Le Fantôme de la rue Morgue

I recall watching this as a kid, though not the opinion I had made of it back then. With this in mind, I am baffled by its maligned reputation (the "Leonard Maltin Film Guide" gives it a measly **); mind you, I would not say that I prefer it to the classic 1932 Bela Lugosi version but it is more readily enjoyable (and faithful to its source). The film, in fact, is quite stylish in color – with special care given to the art direction – and a worthy follow-up to Warners' success of the previous year HOUSE OF WAX (1953); like that one, it was one of the numerous genre efforts from the early 1950s to be made in 3-D (though, typically, it was used gratuitously more often than judiciously). The cast is effective, too: Karl Malden adds an Actor's Method sensibility to the lead role of biologist/misogynist, Claude Dauphin is fine as the Police Inspector investigating the various gorilla slayings, Steve Forrest ideal as the handsome hero/accused and Anthony Caruso as Malden's loutish henchman/gorilla keeper. The murders are well-done, suggesting the animal's brutish strength without actually showing it – even the 3-D process comes in handy here as one of the victims throws something at the ape in defense and the latter responds by throwing a chair back at the girl!; there is, however, a goof in the scene depicting the killing of the circus performer (assisting her jealous husband in a knife-throwing act) as she is seen taking off the tell-tale bracelet but is then unaccountably back at her hand in a shot of the mangled (albeit conveniently covered) body! On a personal note, Malta's name comes up a number of times throughout the film: the Maltese cross on a sailor's (eventually revealed to be Caruso) scarf and his inopportune meeting in a dingy tavern with a drunken former 'colleague' (sealing his fate by unwisely disclosing his knowledge of the ape's existence). The latter stages, veering from the Poe tale, actually feel closest to Universal's earlier adaptation – as Malden cannot hold back his obsession with heroine Patricia Medina (engaged to his former student, and presently incarcerated, Forrest), an impulsive move which can only lead to the expected poetic justice of the climax in which the villain meets his own grisly come-uppance at the hands of the trained (read: abused) gorilla. By the way, having included a handful of films during this challenge in which this type of animal was featured as a menace (two more followed in quick succession), I came to realize just how many were made over the years. Finally, as I said in the beginning, this is pretty much underrated both as horror/monster movie and as adaptation of a highly-influential literary work.

I have read all of Edgar Allen Poe's works, I don't think there is a faithful movie adaptation anywhere, of course if there was, most movies would be about 15 - 20 minutes long. The Phantom of the Rue Morgue is a fun movie especially if you can see it in 3-D as I did twice when I lived in Los Angeles. I have been watching 3-D movies for 40 years, and I search for them constantly.

I am also a Karl Malden fan and I think every movie he is in is great, and he overacts almost as well as Vincent Price, whom I consider the King. The color, photography and 3-D effects are absolutely great. Too many people expect a "slasher" type movie, "Phantom" was made before that type of movie was invented, and is very literate compared to today's movies.

As with all 3-D movies, "The Phantom of the Rue Morgue" needs to be seen in 3-D, to really appreciate it.

Look for a 3-D festival, or revival, and go see it. I wish Warner Brothers would release all of their 3-D movies on DVD in "3-D for shutterglass" versions. I would buy them all.

As a series of strange murders plague a small area of Paris, the lack of clues force the police to team up with the prime suspect in the case to find the maniac responsible when he claims a friend's trained killer gorilla is responsible and targeting his fiancée.

This was a fairly impressive and fun effort that has a lot going for it. One of the better elements here is the fact that there's a large amount of attack scenes on the victims, which really drives this one nicely as these continuous sequences provide plenty of action, shocks as well as generating some sultry teases with the women being targeted being quite attractive overall. As the attacks are framed so the audience doesn't see the culprit, and the only times they are is when they're obscured or casting a shadow on the wall, it leaves a distinct impression, and the fun continues due to the investigation done to recreate the crime at the scene, and the evidence either way makes for some fun times overall. The fact that these investigations point to the main purpose of this one is a little troubling since they can drag on at times especially when they keep trying to pin it on the hero through flimsy circumstances that won't work in any real courtroom. The other real flaw is the romance angle that appears late in the film, which stops the film cold and comes out-of-nowhere to create a really confusing mess, though it does solve the film's murders quite nicely. Overall, this one was pretty enjoyable.

Today's Rating-PG: Violence.

This is a good version of the Poe story, and I liked it much more than the Bela Lugosi version. This held my attention throughout the whole movie. The color cinematography was very effective and Steve Forrest and Patricia Medina make a very believable couple. The ending is a bit unintentionally funny, at least to me. And it sure is something to see a very young and a very slim Merv Griffin. LOL.

But I do like this version, I think because the Lugosi version has a weird look to it. This is the better version.

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)

*** (out of 4)

The police are baffled by some gruesome murders to local women and they think the case is solved when they arrest Paul Dupin (Steve Forrest). What Inspector Bonnard (Claude Dauphin) doesn't realize is that the real culprit is Dr. Marais (Karl Malden) who has trained an ape to do the killings for him. This remake of the 1932 Bela Lugosi film was Warner's follow-up to HOUSE OF WAX, their first 3-D and color horror film. Most reviews seem to be very mixed in regards to this movie and while it's not quite as good as that Vincent Price classic, I think there are enough effective moments to make it worth viewing. The one thing that really caught me off guard was how ugly and rather violent the movie was. I guess director Roy Del Ruth was wanting to go the extra mile by delivering some violent scenes and while we don't always see the violence the aftermath is on few view. There are several scenes of women badly beaten and bloody and an even more memorable scene has one wannabe hero getting thrown to his death in a violent fashion. Another memorable scene is when a model is being attacked by the killer and we see blood splash across the wall but then it's revealed to be something else. I thought the performances were also good, if nothing too special. Malden doesn't do his greatest work here but there's no question that it's fun to see someone like him in a horror movie like this. Forrest does a good job as the innocent suspect and Patricia Medina makes for a good female lead. We even get Anthony Caruso playing a creepy, one-eyed assistant. There are many flaws with this movie including the police who are downright annoying. Just watch how whenever someone is being attacked and they scream, whenever a police officer is around they simply walk to see what's going on. Had any of these guys actually ran to the scene then the murders would have been solved early on. The Technicolor is another major plus here as are the sets and costumes. PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's good entertainment to kill some time.