James Whale Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Dennis Fischer

Critical Essay by Dennis Fischer

SOURCE: "James Whale (1889-1957)," in Horror Film Directors, 1931-1990, McFarland & Company, Inc., 1991, pp. 710-35.

In the following essay, Fischer provides a survey of Whale's career, focusing on his horror films.

Although James Whale is best known for his four famous horror features—films which practically defined the genre for several decades—he was a talented and versatile director who worked with many genres. In fact, before embarking on his horror period, he had been typed as a director of war films due to his work on Hell's Angels, Journey's End and Waterloo Bridge. While they do not fall within the scope of this work, these films are noteworthy along with One More River, an adaptation of John Galsworthy's last novel about an overbearing husband (Colin Clive in his fourth great performance for Whale) who accuses his wife (Diana Wynyard) of having an affair; the 1936 (and best) version of Show...
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