Dramatic Photo Alert --- Colin Clive


You know something’s gone wrong with your life when you come to end of it, and no one shows up to claim your ashes. Such was apparently the case for poor Colin Clive, shown here in a shipboard pose I've not seen elsewhere. A closer look at that face tells the story. A faint smile, yes, but somewhat hollow --- that same vague expression of torment he had when the monster got loose and terrorized the village. Note, too --- he's leaning on the rail. Was the boat listing? Perhaps they’d gone beyond the ten-mile limit, and the shutterbug has just caught C.C. exiting the bar after one (or five) bracers. I like the mustache. A rakish touch. It goes well with the tilt of his hat. And does that look like Carl Denham’s overcoat Colin's wearing? Could he be standing aboard the Venture, gone there to return that lovely garment just before Carl sails off in search of Kong? I don’t necessarily think Colin’s been drinking here. If he were, he’d be grabbing the rail instead of just leaning on it. Ever notice how often he played cuckolded husbands? If this guy’s married in a picture, and Ronald Colman or Bill Powell pop into the room, you can pretty much figure poor Colin's going to start noticing things before long. At least he doesn’t go looking for the dueling pistols like our old friend Von, but he does get mighty twitchy, and that’s a Clive specialty in all his movies. And really, shouldn’t he be taking better, shall we say, care of his screen wives? The man’s barely wed in Bride Of Frankenstein before he rushes off with Ernest Thesiger to look at some silly bottled homoculi, leaving fresh-faced (and sweet 16 when she played the role!) Valerie Hobson all to herself in the castle --- and after she’d just thrown her nubile body across that bed in a bid for his conjugal attentions! What if the burgomeister stopped by after Colin left and saw opportunity? Maybe that’s one of those legendary cut scenes we’ve read about! Anyway, back to the ashes. It seems no one wanted them. They may still be sitting out there for all we know. Really sad. If only this man, looking back at us from that long forgotten voyage so many years ago, could have known how many admirers he would one day have. Great actor, Colin Clive. Any of us would have been proud to join him in Ship’s Bar for a nip.