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Karloff
Karloff | Peter Underwood
5 posts | 1 read
Boris Karloff was the most famous of all horror actors. His memorable portrayal of the Frankenstein monster added a new word to English dictionaries. This new edition of the first biography (published in 1972) - containing a new 'Foreword' by Eric McNaughton as well as a special piece about the book by grandson Ben Underwood, reveals that Karloff (whose real name was William Henry Pratt) was not born at Dulwich, London, as stated in all the reference books. People have been traced who remember young 'W H P', as he liked to call himself, when he played his first stage part, and in this fascinating story there are many delightful examples of the quiet, unassuming and lovable Billy Pratt before he received a legacy from his mother and tossed a sixpence to see whether he would emigrate to Canada or Australia. Canada won. In 1909 he sailed from Liverpool. The book tells of his hard, impoverished life in Canada before answering a chance advertisement (for 'an experienced character actor') in the name of Boris Karloff, Karloff being a distant family name, and of his eventual touring of western Canada and the northern States of America. In 1917 he found himself in Los Angeles - in a district with the magic name of Hollywood. We follow Karloff's career from stage work to his early films. We learn of his classic creation of the screen monster Frankenstein: the origin of the story; the casting of Karloff; the conception of the unforgettable monster make-up; the filming; the preview (to which Karloff was not invited) and the overwhelming success of this most famous of all horror films. Then came the aftermath of Frankenstein and the success story of Karloff in such memorable films as The Mummy, The Mask of Fu Manchu, the banned Devil's Island and the haunting The Body Snatchers: scores of films of all kinds with little-known facts and side-lights on many of them, right up to the moving performance he gave in Targets. His later stage, radio and television work are all examined in close detail. This work, the result of over four years' research, includes a Discography of recordings made by Karloff, and a unique Appendix, giving a full, chronological record of one hundred and sixty-three films in which he appeared. It also contains many striking photographs.
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review
mdolan995
Karloff | Peter Underwood
Mehso-so

Some of it is attributed to the editing I‘m sure, but Underwood‘s writing seems very back and forth in time and occasionally confusing. His profuse praise for Karloff takes away some of the legitimacy of the writing; I personally prefer biographies that are neutral and unbiased. Overall it is a good piece to learn about Karloff, but not very professional.

quote
mdolan995
Karloff | Peter Underwood

The vivid imagination with which a child is gifted is far more receptive to the ingredients in these pictures than the adult imagination which merely finds them artificial. Because they have vivid imaginations we must not underestimate children...they know far more than we think they do.

blurb
mdolan995
Karloff | Peter Underwood

I‘m about halfway through the book. It feels a little unprofessional; it‘s a very biased biography that almost worships Karloff. I prefer reading biographies that are direct and unbiased so this feels odd and hails Karloff as if he were the only horror acting force out there in the 30s. We‘ll see how the other half proceeds.

quote
mdolan995
Karloff | Peter Underwood

...when I am asked if these films are harmful to children, my answer is always the same: so Grimms‘ fairytales do any harm to children? I never heard of fairytale books being used in evidence in a juvenile delinquency court!

quote
mdolan995
Karloff | Peter Underwood

(Boris described himself in his youth as) a nuisance who didn‘t have any brains and didn‘t do any work and was always getting into trouble of one sort and another.