They were three English gentlemen, all fated for Hollywood fame - and tragedy.
One was an aristocrat, a London and Broadway matinee idol, who gleefully gave up the stage after marrying a multi-millionairess. This cat-eyed voluptuary reveled in becoming Hollywood's most Satanic villain.
There was the would-be British soldier, a descendent of the legendary Clive of India (famous statesman and suicide). A Jekyll and Hyde alcoholic destined for an early death, he was described by his Frankenstein leading lady Mae Clarke as "the most handsome man I ever saw, and also the saddest," and won notoriety (at least onscreen) as "Hollywood's greatest sado-masochist."
And the third man was a World War I veteran, severely wounded in France, masterfully disguising his withered arm and crippled fingers as he acted in dozens of plays and nearly 100 movies; a gentleman whose favorite author was Dickens, and who himself was so kind and charming that, as a colleague remembered, "He could have played God!" He was a loving family man who never made peace with his wicked screen image.
This is the spellbinding story of their lives and loves, their fame and misfortunes and their greatest cinematic achievements.
