The Old Dark House (1932)

Director:

James Whale

Writers:

J.B. Priestley (novel)
Benn W. Levy (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

20 October 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Beware the night!

Plot:

Seeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when the stumble upon the Femm family estate.

Plot Keywords:

Pyromaniac | Potato | Shadow On A Wall | Old Lady | Hospitality

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Morgan
Melvyn Douglas	...	Penderel
Charles Laughton	...	Sir William Porterhouse
Lilian Bond	...	Gladys (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

Directed by
James Whale

Writing credits
J.B. Priestley		(novel "Benighted") (as J.B. Priestly)
Benn W. Levy		(screenplay)
R.C. Sherriff		additional dialogue (uncredited)

Produced by
Carl Laemmle Jr.	....	producer
E.M. Asher	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Arthur Edeson

Film Editing by
Clarence Kolster

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(uncredited)

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

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph A. McDonough	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Charles D. Hall	....	interior designer

Sound Department
William Hedgcock	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
C. Roy Hunter	....	sound supervisor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Eagan	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Roman Freulich	....	still photographer (uncredited)
King D. Gray	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
David Broekman	....	composer: title music (uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Carl Laemmle	....	president: Universal Pictures Corp.

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Films (????) (France) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Bret Wood / INK  VHS package design

Also Known As:

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

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

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This film was not included in the "Shock Theatre" package with the other Universal horror films.

Goofs:

Continuity: Roger and Gladys go to a barn to get liquor from the car stored there during the driving rainstorm. When they are coming back to the house, there is a large puddle of water in front of the house but no rain is falling. Roger, carrying Gladys gets almost to the door when the water is turned back on. Rain pours near the door but not on the rest of the area in front of the house.

Quotes:

Horace Femm:It's only gin, you know. Only gin. I like gin.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: House of Dracula (#5.7)" (2011)

Soundtrack:

Singin' in the Rain

Have a potato ...

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.