The Black Cat (1934)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (story)
Edgar G. Ulmer (screen story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Crime | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Things you never said before or even dreamed of!

Plot:

American honeymooners in Hungary are trapped in the home of a Satan- worshiping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.

Plot Keywords:

Hungary | Prisoner Of War | Train | Storm | Chess

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Hjalmar Poelzig (as Karloff)
Bela Lugosi	...	Dr. Vitus Werdegast
David Manners	...	Peter Alison
Julie Bishop	...	Joan Alison (as Jacqueline Wells)
Egon Brecher	...	The Majordomo
Harry Cording	...	Thamal, Werdegast's Servant
Lucille Lund	...	Karen Werdegast Poelzig
Henry Armetta	...	Police Sergeant
Albert Conti	...	Police Lieutenant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Virginia Ainsworth	...	Cultist (uncredited)
Luis Alberni	...	Train Steward (uncredited)
King Baggot	...	Cultist (uncredited)
Herman Bing	...	Car Steward (uncredited)
Symona Boniface	...	Cultist (uncredited)
John Carradine	...	Cult Organist (uncredited)
André Cheron	...	Train Conductor (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Bus Driver (uncredited)
Anna Duncan	...	Maid (uncredited)
John George	...	Cultist (uncredited)
Rodney Hildebrand	...	Brakeman (uncredited)
Lois January	...	Cultist (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Cultist Binding Joan (uncredited)
Tony Marlow	...	Patrolman (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Train Porter (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Cultist Binding Joan (uncredited)
Albert Pollet	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Peggy Terry	...	Cultist (uncredited)
Harry Walker	...	Cultist (uncredited)
Paul Weigel	...	Stationmaster (uncredited)

Directed by
Edgar G. Ulmer

Writing credits
Edgar Allan Poe		(story)
Edgar G. Ulmer		(screen story) &
Peter Ruric		(screen story)
Peter Ruric		(screenplay)
Tom Kilpatrick		(contributing writer) uncredited

Produced by
E.M. Asher	....	supervising producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
John J. Mescall

Film Editing by
Ray Curtiss

Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall

Costume Design by
Edgar G. Ulmer		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
M.F. Murphy	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William J. Reiter	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Sam Weisenthal	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Edgar G. Ulmer	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gilbert Kurland	....	sound supervisor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	process photographer (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Russell Lawson	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Cosgrove	....	special photography (uncredited)
Roman Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)
King D. Gray	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
John J. Martin	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Heinz Roemheld	....	musical director
Larry Aicholtz	....	music recordist (uncredited)
James Huntley	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	conductor (uncredited)
Walter Schiller	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	presenter
Moree Herring	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Shirley Ulmer	....	assistant: Tom Kilpatrick (uncredited)
Peggy Vaughan	....	supervising secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• Coline (1985) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Belga Home Vidéo (2009) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Cinema Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1986) (USA) (video) (laserdisc) (time-compressed version)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Universal Orchestra  soundtrack
• Universal Scoring Stage  orchestra

Also Known As:

The House of Doom (UK)
The Vanishing Body (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1987) | UK:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1936) | USA:Approved (PCA #4601) (11 August 1938 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Among the unconventional elements of this film was the soundtrack. At a time (early 1930s) when movie music was usually limited to the titles and credits, Edgar G. Ulmer had an almost continuous background score throughout the entire film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: One of the women in Poelzig's glass coffins visibly moves while he is admiring her.

Quotes:

Hjalmar Poelzig: Vitus! Your are mad.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in John's Arm: Armageddon (2008)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV.565

More Enjoyable Than It Has Any Business Being

Other commentaries will fill you in on the nearly-incomprehensible plot (if that's possible) but, as has been pointed out, you don't watch a film like this for plot.

Despite the story inconsistencies and implausibilities, everything here just seems to "jell:" the fabulous sets, elegant photography, evocative music (drawing heavily from Schubert, among others) and the downright creepy atmosphere woven from the themes of jealousy, lust, revenge, murder, sadism.....all sounds delightfully sick, doesn't it? Truly, it's nowhere near as threatening as it sounds; indeed, if Astaire and Rogers had ever made a spooky thriller, it might have looked and felt something like this one. THE BLACK CAT has a lyrical, rhythmic quality about it, like drifting through a sleek, ultra-modern, high-tech nightmare world.

One of the reasons it all works is its ability to pull us into a sort of parallel universe which, though it looks more or less like reality as we know it, glides along on a barely-concealed undercurrent - an "atmosphere of death," as Lugosi's character puts it - where things happen that "could never actually happen" (an inside reference for those who know the film).

There are some wonderful set-pieces, such as Karloff's tour through a most unusual basement mausoleum/museum memorializing all of his dearly departed earlier "wives." And of course, Boris and Bela deliver, with their restrained but full-bodied performances. Karloff conveys menace just entering a room, and Lugosi has an all-too-rare opportunity to display some tenderness; notice the single tear that rolls down his face as he learns - and sees - what became of the wife that Karloff stole from him years before.

A very stylized - and stylish - film which grants us the unusual treat of seeing Lugosi play a (more or less) "good guy," and the unique one of hearing him pronounce the word "baloney," as only he could.