The Black Cat (1934)

American honeymooners in Hungary become trapped in the home of a Satan-worshiping priest when the bride is taken there for medical help following a road accident.

Director:

Edgar G. Ulmer

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (suggested by a story by), Peter Ruric (screenplay)

Stars:

Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Boris Karloff	...	Hjalmar Poelzig (as Karloff)
Bela Lugosi	...	Dr. Vitus Werdegast
David Manners	...	Peter Alison
Julie Bishop	...	Joan Alison (as Jacqueline Wells)
Egon Brecher	...	The Majordomo
Harry Cording	...	Thamal
Lucille Lund	...	Karen
Henry Armetta	...	The Sergeant
Albert Conti	...	The Lieutenant

Storyline

Honeymooning in Hungary, Joan and Peter Allison share their train compartment with Dr. Vitus Verdegast, a courtly but tragic man who is returning to the remains of the town he defended before becoming a prisoner of war for fifteen years. When their hotel-bound bus crashes in a mountain storm and Joan is injured, the travellers seek refuge in the home, built fortress-like upon the site of a bloody battlefield, of famed architect Hjalmar Poelzig. There, cat-phobic Verdegast learns his wife's fate, grieves for his lost daughter, and must play a game of chess for Allison's life.

---

Plot Keywords:

satan worship | narcotic shot | bauhaus architecture | mute servant | hungary | 

---

Taglines:

The most imaginative picture yet! (Newspaper ad cut).

---

Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Horror | Romance | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin Hungarian

Release Date:

7 May 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Vanishing Body

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$95,745 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$236,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The doorbell in Poelzig's house plays the first four notes from a recurring theme from Richard Wagner's opera "Die Meistersinger".

---

Goofs

The sounds of the explosions do not match the visuals in the long shots of Poelzig's house as the undermined dynamite explodes.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
The Lieutenant: [looking over Joan's passport] Mr. and Mrs. Alison, Car 96, Compartment F. Orient Express, Budapest, Visegrad.

---

Connections

Referenced in Ed Wood (1994)

---

Soundtracks

Symphony no. 7: Second Movement
(uncredited)
Music by Ludwig van Beethoven
Played as background music

User Reviews

More Enjoyable Than It Has Any Business Being

Other commentaries will fill you in on the nearly-incomprehensible plot (if that's possible) but, as has been pointed out, you don't watch a film like this for plot.

Despite the story inconsistencies and implausibilities, everything here just seems to "jell:" the fabulous sets, elegant photography, evocative music (drawing heavily from Schubert, among others) and the downright creepy atmosphere woven from the themes of jealousy, lust, revenge, murder, sadism.....all sounds delightfully sick, doesn't it? Truly, it's nowhere near as threatening as it sounds; indeed, if Astaire and Rogers had ever made a spooky thriller, it might have looked and felt something like this one. THE BLACK CAT possesses a lyrical, rhythmic quality, upon which we drift through a sleek, ultra-modern nightmare world.

One of the reasons it all works is its ability to pull us into a sort of parallel universe which, though it looks more or less like reality as we know it, glides along on a barely-concealed undercurrent - an "atmosphere of death," as Lugosi's character puts it - where things happen that "could never actually happen" (an inside reference for those who know the film).

There are some wonderful set-pieces, such as Karloff's tour through a most unusual basement mausoleum/museum memorializing all of his dearly departed earlier "wives." And of course, Boris and Bela deliver, with their restrained but full-bodied performances. Karloff conveys menace just entering a room, and Lugosi has an all-too-rare opportunity to display some tenderness; notice the single tear that rolls down his face as he learns - and sees - what became of the wife that Karloff stole from him years before.

A very stylized - and stylish - film which grants us the unusual treat of seeing Lugosi play a (more or less) "good guy," and the unique one of hearing him pronounce the word "baloney," as only he could.