White Zombie (1932)

A young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiance, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.

Director:

Victor Halperin

Writers:

Garnett Weston (story), Garnett Weston (dialogue),

Stars:

Bela Lugosi, Madge Bellamy, Joseph Cawthorn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bela Lugosi	...	'Murder' Legendre
Madge Bellamy	...	Madeline Short Parker
Joseph Cawthorn	...	Dr. Bruner
Robert Frazer	...	Charles Beaumont
John Harron	...	Neil Parker
Brandon Hurst	...	Silver
George Burr Macannan	...	Von Gelder - Zombie (as George Burr MacAnnan)
Frederick Peters	...	Chauvin - Zombie
Annette Stone	...	Maid
John Printz	...	Ledot - Zombie
Dan Crimmins	...	Pierre - Witch Doctor
Claude Morgan	...	Zombie
John Fergusson	...	Zombie
Velma Gresham	...	Tall Maid

Storyline

Young couple Madeleine and Neil are coaxed by acquaintance Monsieur Beaumont to get married on his Haitian plantation. Beaumont's motives are purely selfish as he makes every attempt to convince the beautiful young girl to run away with him. For help Beaumont turns to the devious Legendre, a man who runs his mill by mind controlling people he has turned into zombies. After Beaumont uses Legendre's zombie potion on Madeleine, he is dissatisfied with her emotionless being and wants her to be changed back. Legendre has no intention of doing this and he drugs Beaumont as well to add to his zombie collection. Meanwhile, grieving 'widower' Neil is convinced by a local priest that Madeleine may still be alive and he seeks her out.

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Plot Keywords:

zombie | wedding | plantation | mill | potion | 

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Taglines:

The Dead Walk Among Us!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

A fehér zombi

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edward Halperin Productions, Victor Halperin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min 67 min (Roan restoration) 85 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was thought lost until its rediscovery in the 1960s. A court battle was fought between film distributor Frank Storace and the estate of Stanley Krellberg, the copyright owner of the film. Storace had wished to produce a restored version of the film but the estate refused him access to original footage in their possession. Storace gave up the court battle and did not win his access to his original footage.

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Goofs

When Madeline is removed from the crypt, the pallbearer zombies carry her open casket head first. Cut to the procession going up the hill outside the crypt, she is now feet first.

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Quotes

Dr. Bruner: Your driver believed he saw dead men... walking.

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Crazy Credits

A huge percentage of this film's credited crew have their names simply listed under the heading "Art and Technical" with no further identification of job.

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Connections

Referenced in Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)

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Soundtracks

"Death of a Great Chief"
(uncredited)
Music by Hugo Riesenfeld

User Reviews

Pretty good, but Lugosi is great **1/2

I'm a big Bela Lugosi fan, as well as a sucker for '30s and '40s horror chestnuts in general. But no matter how many times I watch WHITE ZOMBIE, I'm just always a bit short of considering it a "good" movie. Lugosi is delightfully weird and mysterious as Murder Legendre, a sinister zombie master who commands a legion of Walking Dead, and who grants a favor to a jealous man by helping him possess the woman he yearns for -- by turning her into a mindless zombie!

The surroundings are purely macabre and unsettling. But despite these assets, something goes astray in the snail-like pacing. Some of the acting is hopelessly dated and exaggerated, most notably by con man Robert Frazer and, to a lesser extent, hero John Harron. It's interesting that Lugosi - who's often lambasted by critics for overdoing it himself - is perfectly "on," however.

WHITE ZOMBIE is still a "pretty good" horror movie in its own right for such a minor production. But it's not a film I would recommend to those younger viewers who tend to feel bored by older classic films.