La villa des piqués

It's funny how many 'reviewers' didn't 'get' YOU'LL FIND OUT. Kay Kyser was a huge star (as big as Karloff, Lugosi, and Lorre) in the late 30s thru the 40s, and his top-rated radio show spawned 7 feature films, playing himself every time except one, so to brand him as 'silly' means you're uninformed, bub! Corny, yes, but that was the cornerstone of his appeal. THAT'S WHAT RADIO COMEDY WAS LIKE THEN. Judging Kyser by today's standards is like criticizing a Jack Benny radio show because he was 'stingy'!! THAT'S THE HUMOR, FOLKS!!! I find the most criticism comes from those who watched YFO because Boris, Bela and Peter appeared together in it. Well, guys, the news for you here is, it was without a doubt a KAY KYSER VEHICLE, complete with his name above the title and everything, so don't expect friggin' FRANKENSTEIN MEETS DRACULA. The music was wonderfully appropriate, with all song lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and an academy award nomination for the song, I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, so any detractors should be suitably chagrined.

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.

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.

In a previous post I expressed my opinion (heavily influenced by the Maltin guide) that this movie sucked. Subsequent viewings have radically changed my mind. This is a NICE little picture!

It's one of those so-corny-it's-hep 1940s comedy-horror farces that came into fashion with "The Ghost Breakers" and reached its full flowering with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein." Here, Kay Kyser and his Kollege provide rather more palatable comedy relief than Bob Hope or Bud and Lou, as well as some first-class musical interludes. Horror fans may regret that Lugosi and Karloff are not given quite as much screen time as Ish Kabibble, but will be pleased to find they are both handled with warmth, delicacy and a certain gravitas befitting such grand gentlemen of the cinema. As for the top-billed "bad humor man" Peter Lorre, in no other film has his exotic decadence been showcased so deliciously.

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.