Scared to Death (1947)

From a slab in the morgue, a dead young woman tells the bizarre tale of how she got there, through a maze of murder involving a hypnotist, a midget and a mysterious figure in a blue mask.

Director:

Christy Cabanne

Writers:

Walter Abbott (original story), Walter Abbott (screenplay)

Stars:

Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Nat Pendleton

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bela Lugosi	...	Prof. Leonide
George Zucco	...	Dr. Joseph Van Ee
Nat Pendleton	...	Bill Raymond
Molly Lamont	...	Laura Van Ee / Laurette La Valle
Joyce Compton	...	Jane Cornell
Gladys Blake	...	Lilybeth
Roland Varno	...	Ward Van Ee
Douglas Fowley	...	Terry Lee
Stanley Andrews	...	Pathologist
Angelo Rossitto	...	Indigo
Lee Bennett	...	Rene the Killer
Stanley Price	...	Autopsy Surgeon

Storyline

From a slab in the morgue, a dead young woman tells the bizarre tale of how she got there, through a maze of murder involving a hypnotist, a midget and a mysterious figure in a blue mask.

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Plot Keywords:

mask | morgue | midget | scared to death | public domain | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian

Release Date:

1 February 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Accent on Horror

Filming Locations:

Yorke-Metro Studios, 1329 Gordon Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$135,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Gate Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min 68 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Cinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Photographed in Natural Color.

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Goofs

Angelo Rossitto's character name is "Inigo" (as in Inigo Jones) if you listen to Lugosi, "Indigo" if you listen to Nat Pendleton.

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Quotes

Bill Raymond: There were screams inside! You gotta admit that it's in the longitude of my profession to make with an investigatory reaction there to- What am I saying?

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Connections

Featured in Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula (1997)

User Reviews

Low budget, no scares, Lugosi

This is Bela Lugosi's only starring feature in color. That's about all it has going for it, really; the schtick of having a corpse narrate the movie (Which would be done quite a bit better a few years later by Sunset Blvd.) isn't well executed, anyway.

Laura Van Ee (Mary Lamont) is a nervous, tension-ridden ex-dancer who thinks she's imprisoned in her room by her husband Ward and her father in law Dr. Josef (George Zucco). She's mad, mad I tell you! Since it's her corpse that narrates, I think we can assume we know what happens to Mrs. Van Ee right from the get-go.

Why is she so anxious? She's not sure - no one is - but everyone suspects it all has something to do with her past, and something to do with a handkerchief. Enter Bela Lugosi and a midget - no, wait, Professor Leonide and his faithful companion, Indigo. And a wisecracking, tough-guy reporter (Douglas Fowley) and his dim-bulb dame (Joyce Compton). Add in a bumbling ex-cop who overtly desires a murder so he can solve it and get back to "real" policework (Nat Pendelton), and you have all the ingredients for One Crappy Low Budget Movie.

Every now and then the director remembers this is supposed to be a horror film, not a crime caper, so you hear this loopy pseudospooky music that's probably supposed to portend doom, or something. Which makes some sort of sense, but there's nothing creepy going on at the time, so it's hardly effective.

I've heard tell that Lamont, as the haunted Mrs. Ee (love the surname) is the only actor with any kind of spirit (ha, ha) in the movie - but please, hammy isn't the same as being spirited. Lugosi plays Lugosi, the midget disappears halfway through the picture, there's a supposedly disembodied head, and that's about it. It's all over in an hour or so.