A New World of Gods and Monsters. USA 2003, 457 pp., brochure, € 24.59Kostenloser Versand innerhalb Europas.James Whale directed some of the most stylish movies of the 1930s, but he was most successful in a genre he virtually invented. Most famously in »Frankenstein«, Whale created a new type of horror film - sophisticated, tragic, and morbidly humorous. Whale made grim war dramas, light comedy, adventures, mysteries, and even a movie version of the musical »Show Boat«. However, his career faltered and, being openly gay, he found work increasingly hard to get. He quit filmmaking just ten years after the triumph of »Frankenstein«, and died as a result of suicide. The author of Whale's biography has written the definitive life of James Whale, taking him from poverty in rural England to the squalor of a German prison camp, to the excitement of London's West End, and ultimately to Hollywood, where he profoundly influenced several generations of filmmakers.