The Cat Creeps

THE CAT CREEPS over the years has gotten a bum rap. This was fun stuff, usually on the late show (back in the days of NO cable!) It was also one of the last mystery/horror films to be produced by Universal, on a double bill with SHE WOLF OF LONDON.

No relation to the 1930 thriller (which there are no existing prints), still campy with a group of suspects slowly being bumped off on a remote island -- with a fortune in cash hidden somewhere in a creepy, old house. Universal also took pride in this production, boasting a terrific cast of well known character actors and directed by one of their best, Erle C. Kenton, who directed for Abbott and Costello and two FRANKENSTEIN classics.

Noah Beery, Jr is always fun, trying to figure everything out (at least he does find the money in the end, without giving too much away), also poker face Douglas Dumbrille as one of the suspects. Jonathan Hale (Mr. Dithers in the BLONDIE series), plays the DA running for the senate, caught in the middle of a suicide which turns out to be murder. Beautiful Lois Collier plays his daughter.

Fred Brady stars as the crusading reporter and detective, also look for a very sinister Paul Kelly (as another gumshoe), and veteran actress Rose Hobart as Dumbrille's devout secretary. Vera Lewis plays Hale's elderly, bedridden cousin who knows something's up. Don't forget her slinking cat.

This was your typical 40s drive-in type movie, not a classic, but a good time killer and with a memorable cast if you're a movie buff. Don't miss Kelly tripping down a flight of stairs and landing on a pitch fork?

A salute to Fred Brady, who wrote so many classic scripts for 77 SUNSET STRIP and other Warner Brothers tv cop shows. He passed in the early 60s and is missed.

Always on dvd and remastered for all us oldie fans.

"Universal" had an Image of "The" Horror-Mystery-Suspense-Supernatural Studio...It's Legacy to This Day.

The Result of Studio-Head Carl Laemmle and a Conscious, Hard-Working and Dedication to the Genre with an Emphasis on Production-Values, a High-Class Style while Dealing and Delivering His "Product", He would Label it "Art", with "Touchy", Sensitive, and Controversial, Edgy (some would say "Low-Brow") Material.

It Became Even More So as"The Movies" Gained an Influence as a Popular, Meaningful Media in America that Could Shape Consciousness, Life-Styles and Thought as, it No Longer could be Doubted, it would be Confirmed, both Commercially and Creatively as the"Art" of the Century".

But Conservatives "Cried & Whined", Protested the "Free Expressionism in Films" and Demanded , then Formed..."The Code"...The Historical Over-Reach and Abuse of Their Power, Now that "They" as Opposed to the "Creators" of the Art-Form Now had that Power to..."Control Men's Minds".

Universal Studios Legacy Established...It's Now 1946 and America has Entered an "Atomic-Age" and the "Old Dark House" seems a Template from Another-Age.

The Iconic "Famous Monsters" and Other Related Iconography that Universal Invented and then Employed in a Series of Movies for a "Never-Ending" Star-Creatures...Dracula, The Frankenstein, The Mummy...The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man, at this Point in Time are a Legacy of the "Past" and would Finally "Die" and be Buried After "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1949).

This "Black Cat" Icon with "The Old Dark House" was so Old it had Grown Whiskers.

"Earl C. Kenton", would be Most-Noted for Directing an Undisputed Bona-Fide Masterpiece of Movie-Horror..."The Island of Lost Souls" (1932)...He also Directed for Universal, as Part of that Aforementioned Legacy,,,"The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942),,,"House of Frankenstein" (1944)...and "House of Dracula" (1945).

He was Assigned to Direct "The Cat Creeps" and it was so Undistinguished, Lame, and way Past its Expiration-Date, and it Sent Earl C. Packing for Television.

This is All-Padding to Safely Say that "The Cat Creeps" is Mostly Forgotten , for Good Reasons...Worth a Watch...But Barely.

Reporter is assigned to investigate the ravings of a woman who says she can prove that the current DA and senatorial candidate was involved in a "suicide many years before. According to the woman it was murder. Complicating matters is the fact the reporter is boyfriend of the DA's daughter. The reporter, his photographer friend, the girl, the DA and several other people all end up on the island where the "mad" woman lives in a creepy mansion. Murder, mayhem and the search for two hundred thousand dollars ensue.

Well written with some witty dialog, this film falters thanks to Fred Brady as the smart mouthed reporter. Looking like Donald O'Connor, but with little of his charm. While the character as written is an interesting guy, suspicious of everyone and everything, he plays he role so low key as to be almost on the ground. He reads his lines as if he's trying to be in a more serious movie and it upsets the whole tone of the some what tongue in cheek movie since he seems to be in a different movie than everyone else. The film also suffers from being too short at 50 odd minutes for its complicated plot. There are a couple of odd twists that would have made more sense if they had actually set them up instead of spring them on us at the required moment.

Not a bad movie, its actually quite enjoyable, especially if you take it completely on its own terms. However if you're not forgiving you'll end up like me, which is liking the movie but wishing it was better. Worth a bag of popcorn if you can ever catch it as part of an all day marathon of old mysteries.

6 out 10 (should probably be 7 out of 10 but I'm disappointed).

I am a fan of the old Universal, Columbia, Monogram, PRC, etc. supernatural, suspense, and mystery thrillers from the 1930s and 1940s. I was wondering when or if this little "B" ( or "C" ) mystery was going to be on VHS and so I found it via Sinister Cinema.

This little thriller is worth watching to see due to the fact that it is a murder mystery with supernatural overtones. I first saw this at the age of 12 (when I started to become a fan of this genre) and found some scenes hair-raising. I think this is due to some of the acting and the way some of the action occurs, especially when Mrs. Williams talks about the creeping cat. Overall, it is not a bad film to have in one's collection and I recommend for other fans of Universal mystery and suspense.

You wouldn't know it by first glance but this cheap-looking borefest is one of the final Universal horror movies of the 1940s. It's a remake of the 1930 lost film of the same name, itself a remake of the silent classic The Cat and the Canary which was also remade as a Bob Hope comedy in 1939. So this is a worn-out plot that had been made into movie four times in nineteen years. Five if we count the also-lost Spanish version of the 1930 picture. To make matters worse this particular version stars Frederick Brady (who?) as one of those annoying "I'm a reportah baby" types that were all over movies in the 30s and 40s. He's so annoying I just wanted to reach through the screen and punch him. This is a very tired unimaginative movie that doesn't even benefit from the usual atmosphere Universal horror-thrillers had. You would be forgiven for thinking it was a Poverty Row production. Avoid unless you need to see all versions of this story. I'll stick with the silent one or even the Hope comedy.