"In the name of God - now I know what it feels like to be God!" These lines spoken by Colin Clive in Frankenstein (1931) give one an insight to the type of character that this actor is renowned for portraying in horror films. As Henry Frankenstein in both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and as Stephen Orlac in Mad Love (1935), Clive is remembered for being emotionally high-strung, megalomaniacal, tortured, brooding, and very intense. How well does this characterisation of Colin Clive, the actor, fit Colin Clive, the man?

Colin Clive was born at St. Malo in Northern France on January 20, 1900. He was the son of Colonel Colin Clive-Greig and a descendant of the prestigious Lord Robert Clive, who helped firmly establish the British Empire in India. The young Colin planned to follow the family tradition of a career in the military. He attended Stonyhurst College and then enrolled at Sandhurst, the Royal Military College at Woolwich, England. It was here at Great Britain's equivalent of West Point that Clive studied military tactics and skills as a cadet, until he dreams of becoming an officer were abruptly shattered. Colin met with an unfortunate accident on riding maneuvers when his horse fell and Clive plummeted to the ground, breaking his knee. Although the knee healed so as not to incapacitate him for civilian life, the disability was enough to disqualify Clive from a commission in the British army.

The accident proved to be the turning point in his life, as Clive turned to the stage and commenced studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his theatrical debut at London's Garrick Theatre on November 12, 1919, as Claude in "The Eclipse." Clive next embarked on a provincial tour that saw him featured in such productions as "The Law Divine," "Brown Sugar," "What Might Happen," and "Paddy, the Next Best Thing." From 1922 through 1925, Colin further refined his craft with the Hull Civic Repertory Theatre.

Clive then appeared in three consecutive plays at the "Q" Theatre: as Daniels in "Conflict" (11/25), in the role of Sheridan Cleaver in "The House of Unrest" (12/25), and as both Hutchinson and Arthur in "The Long Lane" (1/26). Colin moved on to London's famed Drury Lane to play Edward Hawley in "Rose Marie." He followed this in May 1926 at the Apollo as Captain Wilbraham in "Getting Mother Married."

Also in 1926, Clive co-authored a play entitled "Let's Leave It At That" with a young actress named Jeanne de Casalis. The two, who also played the lead roles in this production, would be married in June, 1929. "Let's Leave It At That" opened on the West End at the Prince of Wales' Theatre in April 1929, but another actor had to take over for Clive in the role of Michael Stern. Colin was involved at the time in the play that would make him a star - "Journey's End."

Clive's stage career continued on the upswing in 1927-28. He portrayed St. John Levening in "Fire" at the Everyman (7/27) and returned to Drury Lane to play Steve in the major production of "Showboat" (5/28). Clive was then seen at the Embassy in "Yellow Streak" (9/28) as the Hon. Anthony Deering.

Fate then took another interesting turn in Clive's favor. He had just finished  appearing at the Savoy as James Haviland in "The Dark Path" (11/28) for the Lyceum Club Stage Society. The Savoy was next to be the setting for the Maurice Brown production of "Journey's End" (1/29). The play combined the talents of dramatist R. C. Sherriff and upcoming director James Whale. Laurence Olivier, who was already fairly established on London's West End, assayed the lead role of Captain Stanhope when the work was given its initial Sunday night tryout. Olivier, however, could not stay with the company as he had also been chosen for the lead in "Beau Geste," which was expected to be a very successful play.

Whale had noticed Clive in some of his performances and invited him to audition for the role of Stanhope. Sherriff remembered, "Although we tried dozens of others, Colin's rendering of the script was so full of understanding and conviction that we all felt that he was the only one who could fill the part." As it turned out, "Beau Geste" was a flop, while "Journey's End" was a phenomenal success. Certainly Clive's upbringing and education gave him a keen insight to the military that few young actors could match. "Such was his personality that we all felt that he was the Company Commander to his fellow actors, as well as in the part," Sherriff added.

In November 1929, independent Tiffany Studios announced that they had obtained film rights to Sherriff's masterwork and would be co-producing the celluloid version with England's Gainsborough Studios. James Whale was working at the time in Hollywood as dialogue director for Howard Hughes' Hell's Angels and was recruited by Tiffany to hopefully repeat his stage success in directing his first film. George Pearson, the famed British director of the silent era who was serving as the supervisor on Journey's End, and Whale both insisted on Colin Clive for the role of Captain Dennis Stanhope. After viewing numerous inadequate screentests, the studio bosses conceded and arrangements were made to bring Clive over from London. The company, however, was limited to a six-week shooting schedule, as Clive had to be back in England to fulfil his theatrical commitments.

Journey's End (1930) was very well received by both the critics and the public. The film was set in a dug-out on the Western Front during the latter days of World War I. Captain Stanhope (Clive), a three year veteran of the fighting, has turned to liquor to bolster his courage. A new officer, 2nd Lt. Raleigh (David Manners), is placed in his charge. Raleigh happens to be the brother of Stanhope's sweetheart and a worshipper of the captain as well, but Stanhope resents the young man's presence. Stanhope carries himself in an intrepid but cold manner, until a moving scene wherein he confronts 2nd Lt. Hibbert (Anthony Bushell) about malingering to avoid fighting. The captain shows himself as quite human, as he confesses his own fears and relates how he now relies on the bottle to steel his nerves. Following a raid in which the beloved, philosophical Lt. Osborne (Ian MacLaren) is killed, Stanhope becomes more and more antagonistic toward Raleigh. Eventually, Raleigh, too, is brought into the dug-out mortally wounded and Stanhope must deal with both his guilt and grief as the lad dies. The film ends as Stanhope leaves the dug-out to report to Lt. Trotter (Billy Bevan), as shells explode all around. The screen becomes progressively darker until there is only the light from a candle flickering. At the conclusion, all is black as the candle goes out, symbolising Stanhope's demise.

Mordaunt Hall, in reviewing Journey's End for "The New York Times," remarked, "On the whole Mr. Clive's performance is magnificent. Even in the close-ups his facial expressions are perfectly in keeping with the mood of the moment." Edward C. Stein of "The Brooklyn Standard Union" wrote, "His (Clive's) performance of the nerve-wracked, whiskey-soaked, yet thoroughly admirable captain defies superlatives. The part is made to order for him and if you miss seeing his portrayal you are missing one of the finest performances of this or any other season."

Clive returned to the London stage as Michael Shannon in "Forty-Seven" (2/30) at the Prince of Wales' for the Stage Society. In April 1930, he appeared as Laertes in an "all star" revival of "Hamlet" at the Haymarket Theatre. Cedric Hardwicke played the first gravedigger in this production. Clive next portrayed Professor St. Nicholas Agi in "The Swan" (6/30) at the St. James. Maurice Evans took over this role when Colin accepted an offer to appear in the Gainsborough film The Stronger Sex, which was released in February 1931.

The Stronger Sex had Clive as Warren Barrington, a miner who marries Adrianne Allen for her money. Right after their wedding, Barrington's wife finds out that he is still seeing another woman (Renee Clama), so she rejects him for the love of John (Martin Lewis), another mine worker. Warren tries to win her back, becoming sullen and neglectful of his work when he is unable to do so. There is a cave-in at the mine and John goes to Warren's aid. Both are trapped with only one gas mask between them. Barrington realises that it is John whom his wife really loves, so he knocks the man out and places the gas mask on him. The fumes eventually cuase Barrington to succumb. Of note in this film is that Elsa Lanchester has a small, comic role. In just a few years, she and Clive would be both featured in one of the greatest works of the cinema of horror, Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Colin then embarked via luxury liner to the United States to make his American theatrical debut at the Longacre in "Overture" (12/5/30). He received good notices as Karl Ritter in this drama of post-war Germany. Clive returned to London to be the Apparition in "The Romantic Young Lady" (4/31) at the Embassy. This was followed by his portrayal of Christopher Merryman in "The Crime at Blossoms" (5/31) at the Playhouse.

Following its success with Dracula (1931), Universal Pictures was preparing Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein for the screen. Originally, Robert Florey was slated to direct, Bela Lugosi to be the monster, and Leslie Howard and Bette Davis to play the young doctor and his fiancé. When Florey was taken off the picture, James Whale was brought in to direct. He then cabled Clive and informed him that he was wanted for the starring role of Dr. Henry Frankenstein.

William K. Everson, in Classics of the Horror Film, states that Clive"… made a perfect, dedicated, frenzied, tortured Frankenstein." Frankenstein (1931) opens as Henry and his hunch-backed assistant Fritz (Dwight Frye) eagerly view a burial service. After everyone departs, the two spring into action and unearth the fresh corpse. Henry and Fritz next come upon a gallows and the doctor forces the dwarf to cut the hanging body down. After Fritz steals a brain from a medical college, Frankenstein readies his experiment as the storm rises. Henry exclaims, "This storm will be magnificent - all the electrical secrets of heaven!"

The doctor and Fritz are interrupted, however, by Henry's fiancé (Mae Clarke), his friend Victor Moritz (John Boles), and his former professor Dr. Waldman (Edward Van Sloan). Henry gives into their pleas for shelter from the storm, but begs that they leave and not spoil his work. Victor calls him "inhuman" and "crazy," with Henry reacting, "Crazy am I? You'll see whether I'm crazy or not! Come on up." Henry brings them to his laboratory stating that he has disproved Waldman's teachings and "discovered the great ray that first brought life into the world." When Waldman scoffs about bringing life to the dead, Dr. Frankenstein rebuffs that the body in question has never lived. "I made it with my own hands from the bodies I took from the graves, from the gallows, anywhere!," Henry continues.

Henry and Fritz check all the equipment and raise the platform with Frankenstein's creation strapped to it skyward. Following a great blast of lightning, the body is lowered. Frankenstein exults in a moment of great intensity, "It's alive, it's alive!" Henry continues to revel in ecstacy until Victor and Dr. Waldman finally have to control him.

Henry is later seen talking to Waldman about the "creature." Waldman informs him that the brain that Fritz sole from the lecture hall was abnormal - that of a criminal, but this unexpected bit of news doesn't concern Henry. In a marvellously shot sequence, the monster enters the room and Frankenstein tells it to sit. Fritz follows with a torch and the creature (Boris Karloff) reacts hostilely and has to be subdued. Henry and Waldman banter about what must be done as Fritz is murdered offscreen. The two doctors rush to see what has happened and grapple with the fiend, eventually sedating it. Just then, Victor arrives with news that Henry's father (Frederick Kerr), gruff old Baron Frankenstein, is approaching. The Baron arrives and demands to see his son, while Waldman tries to stall him. Elizabeth (Clarke) finds Henry just as he collapses, blaming himself for Fritz's death.

Henry returns to his father's house and readies himself for his marriage to Elizabeth. On their wedding day, however, the monster kills Waldman, drowns a little girl (Marilyn Harris), and arrives in town. The creature enters the Frankenstein home and comes upon Elizabeth. She faints as the field escapes through the window. Beside himself, Henry decides to join the burgomaster (Lionel Belmore) and his posse to destroy what he has created. Henry leads one group of men to the mountains and, temporarily separated from them, comes across the monster on top of a hill. The creator and created struggle, with Dr. Frankenstein being rendered unconscious. The monster carries Henry to a windmill, which is besieged by the angry villagers. Awakening, Henry confronts the creature again and is thrown to an apparent death, bounding off a blade of the windmill to the ground. The structure is then burned to the ground and the monster supposedly destroyed with it. A happy ending was tacked on in which the Frankenstein servants toast Henry's recovery with the Baron.

"The New York Times" commented, "He (Clive) succeeds in impressing upon one the earnestness and also the sanity of the scientist." Perhaps the portrayal could be construed as too histrionic by today's standards, but it was a powerful and believable performance of a difficult role. The part of Dr. Henry Frankenstein would forever establish Clive as one of the immortals of the horror genre.

After returning to England, Clive was unfortunate enough to be involved in another serious riding accident. His horse fell while attempting to jump a gate near Charing, Maidstone, in early December 1931. Clive was thrown heavily and fractured his hip. His recovery, though, was fairly rapid. Colin was quite a sportsman. Aside from his riding skills, he was adroit at soccer, golf, and tennis.

Clive's next screen venture was Lily Christine (1932) for Paramount-British. Colin was Rupert Harvey, a young novelist, who is married to Anne Grey. Rupert, a naïve, simple man, spends an innocent night with Lily (Corinne Griffith), but her husband (Jack Trevor) tries to use this meeting as evidence for divorce. With both marriages in turmoil, Lily tries to explain the truth to Harvey's wife and attempts suicide when this effort fails.

Clive spent the summer of 1932 appearing in a number of works by noted playwright John Galsworthy. He played Matt Denant, a murderer, in "Escape;" Captain Ronald Dancy in "Loyalties;" and William Falder in "Jusice." Galsworthy was one of Clive's favorite writers. Colin also was featured in two other plays, "The Pigeon" and "The First and the Last," and the film One More River (1934) all scripted by this talented dramatist. A few years later, Clive reflected on what he would do if he had his own theatre: "I should want to appear in my own productions, of course, and some of the parts I should want to play include many I have had in the past. Many of Galworthy's plays … I've been in all his plays - would be among them."

Returning to the States, Clive enacted the title role in Christopher Strong (1933). Although married to the same woman (Billie Burke) for 22 years, Strong meets Cynthia (Katharine Hepburn) and falls in love. He leaves for New York on government business, but, upon his return, the affair blossoms and Cynthia becomes pregnant. Strong, a politician through and through, does not want to ruin his reputation or end his marriage. To avoid a scandal, Cynthia, an aviatrix, crashes her plane intentionally. "The New York World-Telegram" claimed that Clive" … does an excellent piece of work as Sir Christopher."

Clive was next in view in a Lionel Barrymore vehicle, Looking Forward (1933). Colin was Geoffrey Fielding, a man in the employ of merchant Lewis Stone who dismisses Barrymore, but is eventually ruined. "The New York Times" review read, "Mr. Clive does well in a relatively inconspicuous role, that of Service's secretary, who is in love with Caroline (Elizabeth Allen)."

After Karloff backed out of the title role of The Invisible Man (1933), Whale tried to talk Clive into starring in the film. Colin, however, wanted to return to England to be with his wife and politely declined. The role, of course, brought Claude Rains instant stardom even though his face was in view for but a brief moment at the movie's conclusion.

Clive returned to Broadway to star as Captain Dale in "Eight Bells" (10/28/33). Dale is the master of the Combermere only because he married the owner's daughter. The nervous, irascible, profane captain is eventually murdered during a mutiny. "The New York Daily News" found his performance to be "… a well-sustained pose of hoarse anger, capped by an excellent counterfeit of increasing drunkenness."

Actor's Equity had to make a special ruling in order for Clive to play opposite Katharine Hepburn in "The Lake" (12/33). Being an alien, Colin was technically barred from taking a new role in New York for six months after the close of "Eight Bells." An exception was made on the grounds that his employment would also guarantee work for 25 American actors. In spite of all the problems resolved, neither Clive's portrayal of John Clayne, nor Hepburn's performance, could make "The Lake" a success.

Clive was signed by Warners to appear in The Key (1934), a tale of the 1916 Irish Rebellion. Clive played Andrew Kerr, a member of the British Intelligence service stationed in Dublin to watch the activities of the Sinn Fein leaders and check the disorders. Kerr finds out that his wife (Edna Best) loves another (William Powell) after returning from a raid with a captured leader (Donald Crisp). He walks out, gets drunk, and is captured by the Sinn Fein, who issue the ultimatum that unless their leader is released, Kerr will die. The demand is not met, but Kerr's wife intervenes and Powell engineers the exchange. Clive replaced Warren William, who was originally slated for the part of Kerr.

Monogram elicited Clive's services as Edward Rochester in their production of Charlotte Bronte's classic Jane Eyre (1934). Virginia Bruce of The Invisible Woman fame had the title role. Rochester hires Jane to serve as governess to his niece. She doesn't meet him, however, until one day when she is out walking and comes to his aid after he is thrown from his horse. Edward plans to wed Lady Blanche Ingram (Aileen Pringle), but after giving a ball at which Jane creates a sensation, Rochester falls for her instead. Jane finds out that this moody man is already married to an insane woman, so she leaves Edward in the midst of plans for their own wedding. Much later, she returns to him after his mad wife has died burning down the house, leaving Rochester blind. This film was quite an ambitious effort for a studio like Monogram and Clive certainly helped lend credence to the production.

One More River (1934), John Galsworthy's assault on the English divorce laws, reunited Clive with James Whale and R. C. Sherriff, who adapted it for the screen. Colin was Sir Gerald Corven, the brooding, sadistic husband of Claire (Diana Wynyard). After she meets Tony (Frank Lawton), Corven tries to make it look like an affair and sues for divorce. Lionel Atwill played Brough, Sir Gerald's counsel during the divorce proceedings. The divorce is granted and Claire is left miserable, though free to marry Tony if he'll have her, after her name has been dragged through the mud. William K. Everson considers the film to be James Whale's masterpiece. Clive was quite convincing in a treacherous, despicable characterisation.

In August of 1934, Colin Clive recreated his role of Stanhope at a revival of "Journey's End" at the Playhouse in Hollywood. Also of note in 1934 was that Clive tested for the part of Doctor Livesey in MGM's Treasure Island, but lost out to Otto Kruger. In addition, he was replaced in the role of John Pointer by Lionel Atwill for Warners' The Firebird.

The Right to Live (1935) had Clive as Maurice Trent, an English aristocrat who is left an invalid after a plane crash. Considering himself to be a hopeless cripple and realising that his wife (Josephine Hutchinson) has fallen in love with his brother (George Brent), Trent takes his own life. "The New York American" reported, "Colin Clive, ever an excellent actor, is utterly convincing as the unfortunate husband."

Ironically, Clive's next screen assignment found him as Captain Johnstone, an enemy of his own ancestor in Clive of India (1935). Ronald Colman portrayed Robert Clive, the soldier-diplomat who rose from a humble clerkship with the East India Co. to become one of the most powerful men in the British Empire.

Universal and James Whale put in the call again and Clive repeated his role of Dr. Henry Frankenstein in the fine production of Bride of Frankenstein (1935). A prologue spoken by Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) illustrates that Henry's body was carried home from the windmill to Castle Frankenstein. Henry, as seen now, has recovered from his injuries, married Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson in the Mae Clarke part), and become Baron Frankenstein following his father's death. Henry is uneasy about what he has delved into and this feeling is enhanced by the arrival of the eerie Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger). Pretorius had been a teacher of Henry's at medical school, but was expelled because of his own unorthodox theories and practices. At first, Henry is reluctant to discuss his experiments with Pretorius, but this attitude changes when the eccentric doctor tells of creating his own life forms.

Henry goes with Pretorius to the latter's home, wherein he is shown six glass jars, each containing miniature living beings (referred to as homunculi). These creatures - a king, queen, archibishop, devil, mermaid, and ballerina - had been grown from seeds. Pretorius suggests that he and Henry combine methodologies and expertise to create a woman.

Later, after the monster (Karloff) has run amock, Pretorius finds the creature in a crypt and secures its services with the promise of a wife. Henry, however, has been regretting his decision to work with Pretorius, so when the strange man pays another visit, Frankenstein balks about helping him. Pretorius reveals his insurance policy - the monster - and has the field kidnap Elizabeth on its exit to prevent any more hesitation on Henry's part.

The two doctors begin assembling the body. When Henry almost collapses from exhaustion, the monster spurs him on. Henry demands to know of Elizabeth's safety and a primitive phone connection is made between the lab and the cave she is being held captive in, under the auspices of Karl (Dwight Frye). Henry's spirit is renewed, but he demands a fresh heart for the latest creation, so Karl is dispatched by Pretorius for this purpose.

In a wonderful sequence combing the sets of Kenneth Strickfaden with the music of Franz Waxman, the "Bride" (Elsa Lanchester) is brought to life. Reminiscent of Frankenstein, Henry jubilantly exclaims, "She's alive! Alive!" The two creators unwrap the body, with Pretorius quipping, "The Bride of Frankenstein!"

When the monster is introduced to its "betrothed," it is evident that it was not a match made in heaven, or any other place. Following a poignant moment in which the monster offers his hands to her and she recoils, he utters, "She hate me - like others!" The monster then grabs hold of a lever that will blow the laboratory up if pulled. When Elizabeth, who has escaped from the cave, pounds on the door, the creature allows Henry to leave with her before pulling the switch. Just to show how many different endings were considered for Bride of Frankenstein, the explosion sequence under careful scrutiny shows Henry being destroyed with Pretorius, the monster, and "the Bride."

Henry Frankenstein is not the predominant figure in Bride of Frankenstein, as was the case in the original film. Clive, however, still receives adequate footage and gives a somewhat more restrained performance than he did in Frankenstein.

First National secured the services of Clive to play John Marland in The Girl From 10th Avenue (1935). Valentine Courtland (Katherine Alexander) jilts her fiancé (Ian Hunter) to marry Marland for his money and social position. Hunter makes out better on the deal anyway, ending up married to Bette Davis.

Clive then made his third and final horror film, Mad Love (1935), at MGM. This film, aptly directed by Karl Freund, was based on The Hands of Orlac by Maurice Renard and had been made in Germany in 1925 under the title Orlacs Hande, starring Conrad Veidt. Clive's portrayal of Stephen Orlac, world famous concert pianist, is in the same overwrought, tortured vein as his Henry Frankenstein characterisations.

Orlac's wife Yvonne (Frances Drake), star of Le Theatre des Horreurs, is worshipped by Gogol (Peter Lorre), a surgeon who "cures deformed children and mutilated soldiers." Orlac has been on tour for a year and is returning to Paris on the Fontainebleau Express for his first real chance at a honeymoon. The train is derailed and goes down an embankment. Yvonne rushes to Stephen's side and accompanies him in the ambulance, where it becomes apparent that his hands must be amputated. She urges the ambulance to go to Dr. Gogol's clinic.

Gogal grafts the hands of Rollo (Edward Brophy), a recently guillotined murdered, onto Orlac. Stephen finds that he must learn to play the piano all over again, as his bills accumulate. His frustrations mount as he sits and listens to old records. Orlac decides to visit his estranged father (Ian Wolfe), but the two men quarrel and Stephen inexplicably throws a knife into the wall. Upset by the incident, Orlac goes to Gogol to find out whose hands are now part of his body. The next day, Orlac's father is found murdered.

Stephen receives a mysterious phone call which promises to unveil the truth about the grafted hands. A dark, shadowy figure lures Orlac to the Inn of the Three Feathers. Throwing back its cloak, it reveals steel artificial fingers. Next, the cape is parted to show a harness, supposedly holding on the head that Dr. Gogol "put back." Naturally, the figure is Gogol impersonating Rollo in an attempt to drive Orlac mad.

Stephen is arrested and Gogol tries to claim Yvonne for his own. Frustrated by her resistance, the mad doctor begins to strangle her, just as Orlac arrives with the police, whom he has convinced of his innocence. Orlac thrusts a knife into Gogol's back and the doctor falls dead, the victim of the very hands he grafted on.

"The New York Daily News" found Clive's acting in Mad Love to be "excellent," while the "Times" labelled Colin "capable." The film still holds up well and it is interesting to watch the different styles of two very intense actors, Lorre and Clive, side by side. A slightly different version of Mad Love was shot in 1964, starring Christopher Lee and Mel Ferrer.

Also in 1935, Clive enacted the role of Bertrand Berkeley, Joan Bennett's alleged brother and partner in deception, in The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. Berkeley is actually her agent provocateur and they lure Ronald Colman, an exiled Russian prince who has done what the title says, back to the casino where he loses it all. Colman does, however, win Bennett's heart. William Boehnel in the "World-Telegram" wrote, "Colin Clive is delightfully positive and unscrupulous as the villain."

Broadway beckoned for the final time and Clive assayed the lead role of Sir Mark Loddon in "Libel" (12/20/35). Clive remarked to an interviewer on this occasion, "Being back on the stage again is a lovely rest from the films. It's like a holiday, like returning to one's first love. Then, too, I find one thing possible in the theatre which cannot be found in the cinema. That is sustained activity, the feeling that the audience is there, right before you and with you. And this direct audience response is one of the most important things in the world for an actor. It keeps him from going stale, from falling into a static pattern. It keeps him alive, ready to react to the audience just as wholeheartedly as a good audience reacts to a play."

The role of Loddon, a shell-shocked ex-soldier groping in a blank stretch of his memory, was a difficult one for Clive. He was on stage every minute of the play and for one entire act, as the plaintiff in the libel case that gives the play its name, had to sit with all eyes upon him without uttering a line. Clive's efforts were well received by critics and theatregoers alike. The play had a long run, but on March 12, 1936, Clive entered Harbor Sanatorium on 667 Madison Avenue for a minor operation to correct an undisclosed ailment. He was replaced by his understudy, Colin Hunter, but, trouper that he was, Clive was back behind the footlights in little over a week.

Clive's agent must have had an affinity for Monaco, because Colin's next film was The Widow From Monte Carlo (1936). He portrayed Eric Richmond, a liverish lord who is forced into an engagement with Dolores del Rio by her late husband's relatives. Eric is a member of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service on leave from his post in Vienna. He is quite detached and doesn't even kiss her when she accepts his proposal. Del Rio actually loves Warren William, anyway. Richard Watts, Jr. opined, "I should think that Colin Clive would be about the last actor in the world to play the silly and cowardly fiancé." Kate Cameron in the "News," on the other hand, found Clive to be "amusing as the stiff-necked, weak-kneed fiancé."

History is Made at Night (1937) had Colin involved in yet another love triangle. He was Bruce Vail, a jealous shipping magnate, whose wife (Jean Arthur) loves a ship's head waiter (Charles Boyer). Vail commits murder and throws suspicion on Boyer. He later tries to destroy his own ship by phoning the captain to go full speed ahead into an iceberg hidden by fog. At word of the disaster, Vail writes a confession and shoots himself. Regina Crewe in the "New York American," felt that, "Colin Clive, moody, tragic, contributes the accurate touch of a master craftsman to his characterisation of the man mad, tortured by his own insane hallucinations."

"Variety" stated that, "Colin Clive is excellent as the air commander" in The Woman I Love (1937), his last film. Clive was Captain Thelis in charge of the Escadrille 37, a World War I flying squad, in this feature which had Paul Muni and Louis Hayward as rivals for the hand of Miriam Hopkins. It was an interesting coincidence that Clive's first and last motion pictures would have him as a First World War captain. Colin also performed this role in an abridged radio version of The Woman I Love, sponsored by Campbell's Soup, broadcast on April 14, 1937.

On June 19, 1937, Clive was rushed to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital suffering from a heart ailment. Dr. Frederick Bergstrom, the physician in charge, reported on June 24 that Colin had taken a turn for the worse, with complications setting in, including a stomach ailment. Colin Clive was dead the next day, June 25, 1937, as a result of pulmonary and intestinal disorders. It was said that he had never completely recovered from an attack of pneumonia from the previous year. His excessive use of alcohol had also caused his health to deteriorate.

Clive's widow, Jeanne de Casalis, eventually was remarried to Royal Air Force Squadron Leader C. D. Stephenson. The former playwright ("St. Helena") and stage ("Afgar" - 1920) and screen (Nell Gwyn - 1935) actress passed away in London on August 19, 1966.

Colin Clive went to his death with some unrealised ambitions. He had for a long time wanted to be a theatre director. He had never gotten to play the student Raskolnikov in Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment, one of Clive's favorite characters. And, oddly enough, one role that he always "longed to play more than any other" was the comedic Launcelot Gobbo in "The Merchant of Venice." Clive once explained, "I think I'd be suited to the part, because I have the long skinny legs that are necessary for it."

So, although he was never able to make a name for himself as a comedy performer, Colin Clive did create a lasting impression in the realm of horror. He will always be remembered as Henry Frankenstein and this, combined with his portrayal of Stephen Orlac, merits his name being included among the "unsung heroes of the horrors."

R. C. Sherriff, who first met Clive while casting "Journey's End," put it best when he said, "Apart from his talent, he was one of the most charming men I knew. His death will mean the loss to the stage and the cinema of one of our finest actors."

The Films of Colin Clive

1930
Journey's End (Tiffany)
The Stronger Sex (Gainsborough) - British
1931
Frankenstein (Universal)
1932
Lily Christine (Paramount) - British
1933
Christopher Strong (RKO)
Looking Forward (MGM)
1934
Jane Eyre (Monogram)
The Key (WB)
One More River (Universal)
1935
Clive of India (UA)
The Right to Live (WB)
Bride of Frankenstein (Universal)
The Girl from 10th Avenue (FN)
Mad Love (MGM)
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (20th Century-Fox)
1936
The Widow from Monte Carlo (WB)
1937
History is Made at Night (UA)
The Woman I Love (RKO)