The Black Cat

Rating: *** (of of five)

Greedy family heirs stay at their grandmother's mansion and wait for her to die, so they can collect her money and estate. They later discover that they cannot collect a dime until all of her pet cats are dead as well. Someone in the mansion then begins to murder them one by one. This film has all of the elements of horror. Although it bears a notch below many of the popular horror films released by Universal Pictures, director Albert Rogall's The Black Cat has the "haunted" house scene, a rain storm, secret passage ways and plenty of laughs and scares to make it a good horror film. Basil Rathbone and Broderick Crawford are also both good as the leads, as well as Hugh Herbert providing the laughs. Oscar winner Gale Sondergaard and Bela Lugosi, both playing the servants looked wickedly evil and sinister, and it was my surprise that they were not the murderers when both of their characters were murdered as well. The real killer was a surprise, especially with the premise of the black cat being around at the time of the murders often throws the viewers off. The Black Cat is a good horror film classic with intriguing mystery.

Given one of the most abused titles in cinema history (innumerable films were supposedly inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's short story but few, if any, bothered to be faithful to it), the plot of this one could go in any direction. Universal had already used the title for one of its most stylish (and potent) horror offerings in 1934, so the 'remake' tried something entirely different: an old dark house comedy-chiller on the lines of THE CAT AND THE CANARY (itself brought to the screen several times, the most recent up to that time emanating from 1939). As always with this kind of film, we get a plethora of characters brought together for the hearing of a will and then starting to die violently one by one; the cast is notable and eclectic – including two horror stars (Basil Rathbone and Bela Lugosi: the latter was also in the earlier version, where his role was far more substantial), whereas the comedy is supplied by Broderick Crawford (proving surprisingly adept and likably accident-prone!) and the insufferable Hugh Herbert. Of course, there is a damsel-in-distress (pretty Anne Gwynne, also serving as Crawford's love interest) being invariably the one to receive the lion's share of the fortune possessed by the dotty (and cat-loving) owner of the estate; also on hand are Gale Sondergaard (as the sinister housekeeper, a virtual reprise of her role in the aforementioned version of THE CAT AND THE CANARY) and Gladys Cooper and Alan Ladd(!) as mother and son (the former is married to Rathbone, but he carries on an affair with another relative present). Being definitely a B-movie, the film is best compared to similarly modest ventures in this vein: even so, not involving recognizable comics (such as THE GORILLA [1939] did with The Ritz Brothers) or a horrific figure (a' la NIGHT MONSTER [1942]) – both films, incidentally, feature Bela Lugosi in an almost identical (and equally thankless) part – the film ends up not satisfying anyone…even if it is harmless enough as entertainment, the eerie atmosphere well up to par and the identity of the villain (who perishes flamboyantly in a blaze) a genuine surprise.

This is a fairly typical old dark house comedy of the sort that was popular in the wake of the Bob Hope Cat and the Canary of a couple of years earlier. Gale Sondergaard is even on hand, as in the earlier film; and this one, while hardly brilliant, has some wonderful photography and great (and exceedingly familiar) standing sets. It's a routine reading of the will plot, with the usual suspects, here more lively than usual, with Runyon refugee Broderick Crawford, Gold Diggers alumnus Hugh Herbert, deerstalker- and meerschaum-less Basil Rathbone, and a sadly defanged Bela Lugosi, in a minor role. If one goes for old-fashioned studio thrillers and isn't too demanding of dialog, which is far from clever, or plot, which isn't too ingenious, this one might be just what the doctor ordered on a dark and rainy night.

Hoping that wealthy, cat-loving matriarch, Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) lies near death, her greedy relatives, led by the snobby Montague Hartley (Basil Rathbone), gather at her mansion for the imminent reading of the will. Vexing them all, the old woman lives, and decides to read them her will anyway. Henrietta soon meets with a terrible "accident", and the homicidal hellishness commences.

THE BLACK CAT is another "old dark house" mystery / comedy set in a gargantuan estate, complete with secret passages and a kitty crematorium! The obligatory thunderstorm arrives just in time for the perfect evening. Stars Broderick Crawford as the kindly Hubert Smith, Gale Sondergaard as the intimidating housekeeper, Abigail, and Bela Lugosi as the lurking groundskeeper, Eduardo.

A fun, fiendish film with a nice twist in its tale!...

1941's "The Black Cat," not to be confused with Bela Lugosi's 1934 classic, is merely another 'Old Dark House' murder-mystery in a comic vein, in the wake of 1939's "The Cat and the Canary." The unfunny comedy relief is supplied by Hugh Herbert, while the remainder of the stalwart cast maintain interest throughout, despite a severely dragging middle in which virtually nothing of interest happens, one red herring topping another. The young Broderick Crawford is certainly likable, and pairs nicely with lovely Anne Gwynne, but top-billed Basil Rathbone is reduced to playing a weasely scoundrel, fooling around with beautiful Claire Dodd behind the back of desperate wife Gladys Cooper, to the annoyance of her devoted stepson (Alan Ladd). Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) has been at death's door for some time, but makes certain that her many cats will be taken care of, along with longtime housekeeper Abigail Doone (Gale Sondergaard) and caretaker Eduardo Vidos (Bela Lugosi); when she gets stabbed to death with a long hatpin, hardly anyone bats an eye in the assumption that the old lady simply fell on it. One of the nicer aspects of the film is that the titular black cat actually becomes the hero during the admittedly thrilling climax, first alerting Crawford to his girl's danger, then causing a falling candle to set the killer ablaze. Claire Dodd was enjoying a resurgence at Universal ("In the Navy," "The Mad Doctor of Market Street"), where she had previously starred in 1934's "Secret of the Château," while the relatively unknown Alan Ladd remained a year away from stardom in "This Gun for Hire" (he's actually the only one sporting a gun for protection!). Lugosi is genuinely amusing but sadly wasted with less than 4 minutes screen time, happily hamming it up in numerous gag photos on set; Gale Sondergaard, the one cast member from "The Cat and the Canary," remains stuck in dour mode, the attractive actress allowing her uniform to call attention to an impressive bosom. No classic but entertaining (the screenwriters better known for the 1948 "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein"), "The Black Cat" appeared 4 times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, while its 1934 counterpart was served up on 8 occasions.