After 30-odd years in films, both Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave finally won Oscar nominations for their extravagant, jolly turns in this crowd-pleasing, behind-the-cameras movie about James Whale, the suave British maker of the original Frankenstein and Show Boat movies of the 1930s. McKellen and Redgrave, as his crazy housekeeper, rejoice in the kind of roles actors die for and audiences lap up, while former George of the Jungle Brendan Fraser redeems himself for ever with his sensitive portrayal of Whale's handsome gardener. This charismatic picture, with its spot-on re-creations of the old movies and wicked impersonations of personalities as diverse as Boris Karloff and Princess Margaret, oozes with the kind of good humour and great warmth that win friends and influence people. You're guaranteed a whale of a time.