Book Review: BORRIS KARLOFF: THE MAN REMEMBERED By Gordon B. Shriver

I’m a huge fan of the highly regarded character actor Borris Karloff whom most people will remember played the immortal character of Frankenstein’s monster in the James Whale directed film Frankenstein (1931) but I remember him most from another Whale’s film The Old Dark House (1932) and Scarface (1932), which are both two of my all time favorite films. In writer Gordon B. Shiver’s book Borris Karloff: The Man Remembered we get a look at who the man – Karloff, really was through some of the stories told about him and from conversations recalled by the people who met and worked with him.

Shriver’s book is a very basic account of Karloff’s life not only in films but in radio, commercials voice over, and just about anything else that he could get his hands on. Karloff is described in the book as a very soft spoken person whom people loved to work with and was well liked by everyone. If there was anything disheartening about the man it’s that he over worked himself up until the day that he died but working on films no mater how great or how small was the greatest joy that the man ever felt.

Although Shriver has a very dry way of putting down the life of Karloff it is befitting a man that was so well admired and respected among his peers even though the industry itself was not always kind to him. Karloff starred in every known type of film and genre but was always known as the man who played Frankenstein’s monster and thus never escaped that image which marked his career even though he starred in such films as The Strange Door (1951), Black Sabbath (1964), and most importantly Targets (1968).

Although the book is short it is concise and to the point and a very easy read for those who know little about the man and just are curious. For those who know much about the man already, the book may seem a little repetitive and mundane but the book is filled with 15 pages of photos throughout his career and has an extensive list of all the projects and productions that Karloff was ever involved it. This alone is worth picking up the book.