James Whale was a prominent British film director known for directing Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein in the 1930s. He came from a working class background in England and got his start in theater after serving in WWI. His first major success was directing the play Journey's End. This led him to Hollywood where he directed films for Universal Pictures. Frankenstein made Boris Karloff a star and established Whale's reputation. While successful, he faced interference on later films and struggled with being openly gay. He battled depression and ultimately committed suicide in 1957 at age 67.

1. James Whales
Still from Bride of Frankenstein, 1935, dir. James Whale
Mark Hensley
Professor: Patricia Vazquez
Eng 272
27 November 2013

2. Who is he?
• James Whale was known for the
directing of Frankenstein with Universal
Pictures. He was a prominent director
during his time and was openly
homosexual. During his prime as a
director, he could direct however he
wanted.

3. Working Class Origins
- Born on 22 July 1889 in Dudley,
Worcestershire, England, it was a very
industrial town.
-Sixth child of seven children by William and
Sarah Whale.
- Had to work all the time and he occasionally
went to college part-time for a degree in arts.
- In 1916, Whales joined the 2nd battalion of
the 7th Worcestershire regiment in France.

4. Start in Theater
- Whales got captured
and was a prisoner of
war, but while he was
there, the prisoners set
up a theater and they
had amateur theatrics.
- Afterwards, he joined
Barry Jackson’s
Birmingham Repertory
Company near Dudley.

5. James Whale
Because of his poor
upbringing, he
wanted something
more. He changed
his speech and
made himself more
into a gentleman.

6. R. C. Sherriff - Writer
• First big break was when
he got to direct a play no
one wanted called
Journey’s End. It was a
war play illuminating the
events in the trenches of
the first World War.
• It was wasn’t a success at
first, mostly because
theaters didn’t find war
plays profitable.

7. James Whale and David
Lewis were an item for the
longest time.
Obviously, people started
talking about them, but
that didn’t really affect
James Whale’s career.
David Lewis
• Both gay, with an age difference of 14 years,
James Whales and David Lewis lived
together. David Lewis being 26 while James
40 when they first met.

8. Helped create Hell’s
Angels
• Whales traveled to
America to bring
Journey’s End to
Broadway.
• Got started in the
film business
because of his
expertise in English
plays; signed a
contract with
Universal Pictures.

9. Movies by James Whale
Courtesy of IMDB website

10. Frankenstein
• Created from the novel from Mary Shelley of
the same name.
• Some people may think that Frankenstein is
the name of the monster, but the monster
didn’t have a name. It’s actually talking about
the main character and creator, Victor
Frankenstein.

11. • Colin Clive, A.K.A. Dr. Frankenstein. He was a big
alcoholic. Some say the drinking made his acting
better because he was stark and high-strung.
• James Whales started him in Journey’s End and
later brought him in for Frankenstein.

12. Boris Karloff, the monster
from Frankenstein.
He was a big figure in the
horror genre of movies
because of his role as
Frankenstein’s monster.

13. Colin Clive and Boris Karloff on the set of Frankenstein

14. Homosexual Themes
• The Bride of Frankenstein was said to have homosexual
subtexts.
• Ernest Thesiger, who was gay, played as Dr. Pretorius during
the film.
• In the film, Ernest Thesiger wanted to take Dr. Frankenstein
and lead him to perversity, taking him away before his
marriage.

15. Other themes…
• Artificial procreation
• Monster castigated for being created and was
an outsider
• Science vs. religion

16. Decline
• He was to create a war-film called The Road
Back, a sequel to All Quiet on the Western
Front.
• Completed the film over-budget, but there
was a lot of interference because of Nazi
Germany.
• Universal butchered the film; he still worked
after, but his work wasn’t as well budgeted
and he had less power to direct movies.

17. Death
• Regrettably, when he was 67 years old, he
committed suicide in his own pool. He
couldn’t take the pain because of his age.
• Right before here died, he found out that his
family history had people in it that were
successful; they had money and land. He was
satisfied right before he died. (Gatiss, 1995)

18. This movie (left) was
made up to detail James
Whale’s life before he
died. The movie
consisted of him (Ian
McKellen) lusting after
some young man
(Brendan Fraser). This
was mostly out of rumors
so it was fictitious
(maybe).

19. Works Cited
Gatiss, Mark. James Whale: Biography. N.p.: Cassell, 1995. Print.
Bride of Frankenstein. Dir. James Whale. Prod. Carl Laemmle. By William J. Hurlbut. Perf. Boris Karloff, Elsa
Lanchester, and Colin Clive. Universal Pictures Corp., 1935. DVD.
James Whale. Digital image. Nndb. Soylent Communication, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Prisoner Costume. Digital image. Scavengeinc. Halloween Costumes: Premiere Props, n.d. Web. 27 Nov.
2013.
Photo of James Whale. Digital image. The Classic Horror Film Board. Yuku, 22 July 2013. Web. 27 Nov.
2013.
Glancy, H. M.. R. C. Sherriff Photo. Digital image. Film Reference. Advameg, n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
David Lewis. Digital image. Find A Grave. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Hell's Angels. Digital image. Internet Movie Poster Awards. N.p., 20 May 2013 Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Lobosco, David. Colin Clive. Digital image. A Trip Down Memory Lane. Blogger, 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 Nov.
2013.
Boris Karloff. Digital image. Doctor Macro. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.doctormacro.com/movie%20star%20pages/Karloff,%20Boris-Annex2.htm>.
Bacchus, Alan. Frankenstein. Digital image. Daily Film Dose. Blogger, 7 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Bacchus, Alan. Frankenstein. Digital image. Behind The Couch. Blogger, 25 Nov. 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.