Be preferable to Lugosi over Karloff or can't miss a Vincent Price film festival, you cannot admit that Karloff has an equal place, if not higher in some opinions, as one of the kings of the macabre. He was more than just Frankenstein's monster; he was the mummy, many mad scientists, a few devil like characters, yet somehow touchingly sympathetic. This documentary documents his struggles as a character actor, his rise to fame with Universal's horror films, to the king of horror in the 40's as Lugosi struggled at poverty row. Karloff took his typecasting in stride, and it comes out in his performances. This doesn't deal much with outside the horror genre, and it would have been nice had it brought up his stage career. It does touch on "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Peter Pan", but immediately goes back to Hollywood and the great Val Lewton films of the mid 1940's. Karloff managed to work until the end, whether on stage, TV or movies, and his legend remains strong to this day.
Review of Karloff, the Gentle Monster
Karloff, the Gentle Monster
(2006 Video)
They don't make actors like this any more.
14 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers