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The Black Cat (1934)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
7 May 1934 (USA)
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Tagline:
Things you never said before or even dreamed of!
Plot:
American honeymooners in Hungary are trapped in the home of a Satan- worshiping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(44 articles)
Tobey Maguire Wants Lizard, Mysterio for 'Spider-Man 4'
(From CinemaSpy. 23 November 2009, 9:25 PM, PST)
Sugar Shout Out: Guess the New Moon Character's House!
(From Popsugar. 19 November 2009, 11:55 PM, PST)
(From CinemaSpy. 23 November 2009, 9:25 PM, PST)
Sugar Shout Out: Guess the New Moon Character's House!
(From Popsugar. 19 November 2009, 11:55 PM, PST)
User Comments:
More Enjoyable Than It Has Any Business Being
more (92 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Boris Karloff | ... | Hjalmar Poelzig (as Karloff) | |
| Bela Lugosi | ... | Dr. Vitus Werdegast | |
| David Manners | ... | Peter Alison | |
| Julie Bishop | ... | Joan Alison (as Jacqueline Wells) | |
| Egon Brecher | ... | The Majordomo | |
| Harry Cording | ... | Thamal, Werdegast's Servant | |
| Lucille Lund | ... | Karen Werdegast Poelzig | |
| Henry Armetta | ... | Police Sergeant | |
| Albert Conti | ... | Police Lieutenant |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
65 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 (1987) |
UK:15 |
Australia:PG |
Finland:(Banned) (1936) |
USA:Approved (PCA #4601) (11 August 1938 for re-release)
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: One of the women in Poelzig's glass coffins visibly moves while he is admiring her.
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Quotes:
Hjalmar Poelzig:
You say your soul was killed, that you have been dead all these years. And what of me? Did we not both die here in Marmorus 15 years ago? Are we any the less victims of the war than those whose bodies were torn asunder? Are we not both the living dead? And now you come to me, playing at being an avenging angel, childishly thirsting for my blood. We understand each other too well. We know too much of life.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Le vampire déchu (2007) (TV)
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Soundtrack:
Symphony no. 8 (Unfinished)
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Other commentaries will fill you in on the nearly-incomprehensible plot (if that's possible) but, as has been pointed out, you don't watch a film like this for plot.
Despite the story inconsistencies and implausibilities, everything here just seems to "jell:" the fabulous sets, elegant photography, evocative music (drawing heavily from Schubert, among others) and the downright creepy atmosphere woven from the themes of jealousy, lust, revenge, murder, sadism.....all sounds delightfully sick, doesn't it? Truly, it's nowhere near as threatening as it sounds; indeed, if Astaire and Rogers had ever made a spooky thriller, it might have looked and felt something like this one. THE BLACK CAT has a lyrical, rhythmic quality about it, like drifting through a sleek, ultra-modern, high-tech nightmare world.
One of the reasons it all works is its ability to pull us into a sort of parallel universe which, though it looks more or less like reality as we know it, glides along on a barely-concealed undercurrent - an "atmosphere of death," as Lugosi's character puts it - where things happen that "could never actually happen" (an inside reference for those who know the film).
There are some wonderful set-pieces, such as Karloff's tour through a most unusual basement mausoleum/museum memorializing all of his dearly departed earlier "wives." And of course, Boris and Bela deliver, with their restrained but full-bodied performances. Karloff conveys menace just entering a room, and Lugosi has an all-too-rare opportunity to display some tenderness; notice the single tear that rolls down his face as he learns - and sees - what became of the wife that Karloff stole from him years before.
A very stylized - and stylish - film which grants us the unusual treat of seeing Lugosi play a (more or less) "good guy," and the unique one of hearing him pronounce the word "baloney," as only he could.