Mank has carved out a strong reputation as a writer on the Golden Years of Classic Hollywood horror, with tomes on Karloff and Lugosi, Dwight Frye and others. This is short but comprehensive look at the making of the 1934 Universal classic which brought Karloff and Lugosi together for the first time, covering the film's inception, scripting, casting, filming, post production, censorship troubles, Alisteir Crowley influence, etc.
Most of all it looks at the tortured/feverish/however you want to describe it genius of Edgar Ulmer, who was the real auteur of this film, rewarding Universal with their biggest hit of 1934... only to be blackballed in the industry, in part because he defied Carl Laemle but also because he ran off with the wife of one of Laemle's nephews.
After the book on The Invisible Man I was a little disappointed we didn't get the shooting script and the kindle edition I read of this was all chopped up. But it's a bright, entertaining book that made me want to go straight out and watch the film again.
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