"Murders in the Rue Morgue" *** (out of ****)
Bela Lugosi gets mixed up in a lot of monkey business in "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1932).
In the space between Universal Pictures release of "Dracula" (1931) and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" Bela Lugosi had appeared in a few movies, in insignificant roles including an appearance in the Olsen & Johnson comedy "50 Million Frenchmen" (1931) and a Joe E. Brown comedy, "Broadminded" (1931). However it was here that Lugosi was given his first prominent role since playing the iconic character that defined the rest of his career.
Many literary scholars believe Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue", published in 1841, was the first modern detective story. A lot of Poe's short story was changed for this screen adaptation, changing it from a procedural detective story to a horror / mystery movie with the usual anti-science theme.
It is 1845 Paris and Lugosi plays Dr. Mirakle, a scientist that has a side show at a carnival. His attraction is Erik the Ape. According to Dr. Mirakle he has re-learned Erik's language and is able to communicate with the ape. You see, Dr. Mirakle believes humans are descendants of apes through the process of evolution. His audience strongly rejects this theory which forces the doctor to prove his ideas. He wants to mix the ape's blood with that of a woman, hoping this would create a female companion for Erik. In other words, we are almost dealing with bestiality. Remember this is a pre-code movie and is a bit racy.
Dr. Mirakle has set his sights on Camille (Sidney Fox). She and her fiancee, Pierre (Leon Waycoff, later known as Leon Ames) attend the carnival one night, with some friends, and catch the doctor's show. Camille and Pierre walk up to Erik's cage where he takes Camille's bonnet and tries to strangle Pierre. At this moment Dr. Mirakle is sure Camille would be the perfect selection for Erik.
One of the most notable scenes in the movie involves Dr. Mirakle kidnapping a prostitute (played by Arlene Francis in her screen debut) and discovers her blood is "rotten", which I guess means she has a sexual disease. When the doctor finds this out he yells at her, her "beauty was a lie", suggesting she isn't "pure".
Another interesting scene has Pierre at home trying to solve the murder of the prostitute and two other woman that have been murdered (which are not shown on-screen). His roommate, Paul (Bert Roach) is making lunch and begins to complain when Pierre doesn't come to the table to eat. Obviously this has homosexual undertones with Paul playing the nagging wife and Pierre the neglectful husband. Paul even has an apron on which is a symbol of emasculating the character.
There is also an interesting camera technique used in a scene when Camille is on a swing. As Camille swings back and forth, the camera sways as well. The cinematographer was Karl Freund, who is credited as the inventor of the unchained camera, providing more mobility. This scene is an example of that. Freund was also the cinematographer on "Dracula" and directed "The Mummy" (1932).
So many of the Universal horror movies of the 1930s have a strong anti-science theme to them. Here of course the characters reject the theory of evolution. The character that does believe in it is presented as a "mad scientist". The doctor character also wants to interfere with biology implying science should just leave everything alone, much like a later Universal movie, "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" (1954). Science is meddling in things it should not and ambition is getting the best of scientist.
And although it was made in 1932, the idea of an ape being attracted to a woman made me think of "King Kong" (1933) which of course is impossible, since "Kong" hadn't been released yet. But we even see the ape climb up the side of a building to enter the bedroom of the woman.
If I had to guess what prevents this movie was being better it would be it needed more for the Pierre character investigating. It needed more of the slow build-up that Dr. Mirakle is behind the murders. It would have also been nice to show the murders on-screen rather than talk about them in the past tense. Supposedly nearly twenty minutes of this movie cut to tone down the violence.
Directed by Robert Florey, "Murders in the Rue Morgue" may not be able to scare audiences it does however do a nice job of creating mood and suspense. The performance by Lugosi is good but at times its a bit over dramatic. Still, Lugosi has been in worse movies with primates, "Bela Lugosi Meets The Brooklyn Gorilla" (1952) comes to mind.
** 1\2 (out of ****)
The honeymoon in Hungary turns into a honeymoon from hell for the newlyweds in "The Black Cat" (1934).
"The Black Cat" has the honorable distinction of the being the first of several movies to co-star Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, the two men who starred in arguably Universal's two best horror movies, "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" (1931).
For marketing purposes alone you could see why this pairing would be considered a big deal, Dracula meets Frankenstein's Monster. In fact the movie was a box-office hit and is even today considered a classic horror movie and usually ends up on lists of the best horror movies ever made.
Starting off on a dark and rainy night, a car accident leads a group of passengers into the home of Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), a famous architect however it may not have been a coincidence.
This set-up is not unlike other movies which focus on a big scary house with people trapped inside it. In fact Karloff starred in one himself, "The Old Dark House" (1932). By comparison, that is the better movie and is one that serves up more freights and makes better advantage of its setting.
"The Black Cat" has a nice look to it but doesn't give the house enough personality to create a menacing presence, the same with Karloff's performance. The character has an interesting look but Karloff plays the character too stiff and doesn't really interact with the other actors, feeding off one another. And Lugosi is just way over-the-top.
The newlyweds are Peter (David Manners, who played Harker in "Dracula") and Joan (Julie Bishop, billed as Jacqueline Wells, who appeared in "The Bohemian Girl" (1936) with Laurel & Hardy). This nice American couple is taken to Poelzig's home by Dr. Werdegast (Lugosi), a psychiatrist who fought in World War I and for the last 15 years was in a prison camp. He now vows revenge on his old commanding officer, Poelzig, who the doctor believes was in love with his wife and told her the doctor had died. Now this innocent couple will be caught in the middle of their feud.
We discover Poelzig married Werdegast's wife, who is now dead, and has kept her body in his basement along with several other women. Why? Who are these other women? The movie doesn't explain any of it. We further learn after his wife died Poelzig then married Werdegast's daughter. This is too much even for Freud. You couldn't get away with this once the production code was being strictly enforced.
The movie also has nothing in common with Poe's story, "The Black Cat", other than the appearance of a black cat. Poe's story was about guilt associated with murder. This movie is about revenge and a man that collects dead bodies and makes questionable marriage choices.
To say "The Black Cat" is an oddity is putting it nicely. The movie does have bizarre startling images, the dead women in glass cases and a Satanic ritual. There is a scene where Werdegast and Poelzig play a game of chess to determine the fate of the young married couple, which adds no dramatic impact at all. We don't even get to see the moves they are making.
Some have suggested the movie can even be interpreted as a commentary on the effects of World War I and the rise of Hitler in Germany. Prior to their accident, the young couple was on their way to the town of Gombos, which as a Hungarian myself, I never heard of. Gombos was however the name of the Prime Minister of Hungary, who was one of the first foreign heads of state to meet with Hitler. Geographically the only Gombos I know of is a river in Romania.
"The Black Cat" lacks thrills but does make an effort. I just don't understand the praise that has been thrown at this movie. A minor effort.
Posts
