Supernatural (1933)

A serial black widow murderess returns to life in the body of a young woman to exact revenge on a former lover, a phony spiritualist who betrayed her.

Director:

Victor Halperin

Writers:

Garnett Weston (story), Garnett Weston (adaptation),

Stars:

Carole Lombard, Alan Dinehart, Vivienne Osborne

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carole Lombard	...	Roma Courtney
Alan Dinehart	...	Paul Bavian (as Allan Dinehart)
Vivienne Osborne	...	Ruth Rogen
Randolph Scott	...	Grant Wilson
H.B. Warner	...	Dr. Carl Houston
Beryl Mercer	...	Madame Gourjan, Paul's Landlady
William Farnum	...	Nick 'Nicky' Hammond
Willard Robertson	...	Prison Warden
George Burr Macannan	...	Max Schmitt, Glass Blower (as George Burr Mac Annan)
Lyman Williams	...	Ghost of John Courtney

Storyline

In New York city, Ruth Rogan is convicted of killing 3 of her lovers and sentenced to be executed. Meanwhile, lovely Roma Courtenay becomes a millionaire heiress when her brother dies. A spiritualist approaches Roma with an urgent message from her dead brother. He runs a rigged seance that doesn't convince Roma's boyfriend Grant but has Roma confused. Then unexpectedly, the executed Ruth Rogan's spirit takes control of Roma's body. Roma runs off with the fake spiritualist under Ruth Rogan's control. Grant desperately tries to track Roma down and return her soul.

---

Plot Keywords:

spiritualist | revenge | fake spiritualist | heiress | new york city | 

---

Taglines:

Leave Your Love Secrets At Home When You See "SUPERNATURAL"

---

Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anjo e Demónio

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

---

Goofs

The headline on Bavian's newspaper is different in the close-up.

---

Quotes

Confucius: [Opening card] Treat all supernatural beings with resprct but keep aloof from them.

User Reviews

Quietly impressive.

Unlike a lot of reviewers here, I was quite impressed by this film. Sure it's not scary - I didn't expect it to be - but it effectively builds an unsettling atmosphere without resorting to the usual mood enhancers such as haunted houses, gloomy mansions, isolated islands, etc. Prosaic things such as a spark generated from a railway wheel, the taking of a key, have an edge to them. There are also some very nice touches along the way, eg, the dog bringing the slippers to Carole Lombard's brother.

It is also interesting to see Carole Lombard this early in her career - from my point of view she acquits herself quite well in the part. And H. B Warner is also well suited to his role of Dr Houston. Randolph Scott however is wooden, and the role of Bavian could have done with a more charismatic player than Alan Dinehart. The real scene stealer in this movie however is Beryl Mercer - much better in this than anything else I have seen her in.

I also find this film interesting plot-wise, as I have on occasion come across texts which refer to "The Uninvited" as the first significant Hollywood film to deal with spirit possession when clearly this is not the case. I suppose it depends on what you mean by significant.

Anyway, it is certainly interesting to see what the makers of "White Zombie" came up with when they had the backing of a major studio.