Main Cast: Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Lillian Bond
Release Year: 1932
Country: US
Run Time: 71 minutes
Plot
It's a wildly varied group that takes shelter from a raging English storm in the forbidding mansion of the Femm family. Among the reluctant guests are stuffed-shirt Philip Waverton (Raymond Massey): Philip's sensitive wife Margaret (Gloria Stuart); their mutual friend, disillusioned war veteran Roger Penderell (Melvyn Douglas); vulgar self-made millionaire Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton); and Porterhouse's no-better-than-she-ought-to-be lady friend Gladys DuCane (Lillian Bond). Under the baleful eyes of ungracious, atheistic host Horace Femm (Ernst Thesiger) and Horace's religious-zealot sister Rebecca (Eva Moore), the group sits around conversing, slowly coming to the realization that first impressions are most deceiving. Normally, that would be the whole story-except that the old dark house houses a deep dark secret involving 101-year-old Sir Roderick Femm (played by "John Dudgeon", actually an actress named Elspeth Dudgeon) and pyromaniac Saul Femm (Brember Wills). Lumbering ominously throughout the proceedings is top-billed Boris Karloff, playing Morgan, the mute, alcoholic family butler (the opening credits felt obligated to tell 1932 filmgoers that yes, this was the same Karloff who'd portrayed the Monster in the previous season's Frankenstein). Directed with sinister verve by James Whale and brimming with unforgettable dialogue, The Old Dark House is one of the most enjoyable and least formularized of the Universal "scare" pictures of the early 1930s. The film was based on J. B. Priestly's Benighted, though Priestly's hero dies in the book and does not in the film (this appears to have been a last-minute decision--and a wise one). Long thought lost, The Old Dark House was rediscovered in the early 1970s; copyright problems with the lukewarm 1963 remake kept it off television until 1994, at which time a sparkling new print was struck, replacing the washed-out dupes with which film buffs were all too familiar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although little seen since its original release, The Old Dark House (1932) had by the 1960s attained a grail-like status among fans of director James Whale, whose beloved Universal horror films included Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). The least successful of this quartet of fright classics, The Old Dark House came to be reconsidered a cult gem, part of the renewal of interest in Whale's talents many years after his creative peak. Whale's protégé and friend Curtis Harrington, who went on to become a director in his own right, rescued The Old Dark House from oblivion in 1968, after it had languished on Universal's shelves. Harrington repeatedly asked the studio to locate the negative, then convinced Kodak's Eastman House to finance the creation of a new duplicate negative of the unsalvageable first reel. Without his intervention, The Old Dark House would probably not have survived in any form. Harrington's heroics complete, The Old Dark House was seen once again in its original form after many years of speculation based on recollections of those who had seen the original, some beautiful set stills that had become popular collectibles, and European critics who had viewed post-WWII prints. Predictably, some Whale fans were disappointed in the film's scant thrills and chills. The story, based on the novel Benighted by J.B. Priestley, indeed lacked the shocks and scares of Whale's three other horror standards, eschewing the fantastic for more psychological suspense. Nevertheless, The Old Dark House contained all the other essential ingredients of the director's style, including moody shot compositions, mocking humor, witty dialogue, and sly hints of sexuality. Critics hailed it as one of Whale's gothic masterpieces, and The Old Dark House rightly took its place among the director's best-regarded titles. There are several interesting footnotes of interest to fans. Like other films of its time, The Old Dark House had no musical score, featuring music only over the credits. The portrayal of the hulking, primitive butler Morgan by Boris Karloff inspired Charles Addams to create his own butler character for his famed "Addams Family" cartoons, the character later dubbed "Lurch." Though credited in the film as "John Dudgeon," the part of aged patriarch Sir Roderick Femm was actually played by a woman, Elspeth Dudgeon. And female lead Gloria Stuart provided an amusing voiceover audio commentary for the film's laserdisc release. On hearing it, director James Cameron first thought of casting her in the pivotal role of Old Rose in his upcoming film Titanic (1997), for which Stuart was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, 65 years after The Old Dark House. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Ernst Thesiger - Horace Femm; Eva Moore - Rebecca Femm; Raymond Massey - Philip Waverton; Brember Wills - Saul Femm; John Dudgeon - Sir Roderick; Elspeth Dudgeon - Sir Roderick Femm
Filled with humorously sophisticated dialogue, the movie also stars Melvyn Douglas and features Charles Laughton, Ernest Thesiger (Doctor Pretorius in Whale's 1935 The Bride of Frankenstein), Raymond Massey, and Gloria Stuart (the elderly "Rose" in 1997's Titanic) as the ravishing young ingenue. According to the Penguin Encyclopaedia of Horror and the Supernatural, the Femm family's ancient patriarch was played by a woman, Elspeth Dudgeon (billed as "John Dudgeon"), because Whale couldn't find a male actor who looked old enough for the role.
In spite of the presence of Karloff, The Old Dark House was largely ignored at the American box office, although it was a huge hit in Whale's native England where the audience was more in tune with the director's distinctive, ironic sense of black humour. For many years, it was considered a lost film and gained a tremendous reputation as one of the pre-eminent gothic horror films. Finally, in 1968, a print of the film was discovered by Curtis Harrington in the vaults of Universal Studios[1] and restored so that it could once more be shown in public.
Seeking shelter from a pounding rainstorm in a remote region of Wales, several travellers are admitted to a gloomy, foreboding mansion belonging to the extremely strange Femm family. Trying to make the best of it, the guests must deal with their sepulchral host, Horace Femm, who claims to be on the run from the police, and his religious, obsessive, malevolent sister, Rebecca.
Things get worse as the brutish mute butler, Morgan, gets drunk, runs amok, threatens Margaret Waverton and releases the long pent-up brother, Saul, a psychotic fantasist and pyromaniac who gleefully tries to destroy the residence by setting it on fire.
Production
Universal Studios producer Carl Laemmle invited screenwriter Benn Levy from England to Universal City after being impressed with Levy's screenplay for Waterloo Bridge which was also directed by James Whale. Levy's arrival was unexpected at the time and Levy put on loan to Paramount Pictures where he worked on the screenplay for The Devil and the Deep. When Levy finished work on the film, he returned to Universal to start work on The Old Dark House.[2] The film is based on 1927 novel Benighted by J. B. Priestley, a 1927 novel about post-World War I disillusionment.[3] The film follows the original plot of the book, while adding levels of comedy to the story.[3]
The film appeared on Universal's schedule in February 1932 and the script was submitted to the Hays Office in March. Filming finished by May 1933.[2] Whale worked with many collaborators from his previous films including Arthur Edeson, who was the cinematographer for Frankenstein and Waterloo Bridge, set designer Charles D. Hall, who also worked with Whale on Frankenstein, and playwright R. C. Sherriff, who wrote the original play for Journey's End which Whale made into a film of the same name in 1931.[4][5]
Ernest Thesiger as Horace Femm: the host of the house, brother to Rebecca and Saul, and son of Sir Roderick
Eva Moore as Rebecca Femm: the near deaf religious fanatic sister of Horace
Raymond Massey as Philip Waverton: Margaret's husband who arrives at the house with Roger
Elspeth Dudgeon as Sir Roderick Femm: the 102 year old bed-ridden father of the Femm family
Brember Wills as Saul Femm: a pyromaniac member of the Femm family, locked up in the house
Release
The Old Dark House was previewed in early July 1932 and was re-issued into theaters in 1939.[2] In 1957, Universal Studios lost the rights to the original story.[2] Whale's fellow director and friend Curtis Harrington helped The Old Dark House from becoming a lost film. Harrington repeatedly asked the Universal Studios to locate the film negative and then convinced Kodak's Eastman House to finance the creation of a new duplicate negative of the poorly kept first reel.[6]
In the United States, the Variety and The Hollywood Filmograph gave the film a negative reviews, with Variety calling it a "somewhat inane picture".[7] All nine of the New Yorkdailies gave the film positive reviews.[2]The New York Times praised the film stating that "there is a wealth of talent in the production" and "like Frankenstein, it has the advantage of being directed by James Whale who once again proves his ability".[7] The box office reception started well in the first week of release, but later suffered through negative word of mouth.[2] It was booked for three weeks at the Rialto Theatre in New York where the audience turn-out dropped to less than half in its second week and the film was pulled after ten days.[2] The film performed greater in England, where it broke house records at the Capitol Theatre in London.[2] The film ranking website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of six reviews.[8]
Modern reception has been more generally positive. Ali Catterall of Channel 4 referred to the film as "Impressively atmospheric and hilariously grim".[9]Time Out London praised the film stating that "Whale manages to parody the conventions of the dark house horror genre as he creates them, in which respect the film remains entirely modern."[10] Karl Williams of the film database Allmovie wrote that "by the 1960s attained a grail-like status among fans of director James Whale...The Old Dark House came to be reconsidered a cult gem, part of the renewal of interest in Whale's talents many years after his creative peak".[6]
The Old Dark House was remade in 1963 by director William Castle for Columbia Pictures. It starred comedian Tom Poston, and the Boris Karloff role was taken on by Danny Green.[11] The remake has not been as well received by modern critics in comparison to the original film. Craig Butler of the film database Allmovie wrote in a review of the 1963 film, that "When compared with the James Whale original upon which it is based, this remake of The Old Dark House is pretty sorry stuff."[12]
