I don't know how "overlooked" this one is, but there are many reasons to wacth it.
First, it's Karloff and Legosi -- their first on-screen pairing.
Second, look fast and you might see John Carradine (uncredited) as the Cult Organist.
Third, David Manners, who plays Peter, took the title role as Edwin Drood the following year, also had roles in Dracula, The Mummy, The Moonstone, and other favorites, plus he was a distant relative of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Fourth, Jacqueline Wells, who plays Joan, also acted as Julie Bishop, playing the love-struck secretary in the early Bob Cummings television vehicle My Hero. (When I was very young, Bob Cummings rocked my world in My Hero and Love That Bob.)
Fifth, this was one of Edgar G. Ulmer's early directorial efforts. He has kind of a cult now. Some of his opther films were Girls in Chains, Isle of Forgotten Sins, The Man from Planet X, and Daughter of Dr. Jeckyll.
Sixth, Ulmer came up with the story, based (as you probably can guess) on the Edgar Allen Poe Tale, along with Peter Ruric. Ruric, who did the screenplay, is probably better known today as "Paul Cain," one of the great legends of hard-boiled pulpdom.
Seventh (and this courtesy of a reviewer at IMDB), the Latin incantation Karloff makes at the end of the film invoking Satan includes such fill-in phrases as Cave Canum (Beware of the Dog), In Vino Veritas (In Wine There Is Truth), and Cum Granum Salis (With a Grain of Salt). Neat, huh? I don't know why he didn't add Omnia Gallia In Tres Partes Divisit Est.
Eighth, I miss my black cat, Ninja.
So there you have it -- eight great reasons to watch this film. Luckily, it's this coming Sunday, January 22nd, on TCM at 9:15 p.m. Also luckily, if you are unable to catch it Sunday night and are unable to record it, here it is:
http://www.archive.org/details/PhantasmagoriaTheater-TheBlackCat1934948-2
**********
Todd Mason will have today's links other overlooked movies, television, and what-have-you at Sweet Freedom. Be there, or be squ---well, you know.
Nope. Never saw this one either. Not a big horror movie fan. My husband is though.
ReplyDeletePatti, am I going to have to come up with another eight reasons you should see this film?
ReplyDeleteWell, here are three, anyway...it's not a horror film, though it keeps verging on one, but is instead a morally ambiguous (unusually so for the time, thus noirish) suspense film...Lugosi is almost sympathetic, as much as a vengeance-thirsty thug can be...and it's stylish as hell.
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding this, Todd. I could come up with about forty more reasons to see this film, but I would probably be fabricating them.
ReplyDeleteBTW, thanks for starting this series. It's a lot of fun!
Thanks for contributing! The pleasure certainly exceeds the trouble for me, as well.
ReplyDelete