White Zombie (1932)

Director:

Victor Halperin

Writer:

Garnett Weston (story)
(more)

Release Date:

4 August 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Dead Walk Among Us!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Zombie | Wedding | Plantation | Mill | Witch Doctor

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clarence Muse	...	Coach Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
Victor Halperin

Writing credits
William B. Seabrook		(novel "The Magic Island") uncredited &
William Seabrook		(novel "The Magic Island") uncredited
Garnett Weston		story and dialogue

Produced by
Edward Halperin	....	producer
Phil Goldstone	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Xavier Cugat		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Arthur Martinelli

Film Editing by
Harold McLernon		(as Howard McLernon)

Art Direction by
Ralph Berger

Makeup Department
Carl Axzelle	....	makeup artist (as Carl Axcelle)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (as Jack Pierce)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Cody	....	assistant director
Herbert Glazer	....	assistant director

Art Department
Conrad Tritschler	....	sets

Sound Department
L.E. Clark	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Howard A. Anderson	....	special effects (as Harold Anderson)

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Bohny	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Jockey Arthur Feindel	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Enzo A. Martinelli	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Guy Bevier	....	composer: title theme (as Guy Bevier Williams)
Gaston Borch	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Nathaniel Dett	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Nem Herkan	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
H. Maurice Jacquet	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Leo Kempinski	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Abe Meyer	....	music supervisor (uncredited)
Hugo Riesenfeld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Herbert Farjeon	....	dialogue director
Sidney Marcus	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Edward Halperin Productions
• Victor Halperin Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1938) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Screencraft Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Joseph Brenner Associates (JBA) (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Hal Roach Studios Film Classics (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Roan Group, The (1992) (USA) (VHS) (laserdisc)
• Roan Group, The (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• E-Realbiz.com (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• K-tel Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Vintage Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Flashback Home Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Passport International Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Mars Distribution (????) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Admit One Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Englewood Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Sinister Cinema (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Triton Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Amusement Securities Corp.  financing
• Clarco Inc.  sound

Also Known As:

Runtime:

69 min | USA:67 min (Roan restoration) | Canada:85 min (Ontario)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Australia:PG | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Edward Halperin Productions

Trivia:

Rob Zombie named his first heavy metal band, White Zombie, after this movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Neil Parker:I kissed her as she lay there in the coffin; and her lips were cold.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Time of the Robots (2012)

Soundtrack:

Liebestraum

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.