Boris Karloff was born on 23 November 1887 in London, England. In 1909, he moved to Canada. And until 1959, he worked there and (increasingly) in the United States. He spent the last decade of his life back in England.
What can I say about Karloff? I said a bit already in my article about Bela Lugosi. I’ve been clear that I’m much more of a fan of Karloff. Part of that is surely that I’m just not a big vampire fan. So I’m not that interested in Lugosi’s signature role. Compare that to Karloff’s signature roles: Frankenstein and the mummy. I love those! Bride of Frankenstein and The Mummy are two of my very favorite films.
But the two actors are very different in their skills. Lugosi was made for the stage. Karloff was a better screen actor. A lot of his work was very subtle. In his most iconic roles, he doesn’t have a lot to work with. He could also go broad and over-the-top — like he did in The Raven. Of course, I could say the same about Lugosi. He was also great. It’s just a question of degrees.
But mostly, Karloff was simply in better films. As a result, I’m tempted to highlight the 1940 film, The Ape. Michael Weldon wrote of it:
Karloff plays another kindly doctor, trying to cure a polio victim. He needs human spinal fluid for the miracle serum, so kills an escaped circus gorilla, skins it (off-screen), and disguised as the ape goes after more spines. What a brilliant idea! Nobody would notice a gorilla killing people. And you thought only Bela Lugosi made movies this dumb.
You really should watch it! Archive has a decent print of it. But I want to present The Black Room. It is far better. Plus, he plays a dual role as twin brothers. Happy birthday, Boris Karloff!
Boris Karloff (1913) via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.
