The House of Fear (1939)

A detective goes undercover as a producer to investigate an actor's murder, which occurred during the performance of a play. The actor's body disappeared shortly after the crime, and his ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe May

Writers:

Wadsworth Camp (novel), Thomas F. Fallon (play),

Stars:

William Gargan, Irene Hervey, Dorothy Arnold

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Gargan	...	Arthur McHugh
Irene Hervey	...	Alice Tabor
Dorothy Arnold	...	Gloria DeVere
Alan Dinehart	...	Joseph Morton
Harvey Stephens	...	Richard 'Dick' Pierce (as Harvey Stevens)
Walter Woolf King	...	Carleton
Robert Coote	...	Robert Morton
El Brendel	...	Jeff
Tom Dugan	...	Mike
Jan Duggan	...	Sarah Henderson
Donald Douglas	...	John Woodford

Storyline

A detective goes undercover as a producer to investigate an actor's murder, which occurred during the performance of a play. The actor's body disappeared shortly after the crime, and his ghost is rumored to be haunting the theater.

---

Plot Keywords:

actor | murder | performance | theater | detective | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Thriller | Drama | Mystery

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 June 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Casa do Medo

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Son of Svengoolie: The House of Fear (1939) (1981)

User Reviews

A Good "Haunted Theatre" mystery

An actor, John Woodford, dies on-stage during a performance of a play. His body is taken to his dressing room, where it disappears. The theatre is closed for over a year, and rumors that Woodford's ghost haunts it spread all over Broadway.

A detective (posing as a producer) rents the theatre and attempts to present the same play, but all sorts of "ghostly occurences" happen to try to thwart his plans. (Woodford's voice coming over a dead telephone, his face appearing on the pitch-dark stage during a police vigil, more murders, mysterious notes from the "dead man", etc).

All-in-all, a "different" mystery with good acting; if you watch the film intently, you can figure out who the murderer is (but, it's DIFFICULT!). Highly recommended. (btw....this film has NOTHING to do with the Sherlock Holmes film of the same name).