El castillo de los misterios

This may seem like slight entertainment, and of course it is. But I am recommending it as must viewing until I find an earlier example with this structure.

The setup is simple enough: it is explicitly a self-aware movie. In fact Kyser comes on at the end and assures the audience that Lorre, Karloff and Lugosi aren't really murders. Within that are several performances of the band, performances I assume are similar to what they did in non-movie-land. Two performances.

Added to that in a clever way is a third. For this you need some background.

From about 1880 to 1910, many North Americans were spiritualists. Yes, about as many as today call themselves evangelists, the movement that displaced spiritualism. The rapidity of the change is breathtaking in a sociological context and interesting in itself. By the thirties, the "next" generation was making serious fun of spiritualism, usually in terms of uncovering a fake séance.

I've found several earlier fake séance movies, but they are all in the context of detective movies. That's another story all together. Superficially, they look like the fakery in this movie: a secret room, microphones, special effects, gullible participants holding hands.

But this is the first I think that references it as a performance. A lot flows from that tipping point on both sides: movies and the religious show.

Three layered performances, here.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

I liked this movie, I have seen it at least 5 times so far. Let's be fair to the movie,it is not Gone With The Wind, it is a B movie, but a really cute one. Kay Kaiser is always Great.

This movie has a GREAT gimmick called the Sonovox. It is similar to the electronic voice box of today, but with much better fidelity. Two small very high powered speakers are held against the upper throat, and you just mouth the words, the speakers provide the voice. Peter Frampton used a variation of this for one of his songs.

There is a wonderful demonstration of the Sonovox at the end of the movie.

Also the big band numbers are great. The two main singers "Handsome" Harry Babbitt and "Gorgeous" Ginny Simms have very fine voices and sing very fine songs in the movie. Yes "The Bad Humor Man" is silly but "WHO CARES"?

The three "horror" stars are great too, Bela Lugosi steals the show, Peter Lorre smokes up a storm, and Boris Karloff is oddly restrained. If you like Big Band music and Old Movies, I think you will like this one.

This movie is genuinely routine as those WWII comedies featuring popular band leaders & their comedic and/or horror foes.. But this one stands above most of the others in it's genre, mainly due to Horror Legends Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre...and Comedy relief from the one & only Ish Kabibble, Kay Kyser's one true maniac...(Check out Ish's haircut, seems like he influenced Jerry Lewis' Nutty Professor hairdo & Jim Carrey's Dumb & Dumber.) The plot is irritating at times, although the safest thing to do is to forget about the plot & enjoy these legends of horror change licks with Ish, Kay & the rest of the house full of guests. I recommend this movie to anyone not wanting to get lost in a story line from hell but to just sit back, with the family and enjoy a moment in time that only our parents or grandparents could remember, I truly enjoyed the innocence of a time lost watching this Comedy/Horror diamond in the rough. Ish Kabibble to all and to all an Ish Kabibble.

Despite the emphasis on music, via Kay Kyser & the College of Knowledge, this is a true Old Dark House film. There's a very large, spooky old mansion, a thunderstorm, secret passageways, comedy, mystery, attempts at murder, a butler (who, oddly enough, is never a suspect), creepy characters, etc. In the "creepy characters" category, they don't get any creepier than Boris, Bela, & Peter (in his first film in the horror genre). Boris plays, well, Boris, & he doesn't have quite enough to do here. But his presence alone adds weight to the film. Bela is quite creepy as a "Prince" who conducts seances. Peter (who looks very spooky here & is even thinner than in earlier movies) is very good as always; just watching him roll those big round eyes is worth the price of admission. For my taste, there's too much emphasis on Kay Kyser (who is the "star" of this film), who's good but becomes distracting after a while. Kyser fans will enjoy his role, as he gets to display all of his many talents here. Ginny Simms (a vocalist in the Kyser band) is lovely in a supporting role. This film is a real treat to Boris, Bela & Peter fans. I didn't know of its existence until very recently, & I was quite pleased to see these guys at this stage in their careers in a movie I had never seen before. I rate it 7/10.

Classic horror film fans will salivate at the thought of seeing Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre all at their devilish best in any film even if it's not a horror film per se. But the star of this film was noted band-leader and radio personality Kay Kyser who back in 1940 was enormously popular for his music and his Spike Jones lite type of orchestra comedy.

You'll Find Out features Kay and the boys hired to play at a party that their manager Dennis O'Keefe has arranged for his girlfriend Helen Parrish. She's an heiress whose money is held in trust by her aunt Alma Kruger. But Kruger is in the thrall of fake swami Bela Lugosi who's got a séance also planned for the evening. Also in attendance in addition to Parrish's girlfriends are Boris Karloff as the family attorney and Peter Lorre as a psychologist hired to expose Lugosi as a fake.

If you liked as I do Abbott&Costello Meet Frankenstein than you should like this film as well. In fact Bud and Lou also did Hold That Ghost which is even more similar to this film. But it's a double treat if you like the music of the era as I did.

Kay Kyser's orchestra also featured singers Harry Babbitt and Ginny Simms who introduce I'd Know You Anywhere which gained for You'll Find Out an Oscar nomination. Kyser himself was good as both comedian and musician.

Even though it's a comedy and not a Gothic horror film one should never pass up seeing Karloff, Lugosi, and Lorre in the same film.