a gay old time

A haunted Ian McKellen and a himbo Brendan Fraser brought this celebrated gay biopic to life

Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser in 'Gods And Monsters'
Image Credit: ‘Gods And Monsters,’ Getty Images

Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we revisit Gods And Monsters, a more recent film that turns the lens on gay Hollywood history from nearly a century ago.

A few years ago, during an interview with Buzzfeed News, Sir Ian McKellen mentioned (maybe as a joke, maybe not) that he would like the inscription on his tombstone to read: “Here lies Gandalf. He came out.”

In just six words, he was able to capture perfectly the two things he wanted to be most vividly remembered for: embodying one of the most emblematic characters in both literature and film, and living as an openly gay man.

Although it was probably meant as a throwaway joke in an otherwise quite moving conversation, the idea of having a choice in how we want to be remembered is one that’s remarkably present throughout Gods And Monsters, the 1998 biopic that stands as (arguably) McKellen’s most acclaimed star vehicle.

The film closely follows a man who struggles with what he wants to leave behind after his death, the way other people remember him, and how he is able (and in some ways, also very much unable) to look back at his own life.

The Set-Up

Gods and Monsters is based on the novel Father Of Frankenstein by Christopher Bram, following the last days in the life of James Whale, the director behind two of the most iconic and lasting films in cinematic history: Frankenstein and Bride Of Frankenstein.

After suffering a stroke, Whale (McKellen) finds himself somewhat trapped in his Hollywood mansion with his maid, Hanna (Lynn Redgrave). When a rugged, handsome gardener named Clayton (Brendan Fraser, playing what is perhaps the most essential distillation of a himbo) starts keeping him company, Whale is forced to look back at his life’s decisions, the unbearable loneliness that now consumes him, and what his legacy has become.

Old Hollywood Melodrama

Ian McKellen and The Bride Of Frankenstein in 'Gods And Monsters'
Image Credit: ‘Gods And Monsters,’ Lionsgate FIlms

Whale is incredibly aware of the incredible cultural imprint that his Frankenstein movies have had on culture, and he’s well aware that the monster (its image, its iconography, its story) will be what people remember him for. But he doesn’t necessarily love that.

When young student and cinephile Edmund Kay (Jack Plotnick) comes to interview him early in the film, Whale is slightly disappointed that all he seems to want to hear are anecdotes about their filming. Edmund later becomes an aid to infamous director George Cukor, and during a party they are throwing for Princess Margaret, he stages an awkward reunion between Whale and the stars of his movies, Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester.

For the attendees, it is a historic moment. For Whale, it is a painful reminder of the time that has gone by, and how he has been unable to outpace the monster. At one point he even mentions that he tried to do other movies (“movies that mattered”), and no one showed up for those. All Hollywood saw was Frankenstein.

Haunted By The Past

Ian McKellen and a shirtless Brendan Fraser in 'Gods And Monsters'
Image Credit: ‘Gods And Monsters,’ Lionsgate FIlms

There was so much more to him and his life, and that’s what haunts Whale in his final days. As his health deteriorates and he slips in and out of consciousness (he is told early on that the strokes caused an electricity cloud in his mind), his memories rush back all at once, reminding him of everything he was and everything he no longer is: his impoverished childhood in London, the camaraderie (and closeness) between soldiers in the trenches of World War I, the joy of shooting his movies, the naked young men that inundated his house.

These lucid memories also place Whale into the imagery of the cinematic worlds he created, which he’s worked so hard to distance himself from. He sees himself in iconic scenes from the movies (with Clayton as the Mad Doctor), as images of thunder, electricity, and detached creatures desperate to connect follow him around. Whale sees warped reflections of himself in Frankenstein, in both the monster and the Doctor who created him.

A Monster In Out Of The Closet

Director Bill Condon (a few years before he cemented himself in queer cinema canon with the adaptations of Chicago and Dreamgirls) understands how hard it is to untangle the allegory of a misunderstood creature from Whale’s (and, if we want to go a level further, McKellen’s) own queerness.

Whale never tries to hide his sexual proclivities. In fact, he is rather open about them with anyone that will ask—some would say even predatory. Like with any other number of public figures of the time in Old Hollywood, it was an open secret, and one that was deeply ingrained in Whale’s personality and identity.

At many points it seems that is the thing he wants (longs, aspires) to be remembered for: the way he lived openly, the way he loved, chased, and indulged—even if it left him alone in the end. Even if that made him a monster in the eyes of others. But he understood monsters. He wanted to be remembered as the monster, not as the Doctor.

Award-Winning Legacy

Ian McKellen in 'Gods And Monsters'
Image Credit: ‘Gods And Monsters,’ Getty Images

Gods and Monsters garnered great critical acclaim and was a high point in both Bill Condon and Ian McKellen’s careers. Condon won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. McKellen received his first Oscar nomination for the role, though it gave him the somewhat pitiable distinction of being (to this day) the only openly gay actor to get nominated for playing an openly gay character.

It is fascinating to see and compare the legacy of James Whale through Ian McKellen’s performance, specially through the actor’s imaginary tombstone. He claimed that he wants to be remembered for the character he helped create and for his sexuality. And that is exactly what James Whale is remembered for almost a century later.

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