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IMDbPro

Night Key

  • 19371937
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 8m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
996
YOUR RATING
Night Key (1937)
The inventor of a new top-of-the-line burglar alarm system is kidnapped by a gang in order to get him to help them commit robberies.
Play trailer1:36
1 Video
38 Photos
CrimeThriller
The inventor of a new top-of-the-line burglar alarm system is kidnapped by a gang in order to get him to help them commit robberies.The inventor of a new top-of-the-line burglar alarm system is kidnapped by a gang in order to get him to help them commit robberies.The inventor of a new top-of-the-line burglar alarm system is kidnapped by a gang in order to get him to help them commit robberies.
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
996
YOUR RATING
    • Lloyd Corrigan
    • Tristram Tupper(screen play)
    • Jack Moffitt(screen play)
    • William A. Pierce(original story by)
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Warren Hull
    • Jean Rogers
    • Lloyd Corrigan
    • Tristram Tupper(screen play)
    • Jack Moffitt(screen play)
    • William A. Pierce(original story by)
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Warren Hull
    • Jean Rogers
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 31User reviews
    • 29Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:36
    Watch Trailer

    Photos38

    Boris Karloff, Alan Baxter, Warren Hull, and Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff, Warren Hull, and Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff, Alan Baxter, Warren Hull, and Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff, Alan Baxter, Warren Hull, and Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff, Warren Hull, and Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff and Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Night Key (1937)
    Boris Karloff in Night Key (1937)
    Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)
    Jean Rogers in Night Key (1937)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff
    • David Mallory
    Warren Hull
    Warren Hull
    • Jim Travers
    • (as J. Warren Hull)
    Jean Rogers
    Jean Rogers
    • Joan Mallory
    Alan Baxter
    Alan Baxter
    • John Baron aka The Kid
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    Hobart Cavanaugh
    • Petty Louie
    Samuel S. Hinds
    Samuel S. Hinds
    • Stephen Ranger
    • (as Samuel Hinds)
    David Oliver
    David Oliver
    • Mike Callahan
    Ward Bond
    Ward Bond
    • Fingers
    Frank Reicher
    Frank Reicher
    • Carl
    Edwin Maxwell
    Edwin Maxwell
    • Kruger
    Roy Barcroft
    Roy Barcroft
    • Alarm Technician
    • (uncredited)
    Nina Campana
    • Mrs. Spinelli
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Cheatham
    Jack Cheatham
    • Henchman
    • (uncredited)
    George Cleveland
    George Cleveland
    • Sam Adams - Company Engineer
    • (uncredited)
    Hal Cooke
    • Cafe Manager
    • (uncredited)
    Ralph Dunn
    Ralph Dunn
    • ABC Delivery Garageman-Thug
    • (uncredited)
    Ruth Fallows
    • Waitress
    • (uncredited)
    Antonio Filauri
    • Alarm Technician
    • (uncredited)
      • Lloyd Corrigan
      • Tristram Tupper(screen play)
      • Jack Moffitt(screen play)
      • William A. Pierce(original story by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The movie was made because although the new owners of Universal Studios in 1936 were convinced that the horror genre was commercially dead, they inherited a contract stipulating Boris Karloff's participation in one more film. Carl Laemmle Jr. had signed him to this contract after the success of Frankenstein (1931), so, not knowing what other genre to put him in, they commissioned a story that would give him a suitable role but stipulated it would not be a horror film.
    • Connections
      Featured in 100 Years of Horror: Boris Karloff (1996)

    User reviews31

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    What I create. I can destroy.
    Night Key is directed by Lloyd Corrigan and adapted to screenplay by Jack Moffitt & Tristam Tupper from a story by William A. Pierce. It stars Boris Karloff, Jean Rogers, Warren Hull and Samuel S. Hinds. Music is by Louis Forbes and cinematography by George Robinson. Plot sees Karloff as aging inventor David Mallory, who once again finds himself cheated by security business boss Stephen Ranger (Hinds). With his eyesight failing and a daughter (Rogers) he wants to set up before he passes on, Mallory decides to teach the scheming Ranger a lesson. However, the criminal element headed by The Kid (Alan Baxter) have designs on using Mallory and his "Night Key" device for their own ill gotten gains.

    Well Louis! We are in.

    Out of Universal Pictures, Night Key was knocked out in under a month and budgeted, unsurprisingly, on the cheap. Yet the film belies these matters to be a good old fashioned yarn for entertainment. Melodrama mixes with a touch of sci-fi as the story unfolds as an interesting character piece, the veins of which are mostly pumped by an honest versus dishonest theme. Within there's a burgeoning romance etched in to the narrative, but this is handled well by the director as it aids the flow and reason of plotting, while the odd bit of action here and there stops the film from being too staid. The effects from John P. Fulton, too, are good fun and leave a favourable mark late in the story.

    Picture gets most of its strength from Karloff's performance. An undervalued talent at the best of times, Night Key gives viewers the chance to see just what he could do away from the horror iconography that defined his career. Here as the sombre and fragile David Mallory, Karloff isn't just looking the part because of make-up, he is able to match his body to the aged state of the character, simultaneously garnering great empathy from the viewers. It's a character, courtesy of performance, that firmly has us rooting for against the baddies. Around Karloff are effective turns from Rogers (bright), Hinds (weasel like), Hobart Cavanaugh (fun as the comedy side-kick, Petty Louis) and Ward Bond, who as henchman thug is an imposing presence.

    It's all very daft and goes where we expect, and want, it to go, but with Karloff leading the way this is a comfortably recommended time filler. 7/10
    helpful•4
    1
    • hitchcockthelegend
    • May 19, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 2, 1937 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Universal Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 8 minutes
      • Black and White

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