Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (story) and
Harold Medford (writer)

Release Date:

27 March 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Mad passions, madder deeds in the Edgar Allan Poe chiller!

Plot:

After several women are murdered, the police are baffled who the suspect is. All evidence points to Bonnard, but soon it becomes apparent that it is something that is stronger and more deadlier than man. |

Plot Keywords:

3 Dimensional | Beautiful Woman | Paris | Remake | Locked Room

Cast

Karl Malden	...	Dr. Marais
Claude Dauphin	...	Insp. Bonnard
Patricia Medina	...	Jeanette
Steve Forrest	...	Prof. Paul Dupin
Allyn Ann McLerie	...	Yvonne (as Allyn McLerie)
Anthony Caruso	...	Jacques the One-Eyed
Veola Vonn	...	Arlette (model)
Dolores Dorn	...	Camille (woman in audience)
Merv Griffin	...	Georges Brevert
Paul Richards	...	Rene the Knife-thrower
Rolfe Sedan	...	LeBon (as Rolphe Sedan)
Erin O'Brien-Moore	...	Wardrobe woman
The Flying Zacchinis	...	Themselves

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1955) | Sweden:(Banned) (1954-1976) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) | USA:Approved

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The famous "gorilla performer" Charles Gemora, who plays the gorilla, also played the gorilla in the original Universal version Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Son of Svengoolie: Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) (#1.35)" (1980)

Atmospheric Thriller

If you've never seen this Parisian outing in 3-D, you must. It's been decades since the last time I enjoyed it at a temporary 3-D revival, but I remember the effects quite well. I won't discuss the story because too many commentators have already discussed how it is modified from Poe's original, but the script works. It is a horror movie, after all, which makes me think the writer who critiqued the "over the top" and "stilted" acting, doesn't realize that like fair rides we go to these movies to be thrilled and shudder. By current slasher film standards, this movie is very tame ... but it effectively depicts enough to give you nightmares, if you really think a bout what's going on. As mentioned, the 3-D effects are stunning. No, this movie is not as good per se as "House of Wax" but it is definitely worth a look. Why the devil doesn't Warner Brothers release both HoW and PotRM on DVD in 3-D using the shutter process utilized for the Imax releases?