OVERLOOKED FILM: CRIMES AT THE DARK HOUSE

Crimes at the Dark House (1940)

Loosely -- very loosely -- based on Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, this movie hung around for three years before being released.

The culprits behind this gem were Director George King (THE DEMON BARBER OF  FLEET STREET, SEXTON BLAKE AND THE HOODED TERROR) and scriptwriter Edward Dryhurst (THE FRIGHTENED LADY, THE NIGHT INVADER).  The star of the movie is none other than Tod Slaughter, the King of the villainous hams.  Who else could have played Sweeney Todd in three different films (THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET, BOTHERED BY A BEARD, and PUZZLE CORNER NO. 14)?

This was the fifth time The Woman in White was filmed.  I suspect more people prefer the 1948 sixth version to this one.  Let's face it, Hay Petrie as Dr. Isador Fosco here can't hold a candle to Sidney Greenstreet's deliciously oily Count Fosco in the 1948 version.

 Aesthetics aside, this one is a fun romp.  Bad flicks quite often are.

http://archive.org/details/Crimes_at_the_Dark_House_1940