Download PDF One Man Crazy ! the Life and Death of Colin Clive Hollywood Dr Frankenstein Gregory Mank 9781936168811 Books

Product details Paperback 378 pages Publisher Midnight Marquee Press, Inc. (November 29, 2018) Language English ISBN-10 1936168812

One Man Crazy ! the Life and Death of Colin Clive Hollywood Dr Frankenstein Gregory Mank 9781936168811 Books Reviews

• This new biography of actor COLIN CLIVE--Dr. Frankenstein in 1931 film--is so carefully researched by Mr. Mank that it truly boggles the mind! A first-rate read by a first-rate biographer. Dennis Yancey
• Two Greg Mank books in such quick succession...first LAIRD CREGAR and now this. It’s a bounty of biographical beauty, buddies! And Colin Clive is such a delectable subject for close Mank-spection an actor who repeatedly dragged himself up the rickety ladder of mania in his roles. I wouldn’t be surprised to look up “high-strung” in the dictionary and see Clive’s picture.
  
  I won’t keep you in suspense… this is another winner. A wonderful book, a delight to read even when the subject matter was painful.
  
  Fifteen words into the book I had to put it down and compose myself. Those fifteen words were a dedication to the author’s late son. Maybe just because I’m a father myself, but those few words really got to me.
  
  I appreciated that, in his Preface, Mank states blankly that he’ll be referring to Clive’s most famous role as “Dr. Frankenstein” though he knows that’s not technically correct. Way to be upfront, dude.
  
  An unfortunate typo causes some momentary confusion in Chapter One. We are presented with an impossible date of 1989, when Mank intends, I assume, either 1898 or 1899. In the grand scheme of storytelling it makes little difference, but at least it shows that I was paying attention. So, gold star for me.
  
  That was also the single, one and only typo I noticed in the entire book.
  
  Apparently, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE started shooting at Paramount on the very same day that FRANKENSTEIN got underway at Universal. I say “apparently” because Greg Mank very cleverly phrases it juuuuuust so, allowing himself some deniability, just in case. Or so it seems to one suspicious reader (who shall remain unnamed).
  
  Those not impressed by a certain actor who turned up in a few horror films will be amused by a review which Mank quotes of the film NELL GWYN “Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who can’t have won his title by acting…” Ha!
  
  “Piggy-eyed Miriam Hopkins…” Piggy-eyed? Really? Note this opinion belongs to the book’s author and does not reflect the opinion of your horrified commentator.
  
  Mank’s book has produced a minor miracle I find myself inspired/required, as I never expected to be, to re-watch THE CAT CREEPS. This sad thing was the last, sputtering, slow-leaking entry in the then-flat tire which had been the Universal Horror Golden Age. DRACULA 1931 -- THE CAT CREEPS 1946. R.I.P.
  And now I’m going to revisit that pitiful fade-out. Why would I subject myself to this? Read the book to find out. (And thanks a whole heckuva big heap for this, Mr. Mank.)
  
  As I noted in the Laird Cregar biography, nobody has ever written/compiled such interesting filmographies as Gregory Mank. The entry for FRANKENSTEIN in this book’s deep and fascinating filmography includes Mary Gordon amongst the “Mourners”. This is something I’ve read elsewhere a time or two and have always questioned. Since this comes from Greg Mank hisownself, I’m going to accept it...but I’m not happy about it. And...pssst...keep this quiet -- truthfully, “acceptance” or no, I’m not entirely convinced.
  
  The book is also copiously illustrated with a healthy ton of photos, many, perhaps most of them, totally unfamiliar. Such photos would make even a lesser volume worth the investment.
  
  It’s no surprise that the book comes to a sad ending. Whose story does not end badly? Of course, this sad ending isn’t just the death of our leading character. It’s the slow, painful self-destructive spiral that has the reader shaking his head in pity and, almost, anger. I wanted to scream at Colin Clive to get his act together. But, of course, that’s the thought of someone looking in from decades later, someone who has never had to deal with the demons which haunted our beloved “Doctor” Frankenstein.
  
  Clive was a terrific actor and a sad human. Greg Mank’s book is a wonderful, suitably intense, and endlessly fascinating monument to that unfortunate man. Just beautiful.
• Gregory Mank may be the best in the field of current biographers of film actors. His latest work, about the tragic Colin Clive, is one of his best. Ravaged by alcohol, nasty gossip about his private life and his own personal demons, Clive is treated compassionately by Mank, whose research has uncovered startling facts about Clive's past, his life, both professional and private. The death of Colin and its aftermath is examined, as well as the legacy that this sensitive actor left to posterity. Truly an excellent work that comes highly recommended.