Karloff, the Gentle Monster (2006 Video) User Reviews

By any other name, would William Henry Pratt . . .

[pixrox1 · 8/10 · 11 June 2013]

. . . smell less like a rose? You betcha. Try "Boris Karloff." Frankenstein's Monster would get laughed out of the 'hood if it had a "William Henry Pratt" by-line. The grandnephew of the lady who was the real-life Anna of THE KING AND I fame (and upon whose memoirs that musical is based), Bill was teased mercilessly during his prep years in London because he stuttered and lisped, so he fled to Canada. Unable to hack it in the mines and logging camps there, this black sheep of the Pratt family of foreign service officers adopted the new name of "Boris Karloff" and capitalized on it and his gaunt looks to play outsiders first on stage, and then on film. Due to his childhood condition, he preferred non-speaking roles, which is why he initially mutinied against the idea of Frankenstein's monster learning to speak in the 1935 sequel to FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. The historical irony in all of this is that the film record shows the grown, "Boris Karloff" version of this cast-off London waif is actually better spoken than most of today's celebrities and politicians. KARLOFF, THE GENTLE GIANT goes over some of this background material on the man who would become Frankenstein's monster, but is focused mostly on the public face of things. Yet if there's a boy with a lisp among your relatives or circle of acquaintance, be sure to cheer him up with a steady diet of Boris Karloff and Humphrey Bogart classics!

They don't make actors like this any more.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 14 February 2017]

Be preferable to Lugosi over Karloff or can't miss a Vincent Price film festival, you cannot admit that Karloff has an equal place, if not higher in some opinions, as one of the kings of the macabre. He was more than just Frankenstein's monster; he was the mummy, many mad scientists, a few devil like characters, yet somehow touchingly sympathetic. This documentary documents his struggles as a character actor, his rise to fame with Universal's horror films, to the king of horror in the 40's as Lugosi struggled at poverty row. Karloff took his typecasting in stride, and it comes out in his performances. This doesn't deal much with outside the horror genre, and it would have been nice had it brought up his stage career. It does touch on "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Peter Pan", but immediately goes back to Hollywood and the great Val Lewton films of the mid 1940's. Karloff managed to work until the end, whether on stage, TV or movies, and his legend remains strong to this day.

An interesting documentary about one of the best movie stars of all time.

[joung37 · 10/10 · 20 February 2011]

Boris Karloff first started out as a person that lived with a good family while he was growing up, but his life was unlucky most of the time, until he stared as the monster in "Frankenstein" (1931) at the age of 43 years old. In this documentary, a lot of people, such as Richard Gordon, Joe Dante, and many other guys discuss a lot about Karloff's life during his acting career. From "Frankenstein" to "Targets" (1968), he has been in many good movies, and has become one of the greatest movie stars of all time. If you ever see the "Frankenstein 75th Anniversary Edition" DVD in any stores or on the internet, that is where this documentary is found on. Watching this documentary will be well worth your time and you might know a little more about Boris Karloff's life.

Nice Documentary on Karloff

[Michael_Elliott · 26 July 2015]

Karloff: The Gentle Monster (2006)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Gregory W. Mank, Kim Newman, Joe Dante and Richard Gordon are just some of the familiar faces on display in this very good documentary taking a look at Boris Karloff. The majority of the 38 minute running time is devoted to his Frankenstein monster performances with FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. His rivalry with Bela Lugosi is discussed as well as his success on Broadway, TARGETS and THE BODY SNATCHER. If you're not overly familiar with Karloff then this is a very good documentary that will introduce you to some of his best movies. Fans of the legendary actor probably won't learn anything new here but the interviews are still a lot of fun. It's also worth noting that the majority of the time is devoted to his horror movies so it would be nice for a longer documentary that covered all aspects of his career.