Editing James Whale (section)

==Career==
===Theatre===
After the [[armistice of 11 November 1918|armistice]], he returned to [[Birmingham]] and tried to find work as a cartoonist. He sold two cartoons to the ''[[Bystander (magazine)|Bystander]]'' in 1919 but was unable to secure a permanent position.<ref name = curtis25 /> Later that year he embarked on a professional stage career. Under the tutelage of actor-manager [[Nigel Playfair]], he worked as an actor, set designer and builder, "stage director" (akin to a [[stage manager]]) and director.<ref>Skal, et al., p. 50.</ref> In 1922, while with Playfair, he met [[Doris Zinkeisen]]. They were considered a couple for some two years, despite Whale's living as an openly gay man. They were reportedly engaged in 1924, but by 1925 the engagement was off.<ref>Curtis, p. 32.</ref>

In 1928 Whale was offered the opportunity to direct two private performances of [[R. C. Sherriff]]'s then-unknown play ''[[Journey's End]]'' for the [[Incorporated Stage Society]], a theatre society that mounted private Sunday performances of plays.<ref name = wsjwhale1>{{cite news| title = "Journey's End", A First Play, Brings Clerk-Author $10,000 Week Royalties| work = Wisconsin State Journal| page = 14| date = 5 June 1930 }}</ref> Set over a four-day period in March 1918 in the trenches at [[Saint-Quentin, Aisne|Saint-Quentin]], France, ''Journey's End'' gives a glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British infantry company in World War I. The key conflict is between Capt. Stanhope, the company commander, and Lt. Raleigh, the brother of Stanhope's fiancée.<ref>Green, et al., p. 272.</ref> Whale offered the part of Stanhope to the then barely known [[Laurence Olivier]]. Olivier initially declined the role,<ref>Cottrell, p. 53.</ref> but after meeting the playwright agreed to take it on.<ref name = coleman /> [[Maurice Evans (actor)|Maurice Evans]] was cast as Raleigh.<ref>{{cite news| title = Maurice Evans, Stage Actor, Dies at 87| work = The New York Times| date = 14 March 1989| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFD7133FF937A25750C0A96F948260| access-date = 17 January 2009}}</ref> The play was well received and transferred to the [[Savoy Theatre]] in London's [[West End theatre|West End]], opening on 21 January 1929.<ref name = wsjwhale1 /> A young [[Colin Clive]] was now in the lead role,<ref>Williamson, p. 29.</ref> Olivier having accepted an offer to take the lead in a production of ''[[Beau Geste]]''.<ref name = coleman>Coleman, p. 31.</ref> The play was a tremendous success, with critics uniform and effusive in their praise and with audiences sometimes sitting in stunned silence following its conclusion only to burst into thunderous ovations.<ref>Curtis, p. 70.</ref> As Whale biographer James Curtis wrote, the play "managed to coalesce, at the right time and in the right manner, the impressions of a whole generation of men who were in the war and who had found it impossible, through words or deeds, to adequately express to their friends and families what the trenches had been like".<ref>Curtis, p. 71.</ref> After three weeks at the Savoy, ''Journey's End'' transferred to the [[Prince of Wales Theatre]],<ref name = wsjwhale1 /> where it ran for the next two years.<ref>Coleman, p. 32.</ref>

[[File:Colinclive.jpg|thumb|right|[[Colin Clive]] in Whale's 1929 stage production of ''[[Journey's End]]'']]

With the success of ''Journey's End'' at home, [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] producer [[Gilbert Miller]] acquired the rights to mount a New York production with an all-British cast headed by [[Colin Keith-Johnston]] as Stanhope and Derek Williams as Raleigh.<ref name = bordman381 /> Whale also directed this version, which premiered at [[Henry Miller's Theatre]] on 22 March 1929.<ref name = wsjwhale1 /> The play ran for over a year and cemented its reputation as the greatest play about World War I.<ref name = bordman381>Bordman, p. 381.</ref>

===Early work in Hollywood===
The success of the various productions of ''Journey's End'' brought Whale to the attention of movie producers. Coming at a time when motion pictures were making the transition from silent to talking, producers were interested in hiring actors and directors with experience with dialogue. Whale traveled to Hollywood in 1929 and signed a contract with [[Paramount Pictures]]. He was assigned as "dialogue director" for a film called ''The Love Doctor'' (1929).<ref>Curtis, p. 79.</ref> He completed work on the film in 15 days and his contract was allowed to expire. It was at around this time that he met [[David Lewis (producer)|David Lewis]].<ref>Curtis, p. 81.</ref>

Whale was hired by independent film producer and aviation pioneer [[Howard Hughes]], who planned to turn the previously silent Hughes production ''[[Hell's Angels (film)|Hell's Angels]]'' (1930) into a [[talkie]]. Whale directed the dialogue sequences.<ref>{{cite news| title = Millionaire Producer Faces Big Losses| work = Waterloo (IA) Evening Courier| page = 8| publisher = United Press| date = 2 November 1929 }}</ref> When his work for Hughes was completed, he headed to Chicago to direct another production of ''Journey's End''.<ref>Curtis, p. 83.</ref>

Having purchased the film rights to ''Journey's End'', British producers [[Michael Balcon]] and Thomas Welsh agreed that Whale's experience directing the London and Broadway productions of the play made him the best choice to direct the film. The two partnered with a small American studio, [[Tiffany-Stahl]], to shoot it in New York.<ref>Low, et al. p. 171.</ref> Colin Clive reprised his role as Stanhope,<ref name = timejourney>{{cite magazine| title = The New Pictures| magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739143,00.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100717061047/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739143,00.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 17 July 2010| date = 21 April 1930 }}</ref> and [[David Manners]] was cast as Raleigh.<ref>Kelly (1997), p. 65.</ref> Filming got underway on 6 December 1929<ref>Curtis, p. 98.</ref> and wrapped on 22 January 1930.<ref>Curtis, p. 102.</ref> ''[[Journey's End (1930 film)|Journey's End]]'' was released in Great Britain on 14 April and in the United States on 15 April.<ref>Curtis, p. 104.</ref> On both sides of the Atlantic the film was a tremendous critical and commercial success.<ref>Curtis, pp 104–05</ref>

===With the Laemmles at Universal===
[[File:Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff).jpg|thumb|175px|Whale directed [[Boris Karloff]] in the iconic horror film ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935).]]
[[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] signed Whale to a five-year contract in 1931 and his first project was ''[[Waterloo Bridge (1931 film)|Waterloo Bridge]]''.<ref>{{cite news| last = Parsons| first = Louella| title = James Whale Will Direct For Universal| work = The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette| date = 11 March 1931| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6v8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2991,5750827| access-date = 17 January 2009}}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Based on the Broadway play by [[Robert E. Sherwood]], the film stars [[Mae Clarke]] as Myra, a chorus girl in World War I London who becomes a prostitute. It too was a critical and popular success. At around this time, Whale and Lewis began living together.<ref name = anger210>Anger, p. 210.</ref>

In 1931, Universal chief [[Carl Laemmle, Jr.]] offered Whale his choice of any property the studio owned. He chose ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'', mostly because none of Universal's other properties particularly interested him, and he wanted to make something other than a war picture.<ref name = skal129>Skal, p. 129.</ref> While [[Mary Shelley]]'s 1818 novel ''[[Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus]]'' itself was in the public domain, Universal owned the filming rights to a stage adaptation by [[Peggy Webling]]. Whale cast Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein and [[Mae Clarke]] as his fiancée Elizabeth. For the [[Frankenstein's monster|Monster]], he turned to the little known [[Boris Karloff]], who had wide-ranging experience in supporting roles. Shooting began on 24 August 1931 and wrapped on 3 October.<ref name = buehrer>Buehrer, p. 89.</ref> Previews were held 29 October,<ref>Curtis, p. 151.</ref> with wide release on 21 November.<ref>Curtis, p. 153.</ref> ''Frankenstein'' was an instant hit with critics and the public. The film received glowing reviews and shattered box office records across the United States,<ref>Curtis, p. 157.</ref> earning Universal $12&nbsp;million on first release.<ref name = buehrer />

Next from Whale were ''[[The Impatient Maiden]]'' and ''[[The Old Dark House (1932 film)|The Old Dark House]]'' (both 1932). ''The Impatient Maiden'' made little impression but ''The Old Dark House'', starring Karloff and [[Charles Laughton]], is credited with reinventing the "dark house" subgenre of horror films.<ref>Bansak, et al., p. 95.</ref> Thought [[Lost film|lost]] for some years, a print was found by filmmaker [[Curtis Harrington]] in the Universal vaults in 1968. It was restored by [[George Eastman House]],<ref name=fir>{{cite news|last=Del Valle |first=David |title=Curtis Harrington on James Whale |work=Films in Review |date=7 August 2008 |url=http://www.filmsinreview.com/2008/08/07/curtis-harrington-on-james-whale/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903074125/http://www.filmsinreview.com/2008/08/07/curtis-harrington-on-james-whale/ |url-status=dead |archive-date= 3 September 2008 }}</ref> and released on Blu-ray disk in 2017.

Whale's next film was ''[[The Kiss Before the Mirror]]'' (1933), a critical success but a box-office failure. He returned to horror with ''[[The Invisible Man (1933 film)|The Invisible Man]]'' (1933). Shot from a script approved by [[H. G. Wells]],<ref>Skal, et al., p. 71.</ref> the film blended horror with humor and confounding visual effects. Much admired, ''[[The New York Times]]'' placed it in their list of the ten best films of the year,<ref>{{cite news| last = Hall| first = Mordaunt| title = The Outstanding Pictorial Features of 1933| work = The New York Times| date = 31 December 1933| isbn = 9780405066498| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PZ6lgRl6VAwC&pg=PA143| access-date = 26 December 2008}}</ref> and the film broke box-office records in cities across America. So highly regarded was the film that France, which restricted the number of theatres in which undubbed American films could play, granted it a special waiver because of its "extraordinary artistic merit".<ref>Curtis, p. 221.</ref>

Also in 1933 Whale directed the romantic comedy ''By Candlelight'' which gained good reviews and was a modest box office hit.<ref>Curtis, p. 219.</ref> In 1934 he directed ''One More River'', an adaptation of the novel of the same name by [[John Galsworthy]]. The film tells the story of a woman desperate to escape her abusive marriage to a member of the British aristocracy. This was the first of Whale's films for which [[Production Code Administration]] approval was required and Universal had a difficult time securing that approval because of the elements of [[Sadomasochism|sexual sadism]] implicit in the husband's abusive behavior.<ref>Curtis, pp. 224–25.</ref>
[[File:Bride of Frankenstein (1935 pictorial snipe).jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.3|1930s Universal's art director [[Karoly Grosz (illustrator)|Karoly Grosz]] designed this offbeat 1935 advertisement.]]

''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935) was Whale's next project. He had resisted making a sequel to ''Frankenstein'' as he feared being pigeonholed as a horror director. ''Bride'' hearkened back to an episode from [[Mary Shelley]]'s original novel in which the Monster promises to leave Frankenstein and humanity alone if Frankenstein makes him a mate. He does, but the mate is repelled by the monster who then, setting Frankenstein and his wife free to live, chooses to destroy himself and his "bride". The film was a critical and box office success, having earned some $2&nbsp;million for Universal by 1943.<ref>Curtis, p. 251.</ref> Lauded as "the finest of all [[gothic horror]] movies",<ref>{{cite news | last =French | first =Philip | title = Films of the Day: The Bride of Frankenstein | work=[[The Observer]] | date =2 December 2007}}</ref> ''Bride'' is frequently hailed as Whale's masterpiece.<ref>Gifford, p. 55.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Graham |first=Bob |title='Bride' Is as Lovely as Ever |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=9 October 1998 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/1998/10/09/DD32378.DTL&type=printable |access-date=8 January 2008 |archive-date=9 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209000148/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/1998/10/09/DD32378.DTL&type=printable |url-status=live }}</ref>
With the success of ''Bride'', Laemmle was eager to put Whale to work on ''[[Dracula's Daughter]]'' (1936), the sequel to Universal's first big horror hit of the sound era. Whale, wary of doing two horror films in a row and concerned that directing ''Dracula's Daughter'' could interfere with his plans for the first all-sound version of ''Show Boat'' (previously filmed as a [[part-talkie]] by [[Harry A. Pollard]]), instead convinced Laemmle to buy the rights to a novel called ''The Hangover Murders''. The novel is a comedy-mystery in the style of ''[[The Thin Man]]'', about a group of friends who were so drunk the night one of them was murdered that none can remember anything.<ref>Curtis, pp. 254–55.</ref> Retitled ''[[Remember Last Night?]]'', the film was one of Whale's personal favorites,<ref name = fir /> but met with sharply divided reviews and commercial uninterest.<ref>Curtis, p. 259.</ref>
[[File:Karloff-whale-mescall-bride opt2.jpg|thumb|[[Boris Karloff]] and Whale on set of ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935)]]
With the completion of ''Remember Last Night?'' Whale immediately went to work on ''[[Show Boat (1936 film)|Show Boat]]'' (1936). Whale gathered as many of those as he could who had been involved in one production or another of the musical, including [[Helen Morgan (singer)|Helen Morgan]], [[Paul Robeson]], [[Charles Winninger]], [[Sammy White (actor)|Sammy White]], conductor [[Victor Baravalle]], orchestrator [[Robert Russell Bennett]], and, as Magnolia, [[Irene Dunne]], who believed that Whale was the wrong director for the piece.<ref name=senses>{{cite web |last=Lugowski |first=David |title=James Whale |work=Senses of Cinema |url=http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/whale.html |access-date=15 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417063003/http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/05/whale.html |archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref> The 1936 version of ''Show Boat'', faithfully adapted from the original stage production, is believed to be the definitive film version of the musical by many critics,<ref>Anger, p. 209. "Whale's is by far the best of the three screen versions of Jerome Kern's musical."</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |title=Show Boat |work=The Chicago Reader |quote=...&nbsp;infinitely superior to the dull 1951 MGM Technicolor remake&nbsp;... |url=http://onfilm.chicagoreader.com/movies/capsules/11056_SHOW_BOAT_JAMES_WHALE.html |access-date=15 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606090815/http://onfilm.chicagoreader.com/movies/capsules/11056_SHOW_BOAT_JAMES_WHALE.html |archive-date=6 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but became unavailable following the [[Show Boat (1951 film)|1951 remake]].<ref name = senses /> In 2014, a restoration of the film became available on DVD in the U.S. as part of [[Warner Home Video]]'s [[Warner Archive Collection|Archive Collection line]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://shop.warnerarchive.com/product/show+boat+%281936%29+1000466749.do?sortby=bestSellers&refType=&from=fn|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140225183135/http://shop.warnerarchive.com/product/show+boat+(1936)+1000466749.do?sortby=bestSellers&refType=&from=fn|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 February 2014|title=Show Boat (1936) (MOD)|work=WBShop.com}}</ref> and in 2020, a 4K restoration Blu-Ray was released by [[The Criterion Collection]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.criterion.com/films/29035-show-boat|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420194352/http://www.criterion.com/films/29035-show-boat|archive-date=20 April 2020|title=Show Boat (1936) - The Criterion Collection|work=criterion.com|access-date=20 April 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Show Boat'' was the last of Whale's films to be produced under the Laemmle family. The studio was now bankrupt, and the Laemmles lost control to [[J. Cheever Cowdin]], head of the Standard Capital Corporation, and [[Charles R. Rogers]], who was installed in Junior Laemmle's old job.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Universal to Cowdin |magazine=Time |date=23 March 1936 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930838,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215085216/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,930838,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 December 2008| access-date = 14 January 2009}}</ref>

===Career decline===
Whale's career went into sharp decline following the release of his next film, ''[[The Road Back (film)|The Road Back]]'' (1937). The sequel to [[Erich Maria Remarque]]'s ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'', which Universal had filmed in 1930, the novel and film follow the lives of several young German men who have returned from the trenches of World War I and their struggles to re-integrate into society. The Los Angeles [[Consul (representative)|consul]] for Nazi Germany, [[Georg Gyssling]], learned that the film was in production. He protested to PCA enforcer [[Joseph Breen]], arguing that the film gave an "untrue and distorted picture of the German people".<ref>Glancy, p. 45.</ref> Gyssling eventually met Whale, but nothing came of it.<ref>Curtis, p. 296.</ref> Gyssling then sent letters to members of the cast, threatening that their participation in the film might lead to difficulties in obtaining German filming permits for them and for anyone associated in a film with them.<ref name = glancy46>Glancy, p. 46.</ref> While the low volume of business conducted by Universal in Germany made such threats largely hollow, the [[State Department]], under pressure from the [[Hollywood Anti-Nazi League]] and the [[Screen Actors Guild]],<ref>Kelly (1997), p. 141.</ref> stepped in and the German government backed down.<ref>Curtis, p. 299.</ref> Whale's original cut of the film was given generally positive reviews, but some time between preview screenings and the film's general release, Rogers capitulated to the Germans, ordering that cuts be made and additional scenes be shot and inserted.<ref name = anger210 /> Whale was furious,<ref>Curtis, p. 306.</ref> and the altered film was banned in Germany anyway.<ref>Kelly (2001), p. 144.</ref> The Germans were successful in persuading China, Greece, Italy and Switzerland to ban the film as well.<ref name = glancy46 />

Following the debacle of ''The Road Back'', Charles Rogers tried to get out of his contract with Whale; Whale refused. Rogers then assigned him to a string of [[B movie]]s to run out his contractual obligation. Whale only made one additional successful feature film, ''[[The Man in the Iron Mask (1939 film)|The Man in the Iron Mask]]'' (1939), before retiring from the film industry in 1942.<ref name = cineaste>{{cite news |title=Gods and Monsters: The Search for the Right Whale |work=Cineaste |date=22 September 1999 |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gods+and+Monsters:+The+Search+for+the+Right+Whale.-a056750529 |access-date=17 January 2009}}{{Dead link|date=April 2012|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>