By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
No name is as synonymous with classic horror as Boris Karloff. Along with Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolfman, Karloff’s heart-rending performance as the Monster in James Whale’s Frankenstein came to define the genre’s golden age in the 1930s and ’40s. Karloff’s life and career were filled with sublime contradictions. The man who had terrified millions as Whale’s mute, lumbering creature was beloved by his friends and colleagues as the consummate English gentleman — articulate, elegant, and dignified.
Although Frankenstein made Karloff a household name, fame did not come easy for the 43-year-old actor. Of mixed English-Indian descent, Karloff was born Born William Henry Pratt in South London in 1887. The youngest son of a career diplomat, Karloff was groomed for a life of public service. However, young Billy Pratt had other plans. A quiet child, his bowed legs, dark complexion, and pronounced lisp made him an easy target for teasing from his peers. Eventually, Karloff found his calling in the theatre. At 21, he abandoned a life of privilege to take his chances on the stage as an itinerant actor, much to the disappointment of his family. Eventually, Karloff made his way to Canada where he worked digging ditches and clearing land for the British Columbia Electric Company while pursuing stage work.
Although Karloff made it to Hollywood, he would appear in at least 80 films before landing his breakout role in Frankenstein. Approaching middle-age, Karloff was on the cusp of stardom with a fresh lease on a 60-year career he could have hardly imagined.
BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER, the new documentary from director Thomas Hamilton (Leslie Howard: The Man Who Gave a Damn) and writer-producer Ron MacCloskey (who also happens to be one of the world’s foremost collectors of Frankenstein and Karloff memorabilia), brings the legendary actor into focus for a new generation of monster movie and horror fans. Through Hamilton and MacCloskey’s exhaustive research and interviews with Karloff’s daughter Sarah as well as admirers, scholars, and colleagues, including Guillermo del Toro, David J. Skal, and the late Peter Bogdanovich among others, BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER paints one of the most complete biographical portraits of the legendary actor ever produced.
Thomas Hamilton and Ron MacCloskey recently took time out of their busy schedules to discuss the film and why Karloff remains relevant to the horror genre over a half-century since his death.
Gentlemen, thanks for speaking with us today. Before we jump into BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER, tell me a little about how you discovered Boris Karloff’s work. Do you recall the first time you saw Karloff? What effect did he have on you?
Ron MacCloskey: I grew up in the ’60s. That was during the revival of all the horror films on TV. I distinctly remember John Zacherle was the host in the New York area. And he came on and he introduced us to all of these films. As a kid, I distinctly remember seeing Frankenstein on the screen, and it scared me, but I loved it! And I loved all the [classic horror] films. In my opinion, back in the ’60s, you didn’t sit there with a pad and write, “good,” “bad,” or “I liked it,” or “I hated it,” or whatever. You just loved ’em! You loved all of them. You loved the whole theme and all of the monsters. But, for some reason, I gravitated towards Frankenstein, specifically, and then to Boris Karloff. It was a thrill for me. I was about 7-years-old when I first saw [Frankenstein].
Thomas Hamilton: I was a bit older when I first encountered Boris Karloff. This would have been in the ’70s in Scotland. I used to keep a diary. There’s an entry in my diary, from, I think, 1976, and it just says, “Tonight, I watched The Walking Dead. It was great!” And it has a little drawing beside it of Boris Karloff in The Walking Dead with a great white streak in his hair. That was probably the first time I saw Boris Karloff. I didn’t actually see any of the Frankenstein films until a couple of more years after that. But he made a big impression on me just the same. There’s a scene in The Walking Dead where he’s playing the piano, and he suddenly sees the people in the room who have caused him to be sent to the death chamber. He’s been revived, and there’s this really chilling look on his face. It’s a wonderful piece of acting from Boris. And I love that film. He was major for me from that point on.
Overall, what is your favorite Boris Karloff performance?
TH: My favorite Karloff performance, I would say, is — that’s a hard one because there’s so many. The Body Snatcher has to be right up there. There’s so much nuance and depth to the character. I also love him in The Comedy of Terrors, which is a completely different thing. He’s a delight in that.
RM: That was one of the reasons that we made this movie. To let people know that it’s okay to have more than one favorite Boris Karloff film! Again, his depth of work was amazing. Not only on film but on radio and on television. For me, it’s really hard to pick. Obviously, Frankenstein because Frankenstein really changed his life and career. So that has to be included. Another film that I distinctly remember is The Black Room. Although I remember watching The Prisoner of Zenda with Ronald Coleman first. If you recall, in that film [Karloff] plays twins. I was amazed. How did they do that? But then, I saw The Black Room, and I said, “Oh, my God! This is really wonderful!” Between The Black Room and The Body Snatcher, I only wish that the Academy Awards had looked at the genre and said that these deserve recognition as well. I think [Karloff] should have been nominated for best actor for either one. They’re just great, great performances. And, of course, Targets. We could talk about Targets, too. Peter Bogdanovich was so brilliant and so smart to take two different genres and put them together. It was a great last film for Karloff. And it was his last American film …
TH: AHHHHH, RON! Not quite! Not quite! Think about it. Think about the four he made with Jack Hill. They were all shot in America.
RM: Well, technically. But they were Mexican films, right?
TH: (laughing) Ron and I have been like this all the way through. I’m sort of a “fact police” person. Sometimes, I have to go, “Ron! Ron! That’s not right!” But it’s true that Targets was his last completely American film. Ron, you are correct.
It was a great career that Boris Karloff had. The thing with making this film was that we were spoiled for choice, as I’m sure Ron will agree. There were so many things that we had to leave out. If you put everything in, it would just be clip after clip, and you wouldn’t have any other stories beyond that. We worked it out, so we still tell his story and show his parts.
How did BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER come about? What goes into a documentary of this scope?
TH: It started with Ron because he had always wanted to do something about Boris Karloff. When Ron initially contacted me and said would you be interested in doing Boris Karloff, I was actually starting another project at the time, and that was looking a bit challenging. As soon as Ron said, “Boris Karloff,” I thought, “Boris … ” I thought about his career and the arc of it from the silent era through the end of the ’60s and how he’s still relevant. It was just like, “Why wouldn’t I want to do Boris Karloff?” It was really a very easy decision.
RM: First of all, it’s really a lifelong love affair with this actor and these movies. I always felt that he just didn’t get a good shake. People didn’t look at him the way that I feel he should have been looked at. So in 1995, I decided to pick up a camera and just start interviewing people. And Sarah Karloff was one of the first. It was great. I had all these stories and all this inside information. The interesting thing is that the more you talk to people, the more you learn. Sarah was the first one to say that she learned so much more from the fans about her father because they told her stories about her father that she didn’t even know!
I literally used to sit every weekend and watch TV, watch Turner Classic Movies. We used to get involved in so many documentaries. I said, “Wow. [Karloff] would be great!” And I contacted them. And that’s what I did with Thomas. He did a wonderful film on Leslie Howard who was in Gone with the Wind and so many other films. [Thomas] told the story from the perspective of Leslie Howard’s daughter talking about her father. That’s what I wanted to do. I want to have Sarah tell the Karloff story. To make a long story short, three years ago, we hooked up, even though we’re an ocean apart. And it’s been great. Ever since then, everything has been put on the fast track. It was just wonderful meeting so many more people that knew and loved Karloff.
TH: It was a true adventure, I have to say.
Why are we still talking about Boris Karloff in the 21st century? What’s the key to his enduring appeal generation after generation?
TH: One of the things that makes Karloff special is that he almost never phoned in a performance. He always committed a hundred percent to every one of his projects. What that means is that he is fully present on the screen as an actor. I think because Karloff always brought so much humanity to what he did and really thought about it as an actor.
I’ll give you an example: In Son of Frankenstein, which in some respects is the least wonderful of the three movies that he made as the Monster — great film but it’s not quite up there with Bride and the first one — there are scenes in there that, despite being very brief, are utterly memorable. The moment when he catches his reflection in the mirror as he’s going towards Basil Rathbone. How he looks at his hand and his face. These are things that I’m not sure could have very much been written into the script beyond a suggestion. It’s what he does with those moments. You see that again and again through his work. That makes him memorable for all sorts of reasons, and that makes his work live.
Some actors, you feel that they are very much of their time. With Boris, you always feel that he’s very present. He was still wonderful in the ’60s. In fact, even better in a way because he was able to get more intimate as he got older.
RM: He achieved three things in his career. Most actors are lucky if they achieve one. Karloff achieved three. First of all, Frankenstein. It’s probably one of the greatest films ever made. I’m talking overall, everything, the images, and what Whale did and what Jack Pierce did. It’s just an amazing film. So that’s number one. Number two: He was on Broadway. The first play he did on Broadway was Arsenic and Old Lace in a part that was written just for him. It was on stage for four solid years. The third thing is he was the voice of the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. So every Christmas, that comes back out again, and people see that and love it.
And he was so well-loved. There was not one person that we talked to that said they did not enjoy him. He was so professional. He knew his lines. He knew what he was doing. And he was so accepting of young people. He embraced Peter Bogdanovich. He was so loved, and his work was so lasting. That’s why we still talk about him.
TH: One other thing I was just thinking about — the different parts that Ron mentioned there: the Grinch, the Frankenstein Monster, and, of course, Arsenic and Old Lace. Those parts, he really made his own. There have been so many remakes of Frankenstein. There have been several remakes of The Grinch. And there is no question that Frankenstein Monster and the Grinch are still Boris Karloff. He put an indelible stamp on any part that he played.
When you ask a hundred horror fans who the definitive screen Dracula was, depending on their generation and personal taste, you’re likely to hear either Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee. Yet, despite so many screen adaptations, Karloff remains the definitive Frankenstein monster.
RM: Speaking of all the different versions of Frankenstein, even an actor like Robert DeNiro couldn’t come close to Boris Karloff!
In your research for the film, were there any surprising facts that you learned about Karloff that you didn’t previously know?
TH: One of the interesting things was Karloff’s deep involvement in forming the Screen Actors Guild. Ron knew all about Boris Karloff when he and I got in contact. He had been passionate about him all his life. I knew the broad strokes of his career. I had many of his films, but I didn’t know the personal details so much. The facts about his involvement with the Screen Actors Guild were quite a revelation to me. And it was fascinating just to know that he was so involved from the very beginning. He was also quite courageous during the McCarthy era. He was very keen on unions and seeing actors being represented, and he would back people up. Ron did a wonderful interview with Lee Grant, which unfortunately isn’t in the film. Lee Grant was blacklisted in the 1950s. She appeared with Boris — unofficially — in a TV production called Even the Weariest River, which is fascinating. But, she also went backstage when he was playing in The Lark with a petition because she wanted to replace the people behind AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) because they were really aiding with the blacklisting, and she wanted to get some more liberal people in. People were actually afraid to sign this petition because it was kind of siding with the left-wing, and that could get you in trouble. Boris Karloff, she said, was so welcoming and said, “Of course, I’ll sign it.” And this was in 1955 or ’56 when that was still a risky thing. Things like that were quite enchanting to find out about Karloff.
RM: He just had wonderful career choices. Yeah, he made some films at Columbia that were low-grade or whatever. But he kept working. That was his philosophy: “I want to work. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to act. If I can act in film, I’ll act in film. If not, I’ll go to Broadway. And if not, I’ll do television.” He embraced live television because it was close to being back on stage. This man was nominated for a Tony, and he won a Grammy. He just did terrific work. All he wanted to do was act, and that is what he did.
The thing he did that I think some actors are starting to learn, is he embraced being typecast. He embraced being who he was. Instead of fighting it or going against it, he accepted it. If you look at his career he was allowed to do other things as well. But he really did embrace what had been given to him.
Christopher Plummer, Orson Bean, Dick Miller, and Peter Bogdanovich who are featured in BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER have all died within the last two years. We’re very lucky that you were able to get their thoughts on Karloff on film before their untimely deaths. Who else would you have liked to have spoken with about Karloff who is no longer with us or otherwise unavailable, and what would you have asked?
TH: There were a couple of people that we wanted to get. They weren’t people who were incredibly central to Karloff’s career, but, at one point, I wanted to interview William Conrad who was in The Wild, Wild West with Karloff, but he passed.
RM: Stephen King was who I would have really loved. He’s quoted as saying that Karloff’s Thriller TV series was the best horror anthology series ever on television. Another one was Martin Scorsese because not only is he a filmmaker, he’s a film historian. It would have been great to talk to them. And of course, Jack Nicholson. He worked with Karloff in The Terror.
TH: One of the things that really fired up this production when we started it in 2018 when we ran the Kickstarter campaign, I actually made a big point of saying that many of these people that we want to interview are in their late 80s and early 90s, and this will be the last chance for us to get their word on film. In the case of Dick Miller, we interviewed him just six or seven weeks before he passed. We were very, very fortunate. And he was great. He was so funny and very playful. He was frail but very into it and up for it.
Would the two of you be interested in teaming up again for another documentary about another iconic horror movie star?
RM: You’re working on something aren’t you, Thomas?
TH: I am. I’m actually starting work on a film about Vincent Price. His daughter, Victoria, approached me, and she wants something about her father. That’s an interesting project. We’re going to be having a talk tomorrow night. She and I have been talking about this for a couple of months now, kind of off-and-on. But it’s hard to get into it yet because there’s still so much going on with Boris.
There are still other bits and pieces of BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER that are still being wrapped up. Although the main film is done, we are still collaborating on the Blu-ray DVD, which is going to contain a lot of bonus features. As I said, we had to cut an awful lot of material out of the film. What we’re now piecing together is a companion piece which we’re calling The Rest of the Story that’s almost as long as the film itself. Again, there are many, many clips and many interviews, most of which you won’t have seen in the main film. Between us, we interviewed 54 people. 25 of those did not make it into the final version of BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER. So we had an awful lot of really good material to use. So, the collaboration continues. If the right thing came along, of course, we’d be open to talking about that. Still, we’re not quite done with Karloff.
RM: One actor I have always found fascinating and who had an interesting career is Peter Lorre.
TH: Peter Lorre! Indeed!
RM: Peter Lorre did so many things, and I don’t think there’s a lot about him on the personal side. I know he had a daughter, but not much else. So Peter Lorre would be a very interesting subject.
TH: [Peter Lorre] was a complicated man from what I know. I did like Orson Bean’s imitation of him when we were filming. (laughs) That will be in the bonus features — don’t worry!
BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN BEHIND THE MONSTER is available now on Shudder