particularly the very early part of the 29 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: twenty century, that images of the characters from his films 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: are still found everywhere. He is one of the main 31 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: reasons that Universal Pictures became synonymous with the horror genre, 32 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: but his interests as a creator were far wider than 33 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: simply make being gothic spook stories. If you've seen the 34 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: movie Gods and Monsters with Sir Ian McKellen, which in 35 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: my mind is a recent movie but in reality came 36 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: out twenty years ago, you'll you'll already know some things 37 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: about the end of his life, which do include him 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: taking his own life. So if that's a troubling spot 39 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: for you, then just be aware. He yeah. Also, just 40 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: heads up, we don't really talk about that particularly particular film. 41 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: It is based on his life, but it is a 42 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: fictionalized bioping. There there are entire people that didn't exist 43 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: in the real world correct that we're made up as 44 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: as um story devices to kind of talk about different 45 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: parts of his life. But it's a wonderful film and 46 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: I highly recommended. I think Brandan Fraser is amazing in it, 47 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: as well as sir Ian McKellen. But it's definitely not 48 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: when you walk away from going I learned so much 49 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: about James Whale, because those may not be correct now 50 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: that came out. I think during a time when I 51 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: was working a kind of a weird schedule and I 52 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: saw it in the daytime, midweek, and I was in 53 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: a theater alone, and I left just feeling very devastated. 54 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: Oh that sounds perfect. It kind of was, But you know, 55 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,640 Speaker 1: I'm like a wallower, like I like a good dour 56 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: scenario to watch kind of a dark film. So to me, 57 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: that sounds perfect. But so to get to his actual 58 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: life story. He was born on July twenty eight, eighty nine, 59 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: large working class family and Dudley worce to Share in 60 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: the UK. His father, William worked at a blast furnace 61 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: and his mother, Sarah Peters Whale, came from a mining family. 62 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: The number of siblings that he had varies depending on 63 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: the source. The documentation wasn't very good. He did have 64 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: some siblings for sure, though, and the family lived in 65 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: a small fore room flat. Yeah, we there are six documented. 66 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: There may have been additional siblings, we don't know. James 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: initially attended school at the Dudley Bluecoach School, but he 68 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: didn't complete his education in there. The family needed income, 69 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: so young James, like his two older brothers before him, 70 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: started working at an early age to contribute. He worked 71 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: as a cobbler and a sign letterer, and he squirreled 72 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: away a little bit of money here and there to 73 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: pay for night classes at the Dudley School of Arts. 74 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: He eventually switched to a labor job, working in sheet metal, 75 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: despite being poorly suited for physical work, because it paid 76 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: better and it offered more hope that he would actually 77 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: be able to pay for a complete education. In nineteen fourteen, 78 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: James Whale was swept up into World War One, and 79 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: at first he just did not have any interest and 80 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: enlisting in staid. He volunteered at the y m c A, 81 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: which offered a lot of support services to the military. 82 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: In October of nineteen fifteen, though he finally did enlist 83 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: he was convinced that a draft was coming anyway. Yeah, 84 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: there was definitely some animosity towards young men who went 85 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: the route he did where he opted to do this 86 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: volunteer work instead, so that may have also played to 87 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: part that he was getting a lot of social pressure. 88 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: He went through officer training and he became part of 89 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: the Worcestershire Regiment in nineteen sixteen. In nineteen seventeen, Wales 90 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: was involved in the Flanders Campaign when he was taken 91 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: prisoner and he was moved to Holdzmanden in Germany. The 92 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: next fifteen months, basically the remainder of the war were 93 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: spent as a pow but Wale put his creativity to 94 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: use during that time. He actually staged plays for the camp, 95 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: in which both captors and prisoners were the audience, and 96 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: he did a great deal of drawing. Early on in 97 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: his imprisonment, a group of twenty five of his fellow 98 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: Brits mounted an escape from Holzmanden, but Wale was too 99 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: timid to join them. Wales's theatrical efforts didn't end when 100 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: the war did. When he went back to England, he 101 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: pursued a full time stage career. This was a decision 102 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: he came to based on his experience at the Camp, 103 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: where he fell in love with the stage. Despite the 104 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: unusual circumstances that he was performing in immediately after the war, 105 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: or Whales also sold a couple of cartoons for publication 106 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: he had continued drawing, but despite that seemingly auspicious start, 107 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: he didn't get any further than that with his cartoons. 108 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: He decided to move from the increasingly costly London to 109 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: Birmingham and he started working for the Birmingham Repertory Company. 110 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: Although he was working for the theater without pay for 111 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: a while before he was hired on as more than 112 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: a volunteer, and as his theatrical career progressed, he worked 113 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: with a number of people who would later become quite famous, 114 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: for example, Noel Coward, Elsa Lanchester, of course, who his 115 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: his story gets tied to quite closely, and John Gielgud, 116 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: among others. And it was during this time that he 117 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: also met costume and set designer Doris Zenkison. Doris was 118 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: dramatic and artistic, and James Husi called whale Bone, found 119 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: her just fascinating. The two of them became engaged ine 120 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: and they became the couple in the art scene. They tangled, 121 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,160 Speaker 1: they went to clubs, they seemed to comp them in 122 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: each other just perfectly. But they broke up in This 123 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: is really the last time that Whale would appear to 124 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: be a straight man, But he spoke really highly and 125 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: lovingly of Doris for the rest of his life. As 126 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: for Doris, she went on to marry an executive at 127 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: Johnny Walker Whiskey not long after they split up. Yeah, 128 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: In interviews with people who knew him for the rest 129 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: of his life, they all talked like, I really do 130 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: think he was in love with her in some way, 131 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: even though they also acknowledged that they believed that he 132 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: knew at that point that he was not a straight man, 133 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: but he just had this deep affinity that carried on 134 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: pretty much for the rest of his life for her. 135 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: James Whale was also pretty unique in the time and 136 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: place that he lived, and that he was living fairly 137 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: openly as a gay man in the nineteen twenties. Uh, 138 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: most of his colleagues knew that this was the case. 139 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: It was kind of one of those things that was 140 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: not spoken about a lot, but was common knowledge and 141 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: he did nothing to dissuade anyone from the king it. 142 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: And this is interesting because you may recall from previous 143 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: episodes of this podcast that homosexuality was illegal in England 144 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: until nineteen sixty seven. Yeah, everybody people describe it from 145 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: the industry at the time. It's sort of like an 146 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: open secret, where like they weren't running around yelling about it, 147 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: but everyone knew. Yeah. Acting had really drawn Whale to 148 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: the stage, but he also worked in other roles, including 149 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: in stage management. But it was as a director that 150 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: he truly made a name for himself. On June twelfthree, 151 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: a one act play called Father Noah opened at the 152 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: Strand Theater. This was wales directorial debut. Father Noah didn't 153 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:44,960 Speaker 1: get a lot of attention or accolades, but it was 154 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: the first step in some more leadership roles within the 155 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: theater and then in nive he joined the Oxford Players, 156 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: which was a small, underfunded company. The nature of the 157 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: group meant that Whale once again worked in a variety 158 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: of roles on any given production. Act ding, set design, 159 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: and assistant directing all landed on his plate. As a 160 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: theatrical director, Wale got a lot of accolades when he 161 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: staged a play called Journeys End in Night. The play 162 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: depicted a British infantry dug out during World War One 163 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: over the course of four days while they awaited a 164 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: German attack. The original star of the play was twenty 165 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,319 Speaker 1: one year old Laurence Olivier, although when the production became 166 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: so successful that they had to move on to a 167 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: bigger venue, another actor stepped into the role. The following year, 168 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: the critically acclaimed play moved across the Atlantic for a 169 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: Broadway run, and that New York engagement actually proved pivotal 170 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: in James Whale's career. In the late nineteen twenties, something 171 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: big was happening in the film industry. That was talkies. 172 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: Actors couldn't rely just on their physical characterizations to carry 173 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: a motion picture. There was a very real need in 174 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: Hollywood for coaches who could help the stars of silent 175 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: films make the transition to talkies. In It was in 176 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: that capacity that James Whale made his way to Los 177 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: Angeles from New York. Wale worked as a dialogue director 178 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: for Paramount Pictures, and then he was hired onto the 179 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:15,439 Speaker 1: high profile film Hell's Angel starring Geene Harlow, the actress 180 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: was still quite green and uncertain of herself at the time, 181 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: and in a scene in which she was supposed to 182 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: seduce one of her male co stars, she asked Whale 183 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: for instruction on exactly what to do, to which he replied, quote, 184 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: my dear girl, I can tell you how to be 185 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: an actress, but I cannot tell you how to be 186 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: a woman. But starting a film career was not the 187 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,959 Speaker 1: only thing that significantly changed for Whale. While working in Hollywood, 188 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: he also met a story assistant named David Lewis. At 189 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: the time, Whale was forty one and Louis was, and 190 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: the younger man was not really impressed by the Englishman. 191 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: Whale found Louis captivating, though, and over time the two 192 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: men struck up a friendship, which became a romantic relationship. 193 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: Whale and Lewis spent the next two decades together as 194 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: a couple. And we're going to get into James Whale's 195 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: career as a film director in just a moment, But 196 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: first we're going to pause for a little sponsor break. 197 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,559 Speaker 1: We were just talking about nine before we cut to break. 198 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: And Whale also directed his first feature film in nineteen 199 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: thirty that was the adaptation of his successful stage play 200 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,839 Speaker 1: Journey's End. It starred Colin Clive. That was the actor 201 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: who had replaced Olivier on the London stage and who 202 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: collaborated with James Whale many more times throughout his career. 203 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: After Journey's End made it successful transition to the screen, 204 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: James Whale was signed to a contract at Universal Studios 205 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: by studio head Carl Lemley Jr. Wales's first assignment under 206 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: this new contract was Waterloo Bridge, which was another adaptation 207 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: of a stage play. Like Journey's End, this film was 208 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: set during World War One. It focuses on a young 209 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: American woman in London during the conflict who has to 210 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: turn to x work to make money. Her life becomes 211 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: entwined with a convalescent soldier from the Canadian Army, and 212 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 1: then the plot centers around the people in the young 213 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: woman's life who see this young man as a potential 214 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: savior for her. Wales's adaptation came out in nine thirty one. 215 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: Two remakes of it came out in nineteen forty and 216 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six, although the latter version is a lot 217 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: different and is titled Gabby Whale had pleased the studio 218 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: with his production. He had stayed on schedule, he had 219 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: stayed on budget, and though the film subject matter met 220 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: with some controversy and had to be edited in some markets, 221 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: it was successful enough that the director was given his 222 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: pick of projects for his third film, and that's how 223 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: in one Wale directed what would become one of his 224 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: most famous films of all time, Frankenstein, another adaptation. Obviously, 225 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: the screenplay was based on Mary Shelley's novella, and the 226 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: appeal of the Frankenstein's story for Wale was really simple. 227 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: He just didn't feel like making another war movie that 228 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: strikes me as ironic for reasons that will become clear 229 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: as we go forward. Part of what made this picture 230 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: so unique is the fact that Whale wasn't a horror director, 231 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: even though as a genre that was still kind of congealing. 232 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: But he told the story of the doctor driven by 233 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: his obsession and the monster that he created as though 234 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: it were a street drama, and audiences loved it. It 235 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: made Boris Carlaw famous, and it really put horror on 236 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: the map as a respectable and commercially viable genre. And 237 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: it also gave James Whale a great deal of power 238 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: at Universal Studios. While executives at the studio wanted Whale 239 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,840 Speaker 1: to repeat his Frankenstein's success, he decided to make a 240 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: film called The Impatient Maiden next. This is about a 241 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: young woman and a doctor who meet, fall for each other, 242 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: decide not to pursue a relationship, and are later pushed 243 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: together when the doctor has to perform an emergency appendectomy 244 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: on her. I feel like I've seen this episode of 245 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: Grey's Anatomy right Like. There are so many of James 246 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: Whale's films that I feel like set up tropes that 247 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: happened forever after that, and they weren't by any means 248 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 1: the first ones. But in a lot of cases he 249 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: made those types of stories really famous. Now that I 250 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: think about it more, I think it really was an 251 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: actual episode of Doogie House or MV where he had 252 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: to operate on his girlfriend. Anyway, Whale had chosen The 253 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: Impatient Maiden as a project because he didn't want to 254 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: be pigeonholed in horror, but it turned out to have 255 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: been a poor choice. This romance drama fared really poorly 256 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: with both critics and audiences. In two, Whale made a 257 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: film called The Old Dark House, which was sort of 258 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: a horror comedy. I love this movie and I watched 259 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: it while I was working on the outline for this 260 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: and starred Boris Karloff, Gloria Stewart, Charles Lawton, and Melvin Douglas. 261 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: And it is now also a classic horror trope. A 262 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: group of people traveling in the countryside when they get 263 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: caught in a terrible storm that makes it impossible to 264 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: continue their journey, and they seek shelter in a creepy 265 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: house with eccentric inhabitants, and things play out from there. 266 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: Wale made two films that released in nineteen thirty three. 267 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: The first was The Kiss Before the Mirror. This was 268 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: a mystery about a lawyer and his possibly adulterous wife 269 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: and a trial in which the lawyer is defending a 270 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: man who murdered his own cheating spouse. This was not 271 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: a blockbuster, but Whale's second film of nineteen thirty three 272 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: had quite the opposite reception. When The Invisible Man hit theaters. 273 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: It amazed audiences and delighted critics with its special effects work. 274 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: Claude Rains, in the starring role, gave a memorable vocal performance, 275 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: and the film became one of the year's biggest hits. 276 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: There's obviously a pattern that was developing in James Whale's 277 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: career where his most popular films were in this newly 278 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: popular horror genre. But rather than make another horror film 279 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,320 Speaker 1: after The Invisible Man, he turned his efforts instead to 280 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: a rom com called By Candle Light. It was adapted 281 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: from a stage play by Austrian writers Siegfried Geyer and 282 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: Carl Farcas, and it involved a case of mistaken identity. 283 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: A gentleman's butler falls in love with somebody who mistakes 284 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: him for the gentleman that he works for. This was 285 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: considered to be a light light fair, not particularly serious, 286 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: nothing special. Yeah uh and again it it did okay, 287 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: not great uh. Whale still, though, opted out of making 288 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: another horror film, even though that probably would have been 289 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: an easy way for him to say, look, I made 290 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: another adant. Instead, he turned to serious drama with an 291 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: adaptation of a novel by John Galsworthy titled One More River. 292 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 1: This film features the story of a married English couple 293 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: who look perfect to outsiders, but then it's quickly revealed 294 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: to the audience that in private, the husband is physically 295 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: and emotionally abusive to his wife, who leaves him, only 296 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: to have him threaten her with a smear campaign of 297 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: adultery despite no wrongdoing on her part. This film was 298 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: critically acclaimed and people who saw it thought it was 299 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: quite amazing, but not many people actually wanted to see it, 300 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,040 Speaker 1: and it flopped at the box office. Maybe because of 301 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:20,680 Speaker 1: that series of lukewarm non horror projects, Wale finally decided 302 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: to do what Universal and the public had been asking 303 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: him to do for years, which was returned to horror 304 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: and make a sequel to Frankenstein. While Treatments had been 305 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:31,880 Speaker 1: proposed for a Frankenstein follow up, it was Wale who 306 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:37,640 Speaker 1: finally decided that a love interest provided the most appealing possibility. 307 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: So Wale's work on the Bride of Frankenstein was lighter 308 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 1: in tone than his previous work. He was more at 309 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: play as a director, and the look of the film, 310 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,359 Speaker 1: thanks to cinematographer John jay Mescomb, was based in the 311 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: paintings of Rembrandt, contrasting bright, highlighted sections of any given 312 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,160 Speaker 1: frame with the deepest of shadows to create depth and drama. 313 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: Wale decided his friend Elsa Lanchester for the role, then 314 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: carefully designed the bride's look inspired by the mummies of Egypt. 315 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: Her iconic hair was modeled on the head pieces of 316 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: Nefer Tit, and her makeup was carefully sketched out by 317 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: the director in a series of drawings. Lanchester brought a 318 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: unique inspiration to the role. The bride's behavior and movement 319 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,440 Speaker 1: was based on the swans at Hyde Park. Yeah, I 320 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:28,360 Speaker 1: uh had only read that recently. I'm sure I've probably 321 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: passed over it before, but the idea of the way 322 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: she hisses and like turns her roughly was based on 323 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: these swans that she had had been observing. There's also 324 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 1: an interesting story where he was already something like ten 325 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: days or two weeks into production before he cast her. 326 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 1: They were like, we can't figure out who the actress is, 327 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: but we'll just start shooting and we'll figure it out, 328 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: which to me sounds terrifying, but James Wales seemed to 329 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 1: have it all in hand. We talked a lot about 330 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: the Bride of Frankenstein, of course, in our two parter 331 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: that we did about Elsa Lanchester a couple of years ago, 332 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: but we didn't at that time really discuss how the 333 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: film impacted James Whale's life and career. In terms of 334 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,919 Speaker 1: commercial success, the film was an unqualified success. There was 335 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: no way you could frame it where it was not 336 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 1: a huge hit. After Whale's Bride had terrified and charmed 337 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: audiences and made a lot of money in the process, 338 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 1: Wale was given more or less free reign to work 339 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: on whatever projects he wanted to at Universal. This was 340 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: a unique situation. Only a very few directors at the 341 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: time had this level of creative freedom that James Whale 342 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: had earned. And next up, we're going to delve into 343 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: what his life was like after the Bride, But first 344 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: we're gonna pause for a little sponsor break. Even though 345 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: James Whale was getting pressure to make another horror film 346 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: immediately after The Bride of Frankenstein, he opted to direct 347 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: a comedic murder mystery called Remember Last Night. And this 348 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,120 Speaker 1: takes place in the aftermath of a drunken party during 349 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: which there was a murder which none of the attendees, 350 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: who all got black out drunk, could recall. A hypnotist 351 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,719 Speaker 1: is summoned to help recover the partygoers memories, but then 352 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: additional murders take place, deepening the whole mystery and sending 353 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: everything into disarray. Remember Last Night was a money pit. 354 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: Universal took a hit on it because ticket sales were 355 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,919 Speaker 1: so dismal. They ended up deep in the red. On 356 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: that one. Wale needed a successful film, and his next 357 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: picture was just that. It wasn't horror but instead it 358 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,200 Speaker 1: was a musical. He adapted the stage place show Boat 359 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: into a huge, lavish production that once again pleased the 360 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: studio by making a nice profit. Yeah, but because of Showboat, 361 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: the studio actually changed significantly. It made a nice profit, 362 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: but not for the people that originally started the project. 363 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: So when the Lemlies put the studio in a financially 364 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,320 Speaker 1: precarious position, they were actually pushed out in six They 365 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: had been willing to take risks, both creatively and financially, 366 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: but even though Carl Lemley Sr. Had founded Universal alone 367 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 1: that he had taken out to complete the over budget 368 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: show Boat ended up doing him in before the picture, 369 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: which turned a very nice profit, was even released. Standard Capital, 370 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:14,919 Speaker 1: which had issued the loan, seized control of Universal financier 371 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: John Cheever. Cowden became president and chairman of the studio, 372 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: and despite just having made a massively successful film, James 373 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: Whale suddenly found himself on a tight leash, no more 374 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: freedom to do as he pleased creatively. Almost immediately, the 375 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: sting of being overseen by leadership that was a lot 376 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: more worried about money than artist ry and really hit Whale. 377 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:40,880 Speaker 1: In seven, he directed a film adaptation called The Roadback, 378 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: which was based on a novel, and the film was 379 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: critical of the Nazi regime. The German government threatened to 380 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: boycott all Universal Pictures if the film wasn't edited significantly 381 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: to remove all the anti Nazis sentiment. Under the Lemley's 382 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,720 Speaker 1: Whale might have had more leverage to keep his movie 383 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 1: as he had made it. A cowed and feared the 384 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,120 Speaker 1: loss of the profit from the German market. He had 385 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 1: a second director come in and reshoot entire sections of 386 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: the film. Significant editing was done on the portions that 387 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: Whale had shot. I feel like that's one of those 388 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: things that in retrospect everybody probably felt really stupid for 389 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: having done. But that's just me. I don't know, uh. 390 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: During seven and eight, Whale directed several small pictures, including 391 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 1: a remake of The Kiss Before the Mirror titled Wives 392 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: under Suspicion, but none of those films were really successes. 393 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: He had been kind of alienated at Universal, so he 394 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: made several movies as a freelance director with other studios. 395 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: In NY nine, he made The Man in the Iron Mask, 396 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: which was one of his strongest efforts of the last 397 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 1: several feature films. The score was nominated for an Oscar 398 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: and it was also Peter Cushing's first film. Reviews were mixed, 399 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: but it was ultimately a successful commercial offering. His last 400 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: two feature films, Green Hill and They Dare Not Love 401 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: We're released in nineteen forty and nineteen forty one. Green 402 00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,880 Speaker 1: Hell starred Douglas Fairbanks, and a jungle adventure in South America, 403 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: was incredibly expensive to make and was such a flop 404 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: that the studio reused the lavish sets just to try 405 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: to recoup some of their losses in the overhead. They 406 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: Dare Not Love was another war picture, this time about 407 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: a Prince of Austria forced to flee to London when 408 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: the Nazis took over his country. A second director, Charles Vidor, 409 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: also worked on that film, allegedly because Whale had gotten 410 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: sick with the flu, but there were a lot of 411 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: rumors that there were actually on set conflicts with the 412 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: director that led to that change. After They Dare Not Love, 413 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: Wales stepped away from work for a while. He decided 414 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: to return to his roots as an artist, and he 415 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,000 Speaker 1: set up a studio in his home. He occasionally picked 416 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: up small directing jobs, but for the most part he 417 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: spent the nineteen forties and semi retirement. In nineteen fifty two, 418 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: Whale returned to England. He was directing a play there, 419 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: a farcet titled Pagan and the Parlor. He had asked 420 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,080 Speaker 1: his longtime partner David Lewis to go with him, as 421 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: he planned to extend the trip into a European tour, 422 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: but David, who had been dealing with his own professional challenges, 423 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,720 Speaker 1: didn't feel like he could take an extended leave, so 424 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: James went alone. After spending several weeks in London seeing 425 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: to the production, Wale moved on to Paris, where he 426 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,800 Speaker 1: didn't know very many people, but one night he met 427 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: a young man from Strasbourg named Pierre Fogel. Fogel was 428 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: twenty five and he started a relationship with the sixty 429 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: three year old Whale. James purchased a car and hired 430 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: Pierre's his chauffeurst that the two men had a pretext 431 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: to travel together. When he went back to London to 432 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: continue work on Pagan and the Parlor, Fogel went with him, Yeah, 433 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: just for clarity on how the timing of that play worked. 434 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: He had gone to London, done several weeks of pre production, 435 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: gone away while things like costumes and sets were built, 436 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: and then he came back when it came time to 437 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: get to rehearsals. But the touring production of Pagan and 438 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: the Parlor fell apart because it became apparent that the 439 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: leading lady in the show, Hermione Badeley, had a serious 440 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,919 Speaker 1: drinking problem. During one performance, she actually stumbled onto the 441 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: stage at completely the wrong time, and because her contracts 442 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 1: stipulated that she would retain the role as long as 443 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: the production continued to tour, she couldn't legally be replaced, 444 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,600 Speaker 1: So the decision was made to shut it down completely 445 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: and James Whale returned home to Los Angeles, but he 446 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,919 Speaker 1: had a plan to move Pierre Fogel to the United States, 447 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: and when he got home, he told David Everything that 448 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 1: he had met a young man in a club in 449 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,760 Speaker 1: Paris and that his new romance had really reinvigorated his life, 450 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: and that he intended for the young man to live 451 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: with them. David Lewis did not want to share his 452 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,200 Speaker 1: home and his beloved with a stranger imported from Paris, 453 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: and David ultimately decided to move out. It was an 454 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: abrupt end to the relation and ship, but the two 455 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 1: men stayed friends. Fogel arrived in l a shortly after 456 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,959 Speaker 1: the new year, but then in nineteen fifty three he 457 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,879 Speaker 1: returned to Paris, and his exit catalyzed a period of 458 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,520 Speaker 1: true hedonism for Wale. He became infamous for hosting wild 459 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 1: pool parties for scores of young men, but when Pierre 460 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: returned to Waleses home in mid nineteen fifty four, things 461 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: changed almost instantly, and the retired director became almost antisocial. 462 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: He had always been known, even before his sort of 463 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: hedonism period, for having these amazing parties and knowing really 464 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: fabulous people and just having a really fun lifestyle, but 465 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 1: at that point he stopped hosting those famous dinner parties 466 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: and he rarely ventured out, only visiting friends occasionally, and 467 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: instead he chose to stay home and paint. In nineteen 468 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,480 Speaker 1: fifty six, Whale had a minor stroke during dinner. Pierre 469 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: could see that something was off, but James seemed to 470 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 1: recover after a few moments and he seemed like himself again. 471 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,719 Speaker 1: But within a few days it became clear that there 472 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: was some damage. His coordination was off, his mood would 473 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:08,639 Speaker 1: change really abruptly when he finally went to a doctor. 474 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: Because he hadn't sought care sooner, there wasn't much that 475 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: could be done. Yeah, Pierre had actually said should we 476 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: get a doctor, and James was like, no, I think 477 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: I'm fine. Like it was a very minor couple of 478 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,680 Speaker 1: moments where he was just kind of not quite right 479 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: and then felt like he recovered, almost like what would 480 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,239 Speaker 1: happen in any number of you know, passing illnesses. So 481 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: they thought it was nothing. But then a second, more 482 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: severe stroke followed a few months later, and this led 483 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:40,399 Speaker 1: to a hospitalization. This also became uh kind of a 484 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,159 Speaker 1: layered treatment situation because he was also diagnosed with depression, 485 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: and to treat that, he was given shock treatments. But 486 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: after he finally returned home, he hired one of the 487 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: male nurses, j Wrigley, who had looked after him during 488 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 1: his hospitalization, as his personal nurse. After this second stroke, 489 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,400 Speaker 1: whale did a little design work for various product shins, 490 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: but he really had trouble with mood swings. He had 491 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: an increasing dismay at needing to be dependent on other people. 492 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: On seven, he went about his morning routine, and then 493 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: he waded into the swimming pool, where he dove headfirst 494 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: into the water, striking his head on the bottom. His 495 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: maid found him when she tried to find him for lunch. 496 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: James had left a note he saw only decline in 497 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: his future and he didn't want to live that way. 498 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: He also added a PostScript to that note that his 499 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: finances were all handled and he asked those that he 500 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 1: loved to please understand that he was choosing to not 501 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 1: suffer any longer for his wishes. He was cremated, although 502 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: why he had wanted to have his ashes scattered, they 503 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: were not. They were putting an urn and um Uh 504 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: interred in the cemetery. His will divided his estate among 505 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: Pierre Fogel for Whales surviving four siblings, and David Lewis. 506 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: There were a lot of rumors at the time that 507 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 1: this happened about what had happened, because that note wasn't 508 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: public for a long time. Yeah, yeah, there were lots 509 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,239 Speaker 1: of u uh theories about what that could have been, 510 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,239 Speaker 1: what could have actually happened, and if there had been 511 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: foul play, and um, but no, and he was I 512 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: I won't say I love it, but I it was 513 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: so in character for him to explain that the finances 514 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:32,160 Speaker 1: were all fine, because he had, in part, probably because 515 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: he had grown up so very poor, always been really 516 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: careful and really smart about money, Like he lived a 517 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,360 Speaker 1: very fabulous life, but he always did so exactly within 518 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: his means and had put away enough money that when 519 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: he decided he didn't want to direct anymore for a while, 520 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: that was not going to be a financial burden in 521 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: any way. So it does when you read it, it 522 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: does sort of strike me as almost comedically perfectly in 523 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 1: character for him to be like, don't worry, the finances 524 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: are all taken care of. Uh. That's so very English 525 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: of him, in the way that he liked everything to 526 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:09,120 Speaker 1: be very ordered. So uh. While he's known to this 527 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: day largely as a director of horror films, do you 528 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 1: actually look at his body of work that does only 529 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 1: make up about twenty percent of it. And that is 530 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: why I decided to do his episode now instead of 531 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 1: saving it for October because he didn't feel like he 532 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: was a horror director. He felt like he was a 533 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: director of many things, so it seemed a little more 534 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 1: respectful to just put it during the middle of the 535 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: middle of late spring, early summer. I did, Uh, when 536 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: I set up the tags for today's episode, I did 537 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: tag him with those episodes because they are related. But 538 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: that's just so they'll be in the same collection on 539 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: our website. All the stuff you can find in one place. Yeah, 540 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: that's I mean. I think for a lot of people 541 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: that are film buffs, that might be their entree into 542 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: seeing the work of James Whale. But there are some 543 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,320 Speaker 1: really fun ones outside of it. Like they're not all 544 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: good Greenhill, It's not a good movie. There's like, no, 545 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: there's no way to make that a good movie. You 546 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: could try. But uh, some of his other films really 547 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 1: are quite interesting. He because he came from that design background, 548 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: his eye for the visual was always spectacular, so the 549 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: way he would set up shots was really wonderful. Uh. 550 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: There are some great stories about how when he first 551 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: went to Hollywood as a dialogue coach, he was keenly 552 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: aware of how the art of filmmaking was being ignored 553 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: a little bit because they were so focused on capturing 554 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: the audio of dialogue that they would set up coverage 555 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 1: shots that had nothing to do with composition, but just 556 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,600 Speaker 1: where they could put microphones. And he was like that, 557 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: there's there are better ways to do this. Uh So, 558 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: so he's he's very interesting. Uh. One of the books 559 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: I read in preparation for this, that's a biography of him, 560 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: is really excellent and talks a lot about his insights 561 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: into films he was coming into the business and and 562 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: theater as well, and he just seemed like an incredibly 563 00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: astute and smart person who really knew what he wanted 564 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: to do on any given project, which I sort of love. 565 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: I have a listener mail. It is also about a 566 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: director that we've already talked about, and I lately have 567 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,320 Speaker 1: been seeming listener mail quite by accident, but I love 568 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: this email so and is from our listener, Lindsay. She writes, 569 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: Dear Holly and Tracy. When you mentioned that Lotta Reinenger 570 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: grew up in the Charlottenburg neighborhood in Berlin during your 571 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: recent episode, I was so excited, Although I didn't know 572 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,760 Speaker 1: anything about Lotta Reineger and her enchanting animation. I did 573 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: know a little bit about Charlottenburg because I happened to 574 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: live there. After learning about her from your well researched podcast, 575 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: I set out to find any memorials to her in 576 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,440 Speaker 1: my neighborhood, and I was thrilled to find a plaque 577 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: on the building where she lived. The plaque reads in English, 578 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: I believe more in fairy tales than in newspapers, and 579 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: then marks the birthplace at her birthplace uh and talks 580 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:00,320 Speaker 1: about how she was the pioneer of cartoons, and then 581 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 1: it goes on. Between ninety six she created the first 582 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: long animated film of film history. It was mainly based 583 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 1: on fairy tales and opera motifs. She designed numerous silhouettes 584 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,120 Speaker 1: and silhouette films. She left Germany and I need thirty five, 585 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: returned before the end of the war and returned to 586 00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: Berlin and lived in England from nineteen nine. Lindsay rights. 587 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 1: Because of your podcast, I was not only able to 588 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:24,880 Speaker 1: learn about a little known place near me, but I 589 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: was also able to teach my children about lot of 590 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,920 Speaker 1: Rehineger and share some of her animation that I found online. 591 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: I hope her kids were captivated. I'm very curious how 592 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 1: modern kids perceive animation in that style, so if anybody 593 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,720 Speaker 1: wants to share those insights, please do. Thank you so 594 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: much Lindsay for this email. What a wonderful thing to 595 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 1: be able to walk out into your neighborhood and find 596 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: a lot of Rhineger's birthplace. That sounds very cool to me. 597 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: If you would like to email us, you can do 598 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at how stubb works dot com. 599 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: We are also across social media as Missed in History, 600 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,160 Speaker 1: and that is also our website Missed in his Ree 601 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: dot com, where we have every episode of the show 602 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: that's ever existed, is well like show notes on any 603 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: of the ones that Tracy and I have worked on together. 604 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 1: So come and visit us at Miston History dot com. 605 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 606 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:20,880 Speaker 1: how staff works dot com. M