The Black Room (1935)

Director:

Roy William Neill

Writers:

Arthur Strawn (screenplay) &
Henry Myers (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 July 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror

Tagline:

Embraced by the Devil! Monster . . . his kiss the password to oblivion!

Plot:

Ignoring an ancient prophecy, evil brother Gregor seeks to maintain his feudal power on his his Tyrolean estate by murdering and impersonating his benevolent younger twin.

Plot Keywords:

Prophecy | Twins | Baron | Castle | Estate

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Baron / Anton
Marian Marsh	...	Thea
Robert Allen	...	Lt. Lussan
Thurston Hall	...	Col. Hassel
Katherine DeMille	...	Mashka (as Katherine de Mille)
John Buckler	...	Beran
Henry Kolker	...	Baron de Berghman
Colin Tapley	...	Lt. Hassel
Torben Meyer	...	Peter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Enrique Acosta	...	Judge (scenes deleted) (uncredited)
John Beck	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Daniel Joseph Bleifer	...	Anton as a Child (uncredited)
John Bleifer	...	Franz - Captured Assassin-Villager (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey	...	Gregor's Hairdresser (uncredited)
Egon Brecher	...	Karl - Lead Villager (uncredited)
Carrie Daumery	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Edwards Davis	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Victor De Linsky	...	Michael the Footman (uncredited)
Abe Dinovitch	...	Gatekeeper (uncredited)
Von the Dog	...	Thor (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Phyllis Fraser	...	A Bridesmaid (uncredited)
John George	...	Inn Waiter (uncredited)
Octavio Giraud	...	Judge (uncredited)
Grace Goodall	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
James Gordon	...	Gentleman (uncredited)
Helena Grant	...	Anna the Housekeeper (uncredited)
Bert Howard	...	Gentleman (uncredited)
Edith Kingdon	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Richard Lancaster	...	Gentleman (uncredited)
Marion Lessing	...	Maria the Chambermaid (uncredited)
Lois Lindsay	...	A Bridesmaid (uncredited)
Ivan Linow	...	Gatekeeper (uncredited)
George Burr Macannan	...	A Servant (uncredited)
George MacQuarrie	...	The Judge (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Peasant (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Alex Melesh	...	Judge (uncredited)
Louis Merrill	...	Story Teller in Trailer (uncredited)
Robert Middlemass	...	The Prosecutor (uncredited)
Wilfrid North	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
Reinhold Pasch	...	Gregor's Tailor (uncredited)
Constantine Romanoff	...	Peasant (uncredited)
John Singer	...	Raoul the Butler (uncredited)
Bert Sprotte	...	A Peasant (uncredited)
Count Stefenelli	...	Member of the Court (uncredited)
John M. Sullivan	...	The Archbishop (uncredited)
Edward Van Sloan	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Frederick Vogeding	...	Josef, Resentful Villager with Heavy Moustache (uncredited)
Hans von Morhart	...	A Servant (uncredited)
Paul Weigel	...	A Peasant (uncredited)

Directed by
Roy William Neill		(as R. William Neill)

Writing credits
Arthur Strawn		(screenplay) &
Henry Myers		(screenplay)
Arthur Strawn		(story)

Original Music by
R.H. Bassett		(uncredited)
Milan Roder		(uncredited)
Louis Silvers		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Allen G. Siegler

Film Editing by
Richard Cahoon

Art Direction by
Stephen Goosson

Costume Design by
Murray Mayer

Sound Department
Edward Bernds	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Jack Cosgrove	....	matte painter (uncredited)
Roy Davidson	....	process shots (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Gert Andersen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Fayte M. Browne	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Silvers	....	musical director
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Edmund Ross	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Harry Cohn	....	president

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (reissue)
• Screen Gems (1958) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinema Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Present extant version, as presented on Turner Classic Movies, bears title and end credits redesigned for the 1955 wide screen re-release.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film is set in the early 1800s, yet a statue of St. Therese of Lisieux (Therese Martin) is prominently displayed in the castle three times (at 17:26, 40:09, and 47:08). Therese Martin was not born until 1873. Furthermore, no statue of St. Therese was made or displayed until after she was canonized, in 1925.

Quotes:

Col. Paul Hassel:[Playing chess] Your attack is weak as your brother Gregor's was brilliant. Chess, by the way, was the only virtue I ever discovered in him.
Baron Gregor de Bergmann:I received a letter today from him from Warsaw. Most of it was devoted to begging me to send his love to you, Colonel.
Col. Paul Hassel:His love to me? Well, if I have to accept it, I'd rather have it by post than any way I can think of.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Boris Karloff (1996) (V)

One of Karloff's best performances

Boris Karloff only made a handful of movies that demonstrated he had some real range as an actor, and of that handful, THE BLACK ROOM has to rate as one of the best. In this work, Karloff plays twin brothers of a family of aristocrats. The older brother Gregor is a nasty piece of work. He is the titular head of the family of land barons, and has long developed a reputation for brutality in the region he governs. His estate is notorious for having disappeared several young women. Anton, the younger of the twins, is a cosmopolitan sort, has been away travelling and studying for many years. Both men are haunted by a family prophecy, in which the younger of the two twins is supposed to slay the older in order to complete a family curse, which apparently began in the "black room" of the film's title.

The room itself was ordered sealed shortly after the birth of the twins in order to avert a repeat of the tragedy. Unbeknownst to the villagers, Gregor has found a hidden passage into the black room, and it is the torture pit of the room where he disposes of the bodies of his victims.

Anton, the younger brother, returns home upon the urging of his brother Gregor, who has, after several attempts on his life, realized that he must step aside in order to calm the people down. Gregor has in mind a phoney abdication in which he seems to step aside in favor of his twin. His actual plan is to murder Anton, and to continue to reign in Anton's identity, in his own twist on the family curse. He falls over his own hubris for a number of personal reasons, but before film's end, he manages to indulge in a round of crafty Karloffian mayhem.

Karloff plays both the monstrous and benign brothers, but in addition, he portrays the nasty brother imitating the gentle one. That's what makes this piece fun. Seventy minutes of the grand old man of the gothics at his best. I've probably seen it about thirty times now, and it holds up well.