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The Old Dark House (1932)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
20 October 1932 (USA)
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Tagline:
Beware the night!
Plot:
Seeking shelter from a pounding rainstorm in a remote region of Wales, several travellers are admitted to a gloomy...
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| full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Pyromaniac
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Rain
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Locked Door
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Dinner
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Death
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NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Holiday Preview: A Repertory Calendar
(From IFC. 3 November 2009, 1:01 PM, PST)
More horror screenings and Zombie Walks!
(From Fangoria. 14 October 2009, 12:17 PM, PDT)
(From IFC. 3 November 2009, 1:01 PM, PST)
More horror screenings and Zombie Walks!
(From Fangoria. 14 October 2009, 12:17 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Have a potato ...
more (81 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Boris Karloff | ... | Morgan (as Karloff) |
 | Melvyn Douglas | ... | Roger Penderel |
 | Charles Laughton | ... | Sir William Porterhouse |
 | Lilian Bond | ... | Gladys DuCane Perkins (as Lillian Bond) |
| Ernest Thesiger | ... | Horace Femm |
| Eva Moore | ... | Rebecca Femm |
| Raymond Massey | ... | Philip Waverton |
 | Gloria Stuart | ... | Margaret Waverton |
| Elspeth Dudgeon | ... | Sir Roderick Femm (as John Dudgeon) |
| Brember Wills | ... | Saul Femm |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
72 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:PG |
USA:Approved (PCA #2017-R, 4 February 1937 for re-release) |
USA:TV-G (TV rating) |
UK:PG
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
This film was withdrawn from circulation when the remade version in 1963 by William Castle Productions was released. This film was considered to be lost until director Curtis Harrington discovered a printable negative.
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Goofs:
Continuity: After Horace drops the glass flower vase on the floor and it shatters, no effort is made to clean it up, nor is Morgan told to do so, and the rest of the characters walk around as if there's no shattered glass covering the floor.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The World of Gods and Monsters: A Journey with James Whale (1999) (V)
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Soundtrack:
Singin' in the Rain
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FAQ
How do the Wavertons come to stay at the old dark house?A Note Regarding Spoilers
Isn't this a lost film?
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more (81 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Old Dark House (1932)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Morgan | Oldphan |
| remebering a scene | micstudio |
| Faithful adaptation | 16mmRay |
| Pettition | mattslittlebrother |
| I saw this on television...but.... | cobalt_blueuk |
| An old horror movie | brand78 |
Recommendations
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While perfectly enjoyable as a camp comedy of manners (that element comes courtesy of director James Whale) and as an elegant, low-key horror, The Old Dark House can best be appreciated when you know a little about JB Priestley, author of the source play Benighted. (Or was it originally a novel? It definitely exists as a stage play, at any rate.)
Priestley was an English playwright, novelist, radio broadcaster and journalist who became very well known in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s for presenting a kindly, commonsensical version of socialism and community spirit to a nation battling through the Great Depression, the Second World War and its aftermath. Several of his plays combine a supernatural or at least mysterious strain with an allegorical message about the importance of unselfishness and people working together to help one another. If you watch The Old Dark House with these points in mind you may see it in a more moving and profound light. Dangerous Corner and An Inspector Calls are similar examples of his work, still popular in Britain with amateur drama groups and touring theatre companies.
If you can, see Old Dark House and Whale's later Bride of Frankenstein as a home video double bill and compare Ernest Thesiger's delightfully feline and remarkably similar performances as Horace Femm and Dr Praetorius. "Have a potato" and "Have some gin" may well become part of your private family language for ever after.