The Raven (1935)

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (poem)
David Boehm (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

8 July 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

While this mad surgical genius chanted "The Raven," horrible screams rose up from his torture chamber below!

Plot:

A brilliant surgeon obsessed with Poe saves the life of a beautiful dancer and goes mad when he can't have her.

Plot Keywords:

Surgeon | Dancer | Torture | Operation | Tree Breaks A Window

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Edmond Bateman (as Karloff)
Bela Lugosi	...	Dr. Richard Vollin
Lester Matthews	...	Dr. Jerry Halden (Credits) / Dr. Jerry Holden
Irene Ware	...	Jean Thatcher
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Judge Thatcher
Spencer Charters	...	Geoffrey (Credits) / Col. Bertram Grant
Inez Courtney	...	Mary Burns
Ian Wolfe	...	Col. Bertram Grant (Credits) / Geoffrey 'Pinky'
Maidel Turner	...	Harriet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anne Darling	...	Autograph Hound (scenes deleted)
June Gittelson	...	Autograph Hound (scenes deleted)
Joe Haworth	...	Drug Clerk (scenes deleted)
Mary Wallace	...	Autograph Hound (scenes deleted)
Raine Bennett	...	Poe (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	The Crook (uncredited)
Nina Golden	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Jonathan Hale	...	Bedside Dr. at Jerry's Right (uncredited)
Arthur Hoyt	...	Chapman - Buyer of Poe Memorabilia (uncredited)
Walter Miller	...	Bedside Dr. at Judge's Right (uncredited)
Bud Osborne	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Madeline Talcott	...	Bedside Nurse (uncredited)
Cyril Thornton	...	Dr. Vollin's Butler (uncredited)

Directed by
Lew Landers		(as Louis Friedlander)

Writing credits
Edgar Allan Poe		(poem)
David Boehm		(screenplay)
Florence Enright		(dialogue) uncredited
Michael L. Simmons		(contributing writer) uncredited and
Dore Schary		(contributing writer) uncredited and
Guy Endore		(contributing writer) uncredited and
Clarence Marks		(contributing writer) uncredited and
Jim Tully		(contributing writer) uncredited and
John Lynch		(contributing writer) uncredited

Produced by
David Diamond	....	associate producer
Stanley Bergerman	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Clifford Vaughan		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Charles J. Stumar		(photographer) (as Charles Stumar)

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino

Makeup Department
Otto Lederer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup designer (uncredited)
Hazel Rogers	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Scott R. Beal	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Victor Noerdlinger	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	process photography (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Maurice Pivar	....	supervising editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Gilbert Kurland	....	music supervisor
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	conductor (uncredited)
W. Franke Harling	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Clifford Vaughan	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Florence Enright	....	dialogue director
Theodore Kosloff	....	dance arranger
Carl Laemmle	....	president: Universal Pictures Corp.
George DeNormand	....	double: Bela Lugosi (uncredited)
Ed Haskett	....	supervising secretary (uncredited)
Moree Herring	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Monte Montague	....	double: Boris Karloff (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• Film Classics (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Pictures (1936) (Austria) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Magna Pacific (????) (Australia) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #790)

Filming Locations:

Stage 28, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The on-screen billing switches the character names played by Spencer Charters and Ian Wolfe. Charters actually portrays Colonel Bertram Grant, while Wolfe appears as Geoffrey "Pinky" Burns.

Goofs:

Continuity: Bateman has turned away from Vollin when Vollin shoots him. But he clutches his chest and falls.

Quotes:

Dr. Richard Vollin:Your monstrous ugliness breeds monstrous hatred. Good! I can use your hate.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fallen Vampire (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV.565

Lugosi is Incredible!

Karloff gets the top billing in this second feature pairing both horror stars, but it is Bela Lugosi all the way who steals each and every scene he is in. Lugosi is incredible in his over-the-top performance of a morbid, obsessed doctor and Poe aficionado. Each line he utters with flair and gusto, each movement an outrageous, maniacal gesture. He is truly a ham, and an enjoyable one at that. Karloff is quite good as a killer, and the only compassionate character in the story. He is disfigured by Lugosi, so he will kill for the mad doctor. One of the best scenes is Lugosi leaving his patient to see his handiwork. Karloff shoots through several mirrors after realizing the atrocities committed on him, and from a door in the roof of the room.....Lugosi peers through and laughs...laughs with coldness, cruelty, and hysteria. The rest of the film is devoted to Lugosi utilizing his Poe recreations of torture...and I must confess as an earlier reviewer noted that you really feel little sympathy for the other characters involved...and at one point I wanted the pendulum to win. You must see this film as it is the second best of the Karloff/Lugosi pairings...but it really is a Lugosi film.