The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Hal Fimberg (story) and
Robert B. Hunt (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 June 1944 (Portugal)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

There's fun in this new type of horror picture...fun for everybody, and everybody loads of fun! (original poster)

Plot:

A young divorcee tries to convert a historic house into a hotel despite its oddball inhabitants and dead bodies in the cellar.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Divorcee | Cellar | Lunatic | Italian

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Prof. Nathaniel Billings
Peter Lorre	...	Dr. Arthur Lorencz
Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom	...	Maxie, the Powder Puff Salesman (as Maxie Rosenbloom)
Larry Parks	...	Bill Layden
Jeff Donnell	...	Winnie Slade (as Miss Jeff Donnell)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Beddoe	...	J. Gilbert Brampton (uncredited)
Maude Eburne	...	Amelia Jones (uncredited)
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Alarm Clock Salesman (uncredited)
Eddie Laughton	...	Mr. Johnson (uncredited)
George McKay	...	Ebenezer (uncredited)
Patrick McVey	...	Munitions Plant Road Guard (uncredited)
Frank Mitchell	...	Fred the Cop (uncredited)
James C. Morton	...	Trooper Fred Quincy (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Silvio Baciagalupi - The Human Bomb (uncredited)
Frank Sully	...	Police Officer Joe Starrett (uncredited)

Directed by
Lew Landers

Writing credits
Hal Fimberg		(story) and
Robert B. Hunt		(story)
Edwin Blum		(screenplay)
Paul Gangelin		(adaptation)

Produced by
Colbert Clark	....	producer

Cinematography by
Henry Freulich

Film Editing by
Richard Fantl

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks

Set Decoration by
George Montgomery		(interior decorator)

Makeup Department
Clay Campbell	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Seymour Friedman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert Peterson	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Charles Althouse	....	sound (uncredited)
Jack A. Goodrich	....	sound (uncredited)

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
Leigh Harline	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
John Leipold	....	composer: title music (uncredited)
Paul Mertz	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8640) | UK:A

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This is the second of four film teamings of Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, all of them comedies. Others were You'll Find Out (1940), The Raven (1963) and The Comedy of Terrors (1963).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Jeff Donnell's Winnie slips and calls Peter Lorre "Professor Lorre", not Lorenz, and it remains in the film.

Quotes:

Bill Leyden:They murdered him! Just like they murdered the other one!
Prof. Nathaniel Billings:Please! Please! The word is, "martyrized."

Movie Connections:

References Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)

Who's in charge of the asylum?

A curious film which weaves satirical comments about World War Two into a modified "Arsenic and Old Lace" theme, together with an implicit weakness of technology and what passes for science. The strongest satire revolves around nutty Professor Nathaniel Billings (Boris Karloff), a mad but seemingly harmless scientist, whose attempt at creating a superman is so close to Hitler's expressed plan for a superman race that the parallel cannot be ignored. The film was produced during a time of military victories for the Axis powers, at a point in World War Two when the Allies were all but powerless to resist. Satire seemed the only sure weapon. As a movie, it's great fun, with a cast much too sophisticated for both the plot and the script. In effect, the acting skill of both Karloff and Peter Lorre (as Dr Lorenz) are the film's salvation. As wacky as the characters are, they seem plausible representations of real folks, which makes one wonder who, indeed, is really in charge of the asylum.