The Singular Case of Basil Rathbone
1939 was a good YEAR FOR Basil Rathbone.
he was Hollywood’s NO 1 MOVIE villain. HAD TWO OSCAR NOMINATIONS AND WAS
THE MAN AUDIENCES LOVED TO HATE IN “DAVID COPPERFIELD”, Captain Blood”,
ADVENTURES of Robin Hood”, “A Tale of Two Cities”, and “Love from a Stranger”.
AND HE WAS THE HIGHEST PAID FREELANCE IN HOLLYWOOD. BUT HE LONGED FOR
A MAJOR, SYmpathetic “STAR” role, LIKE THOSE HE PLAYED IN HIS stage career.
SO WHEN DARRYL ZANUCK OFFERED HIM SHERLOCK HOLMES, HE JUMPED AT THE CHANCe.
THEN UNIVERSAL APPROACHED HIM TO PLAY LEAD (aND TItLE ROLE) IN “SON OF FRANKENSTEIN”,
THEIR BIG BUDGET REVIVAL OF THE HORROR FILM. RATHBONE HAD ACHIEVED HIS WISH.
BUT HE DIDN’T LIKE HORROR AND SHUDDERED AT THE IDEA OF BEING SEEN AS A HORROR ACTOR.
.
However HE LIKED THE DIRECTOR, THIS FRANKESTEIN WAS HEROIC, and as always,
he needed the money
THESE TWO, AND A FURTHER HOLMES THE SAME YEAR, SEALED RATHBONE’S PLACE
In THE HEARTS OF FILM FANS. BUT WERE HIS HOPES FOR 1939 FULFILLED.
FIND OUT IN THE SINGULAR CASE OF BASIL RATHBONE.
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It needn’t cost an arm and a leg AND you’LL share credit for helping bring this project to life,
AS WELL AS ANY PROFITS (!!)
VISIT THE IGNITION GROUP PAGE fOR MORE INFORMATION.
Reluctant Horror Icons
Horror films haVE the ability to TRANSFORM THE CAREERS
of those WHO APPEAr in them. ONCE UNknown actors
like BORIS Karloff and Lin Shaye WERE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE a previously
UNKOWN talent TO CHILL… and QUICKLY ROSE TO FAME.
But DESPITE THE BENEFITS, HORROR STARDOM COULD RESEMBLE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL.
BECOME ToO IDENTIFIED WITH THE GENRE AND PRODUCERS WOULDN’T
CONSIDER THEM FOR ANYtHING OTHER THAN HORROR OR SCI-FI
SINCE HORROR WENT IN AND OUT OF FASHION, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO DIVERSIFY
AND MANY SIMPLY AVOIDED THE GENRE ENTIRELY - BUT ACTORS NEED TO WORK.
Colin Clive, Claude Rains, Henry Hull & Duane Jones
(BEN in Night of the Living Dead) ALL made A HUgE impact in
an initial horror or SCI-FI role. but FOR VARIOUS REASONS NONE
WANTED FURTHER ASSOCIATION with HoRROR THEMES AND STORIes
we examine these players, the Qualities they brought to the
roles THAT GAVE THEM CINEMA immortality, their attitude
to the genre AND ATTEMPTSsuccessful or otherwise,
to escape from THEIR PeCULIAR FAUSTIAN PACT.