Le spectre vert

THE STORY & GENRE -- Someone is murdering members of the old army regiment. Real hypnotic power, phony seance and ghosts. Lionel Barrymore directs. Roland Young, Boris Karloff star.

THE VERDICT -- Great atmosphere but very talky, and could've been wrapped up in an hour.

FREE ONLINE -- Yes, 93 minutes (TCM print commonly), sound. Silent version does not appear to have survived.

Aka..."Green Ghost"

Of Course "Hollywood" and "The Movies" Would Capitulate Completely to the "Bible-Thumpers", Those Self-Imposed Over-Seers from "The Moral Majority", and Ironically Would Become...

"The Most Popular Art-Form of the 20th Century"

One has to Wonder and Report that "Bending Over Backwards" was a Painful "Lock-Step". Because "The Code" was Rigid, All-Encompassing and "Commanding".

The Code was Impossibly Restraining, and Uncompromising. Without the "Codes" Approval there was No Chance of Recouping Production-Cost, or God-Forbid, a "Profit"...No-Code, No-Distribution, No-Profit.

Probably Unconstitutional Under the 1st Amendment, it had a Stranglehold of Evil on the Art-Form for 25 Years and Hampered, if Not Surely "Castrated" the Ability to Freely Express and the Result was Producing and Exhibiting a "False-Front" of a Reality that Did-Not-Exist. Except in the Minds of Fascists, Control-Freaks, and Fundamentally a Figment of Christian-Idealism.

1929...It's the Year of "The Talkies" or as Ballyhooed..."All Talking-All Singing-All Dancing" and the Transitional "Growing Pains" were All Over All of the Movies in that Land-Mark Year.

Not Only Technically, but Presented Unanswered Questions...What Do Audiences Want"...What will They Tolerate?... It was Unexplored Territory for the Hybrid, so there was a Goodly Amount of Experimentation and Blind-Ambition.

This Story, an "Old-Dark-House" Type was Popular, Common, and a Path Well Traveled In-Print and On-Stage, was Made by "Money-Bags" MGM (More Stars than in the Heavens!), Directed by Celebrated Actor Lionel Barrymore, from a Story by Ben Hecht.

The Movie Looks and Sounds Better than Most of the "Crop" of Cinema in those Early-Days, a Well-Polished, Slick Presentation with an Over-Use of Sing-Along Camaraderie alongside Spooky Spiritualism, and Mystery-Thriller Tropes.

It's a "Talky-Talkie-Type", Typical of the Genre, a Few Surprises, and a "Cameo" by Boris Karloff (pre Frankenstein).

A bit Over-Long, but a Not-Bad Artifact Experience during a Period of Historical Significance, when Movies were Learning to Talk.

"The Code" was Fermenting, and Despite 'Prohibition" in America...Drinking was Celebrated, Embraced, and Promoted, Glorified, and Considered Good-Natured-Fun by "The People".

There is a Lot of That Here along with Other Ingredients that Make this...

Worth a Watch.

With death stalking the darkness, members of a doomed regiment spend THE UNHOLY NIGHT in an old mansion seeking a murderer.

Fine atmospherics and good performances propel this creaky creeper from the very early days of talking pictures. The opening sequence ably depicts the oppressive emotional weight of an extreme London fog. The remainder of the film becomes an Old Dark House picture, with the cast claustrophobically caught in the clutches of a clever killer.

Owlish Roland Young does very well as the gentle nobleman whose grand home becomes a house of horrors. Appreciated for his comedic abilities, Young shows he's equally adept at more serious drama. Ernest Torrence--a very enjoyable character actor of the era whose career was cut short by an early death--plays the friendly doctor trying to deal with the brutal deaths. Lovely Natalie Moorhead portrays Young's sister, a woman fascinated by the supernatural. Dorothy Sebastian appears as a beautiful & mysterious lady from the East with a strange story to tell.

Blustery Major Lionel Belmore, and John Miljan as a badly scarred Major, are two of the 'Doomed Regiment.' Polly Moran has a few good moments as a frightened maid. Exotic Sojin is most effective as a Chinese mystic.

Movie mavens will easily recognize an unbilled Boris Karloff appearing as a sinister Turkish lawyer.

Director Lionel Barrymore makes good use of the new sound technology with a few well placed screams and some hearty singing from the officers of the regiment.

This is one of the earliest talkie whodunits; it still holds up quite well. It has a clever plot (sort of a precursor to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None"), some impressive tracking shots, and a striking séance climax. Dorothy Sebastian is hot; Boris Karloff (in a thankfully, in this case, minor role) is ridiculously hammy; the rest of the cast is fine, if not terribly distinctive. **1/2 out of 4.

THE UNHOLY NIGHT (aka: GREEN GHOST) is one of the earlier in a long line of "old dark house"-type movies. This time, a thick fog settles over London, and a killer takes advantage of the cover, strangling a number of unwary victims. The scene switches to the obligatory mansion, where a group of soldiers have gathered for a reunion. As often happens in these films, a will is introduced, and a mysterious figure apparently starts murdering them.

It's all fairly enjoyable in a mindless way, but the real highlight is a cameo from Boris Karloff. While his character isn't in it for long, he certainly makes the best of it. He's basically the world's creepiest lawyer. The rest is a silly yarn, but Mr. Karloff is superb...