Gods and Monsters

Ian McKellen is outstanding as James Whale, best known as the director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein in the thirties. As movies changed, Whale did not. Gods and Monsters follows Whale, an open homosexual, through his last fleeting days. Brendan Fraser, as Clayton, Whale’s handsome gardener, is our tour guide. In spite of Whale’s eccentric and often lecherous behavior, Clayton sticks by his side. This simple tale of friendship is one of the tightest films of 1998.