About this lot

Description

§ James Whale (British 1889-1957)

A collection of six character sketches for theatre productions of "Abraham Lincoln" and "Dancing Men"
each annotated with the actor and character and signed 'J.Whale / 1920' (lower right)
watercolour and pencil, unframed
36 x 26cm

Footnote:

Whilst it cannot be denied that he was an exceptionally gifted filmmaker, and arguably one of Hollywood's earliest auteurs, James Whale suffered a fractious and lamentably brief relationship with Tinseltown.

Today feted for his influential productions of Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Whale originally trained as an artist before discovering his passion for performing and directing, whilst interned in a German prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War. Following his release at the end of the war, Whale returned to England and embarked upon a career as an actor, set designer and director. After several years performing and directing in theatres across the UK, Whale’s big break came from his 1928 direction of R.C. Sherriff’s acclaimed play, Journey’s End. In 1930, After productions in London, New York, and Hollywood, Whale was soon invited to direct the hotly anticipated film adaptation of the play. While Journey’s End was the production that launched Whale’s Hollywood career, it was his 1931 direction of Frankenstein, starring the then little-known British actor, Boris Karloff, that marked him as one of the most distinguished and sought-after directors of his day. This illustrious career, however, came to an abrupt end in 1937, following the release of The Road Back, which, due to studio interference and against the wishes of Whale, was heavily edited to appease the Nazi party. The film was a commercial and critical failure and effectively marked the end of Whale’s career as a director. It has also been suggested that Whale, who was openly gay, suffered in his career due to homophobic prejudices. After his forced retirement from the film industry, Whale spent the rest of his life indulging his passion for painting in his home studio, before his death in 1957. In 1998, Whale’s life was retold in Bill Condon’s partially fictionalised period drama, Gods and Monsters, which starred Sir Ian McKellen as James Whale.

Included in the present lot, produced a decade before Whale was discovered by Hollywood, is a sketch of Dirk Daniell as Mr Hawkins. Illustrated wearing a purple cravat and tweed suit, Daniell lurches forward, his heavily exaggerated hands and elongated arms hanging, like pendulums, by his side. It has been long debated as to whether Whale or make-up artist, Jack Pierce, was responsible for Boris Karloff’s lumbering gait in Frankenstein. This sketch, however, of which Whale made a handful, appears to lend credence to the idea that Whale was the creative impetus behind this iconic character trait.

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