He's Mysterious Alright

 

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG-1934-The sinister Mr. Wong (Bela Lugosi in Asian makeup and Hungarian accent) is searching for the 12 coins of Confucius. Everyone suspects a Tong war but annoying, wise-cracking reporter Jason Barton (Wallace Ford; FREAKS (1932)) thinks otherwise. When one his henchmen fails, Wong has him thrown in a basement with rats (not shown). 

By day, Wong poses as Li See, a herbalist. He treats his niece Moonflower (Lotus Long) and her attendant pretty badly and she says he's mad. Jason & and girlfriend Peg (Arline Judge) team up to figure out the mystery when Jason gets a hold of the coin. 

Corny cliché talk and sometimes racist dialogue. Also with Richard Loo. Directed in fast fashion by William Nigh who ironically later did the Boris Karloff series of Mr. Wong detective films. It's based on the short story “The Strange Adventure of the 12 Coins of Confucius” (1927) by once popular mystery writer Harry Stephen Keeler. This was Lugosi's first film for the “poverty row” studio Monogram.

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Superstition, Perhaps. Baloney, Perhaps Not

(alarmy)

 

THE BLACK CAT-1934-Peter Allison (David Manners) and his wife Joan (Jacqueline Wells aka Julie Bishop) are on their way to Vichgrad, must share their honeymoon rail card with Dr. Vitus Werdeghast (Bela Lugosi) who's on a mission of vengeance after having spent 15 years in a POW camp. When the talkative driver (Herman Bing) smashes up their cab, the newlyweds are forced to seek shelter in the art deco home of the sinister Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), the very man Werdeghast (who has a fear of cats) has come to see. Joan is injured in the crash. Poelzig is a traitor who has built his domain on a killing field. Besides that, he stole Werdeghast's' wife and daughter. Unfortunately, both are now dead. Poelzig even has her preserved dead body. But Karin, the daughter is now actually Poelzig's lover/wife/prisoner. Still, he seems to lust for Joan. When the couple wants to leave, they are prevented by Werdeghast's servant (Harry Cording). Later, Joan meets Karin and Poelzig punishes her. Poelzig is a devil worshiper who plans to have a black mass with Joan as the special guest sacrifice. Werdeghast rescues Joan and tells him his daughter is still alive. With the help of his servant Werdeghast overcomes Poelzig and skins him alive. But when he tries to help Joan, dummy Peter mortally shoots him. Husband and wife escape as Werdeghast blows up the castle. 

This sometimes-disturbing pre-code, Universal horror film shows director Edgar Ulmer at his finest. He seems to be pushing the envelope with some of the situations that are only implied. This is also one of Karloff's best villainous roles with Lugosi giving a good performance, but his demise is kind of a letdown (couldn't he or Karloff had lived at the end of at least one of their movies?!). 

John Carradine has a small role as a satanic organist. Some of the other uncredited cult members include King Baggott, Symona Boniface (from 3 Stooges shorts), Michael Mark and Andy Devine.

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For You My Friend, They Are The Angels of Death…

 

WHITE ZOMBIE-1932-In Haiti, a couple, Neil (John Harron) and Madeline (Madge Bellamy) are to be married in the home of Mr. Beaumont (Robert Frazer), a weird guy who's obviously obsessed with Madeline. They meet the friendly eccentric Dr. Bruner (Joseph Cawthorn) who is to marry them. While being driven to Beaumont’s plantation, they run into a bunch of guys their driver (Clarence Muse) says are zombies. Beaumont visits 'Murder” Legendre and his mill of zombie workers. He wants Madeline all to himself. Legendre suggests turning her into a zombie. Beaumont doesn't go for the idea. But Legendre has his own agenda. He casts a spell that seems to make her die. 

Poor Neil takes to drink and hallucinates. Legendre and Beaumont visit Madeline's tomb and his zombie servants (all former enemies) remove her coffin. Neil discovers the empty tomb and freaks out. Dr. Bruner explains that the zombies aren't really dead. They are just under a spell. Soon Madeline is up and about and playing the piano for Beaumont but now she's just an empty shell. Beaumont realizes his mistake and begs Legendre to return her to her living state. Instead, Legendre turns Beaumont into a zombie because he “has other plans” for Madeline. Beaumont's sneaky butler Silver (Brandon Hurst) is thrown in the water to drown (he holds his nose before being dunked). Neil & Bruner get help from witch doctor Pierre (Dan Crimmins). Neil gets to the castle but collapses. Legendre finds him and commands Madeline to stab him. 

This is a low budget but eerie independent horror film with a nice climax and Lugosi great as the smirking evil power mad villain. Makeup by Jack Pierce. Director Victor Halperin later made REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES (1936). His brother Edward was the producer.

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Red Herring Bela Again

 

 (imdb)

ONE BODY TOO MANY-1944-Insurance agent Albert L. Tuttle (Jack Haley) gets involved with the reading of a millionaire's will and his greedy relatives when he visits the dead guy's home (he doesn't know about the death). The butler Merkle (Bela Lugosi) and the maid (Blanche Yurka) think about poisoning everyone. The relatives mistake Tuttle for a private investigator. The running gag is no one wants to drink their poisoned coffee. Relatives include Lyle Talbott, Douglas Fowley, Dorothy Granger and Lucien Littlefield. The one nice relative is the dead guy's niece (Jean Parker). Meanwhile, Prof. Hilton (William Edmunds) fools around with a telescope in the observatory. A clutching hand threatens Tuttle who manages to wind up in the millionaire's coffin underwater! Later he roams around in the dark with just a towel on. 

Not half bad comedy/horror/murder mystery although once again Lugosi is wasted in a red herring role. Director Frank McDonald also made another murder mystery with Haley called SCARED STIFF (1945).

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Defective Detectives

 

 (imdb)

THE GORILLA-1939-A series of murders committed by “the gorilla” plague the city. Walter Stevens (Lionel Atwill) believes he is the next victim. His niece Norma (Anita Louise) comes to visit him with her husband Jack (Edward Morris). Stevens has a suspicious looking butler (Bela Lugosi) and a loud maid (Patsy Kelly). He hires detectives Harrigan, Mulligan and Garrity (The Ritz Brothers) for protection. Stevens owes money to someone and explains how he and Norma are the sole heirs to her father's fortune. Meanwhile a mysterious figure (Joseph Calliea) prowls around the house in the rain. The brothers shout a lot, spout one-line insults at each other and fall down. A real gorilla (Art Miles) shows up (it escaped from its trainer) and Bela saves the day. 

The Ritz Brothers were kind of a combo of the 3 Stooges and The Marx Brothers. Atwill and Lugosi were in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN same year as this mildly amusing comedy was made. Prolific director Allan Dwan also made a version of THE THREE MUSKETEERS which also featured The Ritz Brothers and Atwill. THE GORILLA is based on a play by Ralph Spence.

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Happy Halloween!

 

 (amazon.com)

PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE-1959-When I first saw Plan 9 in 1976 at The NYC Comic-Con I agreed it was probably one of the worst movies ever made. But if that was true why is it that after it ended I couldn't wait to see it again? (It was about four or five years later. In between I bought the "soundtrack" album which was simply the whole audio portion of the film transferred to a record. It also sported liner notes purportedly penned by Ed Wood Jr. himself shortly before his death in 1978). 

 (medium.com)

Not the worst movie ever made (Hollywood has churned out far more crap on 100 times the budget), it is one of of the best bad movies ever made that you'll enjoy watching over and over! Bela Lugosi's scenes had been filmed a few years before and sat on a shelf until Wood devised Plan 9 with the help of big Tor Johnson, a retired pro wrestler in his second of three Ed Wood outings, who spouts more dialogue in this than in all his other movie appearances combined, Vampira, a trend setting TV horror hostess, Criswell, an outrageous pseudo-psychic who among other things predicted the world would end in 1990 and a drag actor named John "Bunny" Breckenridge who makes no bones that he's reading his lines from papers on his desk! There are some "legit" actors in it too. Lyle Talbott, Tom Keene, Gregory Walcott and Joanna Lee (who later became a successful TV writer and producer). Not to forget Dudley Manlove who played Eros the alien, a guy who was mostly an announcer but also appeared in another low budget wonder "The Creation of The Humanoids"! I've also seen him on two episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Rounding out the cast are Duke Moore (who's entire film credits are roles in Ed Wood's movies), Conrad Brooks (who appeared in other low budget productions and many years later made his own "movies"), Paul Marco (who played the dumb cop named Kelton in three Wood movies) and rotund Ben Frommer, who became a TV character actor. 

 (wikipedia)

And of course, chiropractor Dr. Tom Mason the "fake Shemp" who stood in for the late Lugosi but looked nothing like him! Much of what's said about the goofs in certain scenes is exaggerated and the scene of Tor rising from the grave is well done. Ok so the tombstone falling over is pretty cheesy....

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Bela on TV

  (imdb)

SUSPENSE-THE AUTO-LITE THEATER-1949- "The Cask of Amontillado"-In Nazi Germany an arrogant drunkard General Fortunato (Bela Lugosi in a rare dramatic TV role) visits a once prominent citizen Count Montressor (Romney Brent; later a series regular on TV's “Zorro”) intent on killing him and stealing his faithless wife. At first the count accepts his enviable fate and inviting the general (who once worked for the count and married and murdered his sister) in for a drink but then resolving to kill his nemesis by burying him alive. The only other actors to appear are Ray Walston and Frank Marth, both in uncredited roles. Rex Marshall is the announcer. Robert Stevens directed this rare unusual version of the Edgar Allan Poe classic short story.

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The Ape Man Returns (?)

 

THE RETURN OF THE APE MAN-1944-Two scientists successfully keep a man alive in suspended animation for four weeks. Head guy Prof. Dexter (Bela Lugosi) needs a subject who's been frozen for hundreds of years to see if he can make him live again. So he and assistant Professor Gilmore (John Carradine) go to the Arctic to dig for one. They almost give up but a frozen specimen falls into there hands after an avalanche. They take him back to the US and revive him. 

He (Frank Moran) seems wild but Dexter uses a whip to tame him. Dexter plans to put part of a modern human brain into the ape man but needs a volunteer brain. At an engagement party for Gilmore's niece Ann (Teala Loring), he plays the Moonlight Sonata while Dexter decides her fiance Steve (Tod Andrews) would make a good brain donor and drugs him and prepares him for an operation. Fortunately Gilmore is wise to his partner's plan and saves Steve. He also tells Dexter he's mad and wants nothing more to do with him. Later after Dexter tries to tame the caveman with electricity and a blowtorch, the caveman escapes and kills a cop. Dexter recaptures him ("You brainless fool!") but the newspapers report a monster sighting. Gilmore wants to report the caveman to the police but Dexter persuades his too gullible ex-partner that he wants help destroying the creature. Of course instead Dexter uses Gilmore's grey matter to bring the prehistoric throwback under his control. But it doesn't work so well as the new improved cave ape (who can talk) makes a bee line out the front door to his former house. He climbs in a window and plays the piano for Mrs. G. 

Steve suspects Dexter and he and two cops go to his pad. When they check out his lab the cave guy (who'd been recaptured by Dexter) bursts through his cage behind a fake wall and kills Dexter despite being shot at point blank range several times. Cavey heads back to Gilmore's house and kidnaps Ann. A crazy chase ensues with Gil-ape going across some buildings with Anne (an obvious dummy). He hides out with her in the prop room of a theater until he kills a night watchman. Somehow he goes back to Dexter's lab, a fire breaks out but Steve saves Ann. The End. 

This Monogram quickie was directed by Phil Rosen (PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN) and though George Zucco is listed in the credits as the ape man he only appears for a few seconds when the ape man is first found in the block of ice. Apparently Zucco fell ill just as filming started and was replaced by Frank Moran. It has nothing to do with previous monkey business type horror films from Monogran like THE APE (1940).

 Fortunately Zucco got better and teamed with Lugosi and Carradine for VOODOO MAN soon after.

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Dual Belas!

 BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT-1942-Prof. Brenner (Bela Lugosi) is a criminology teacher by day and at night he's Karl Wagner who runs a Bowery mission that's a front for robbery and murder. Sgt. Crawford (Dave O'Brien) investigates. Wagner's M.O. is to kill one accomplice at the scene of a crime. He recruits psycho killer Frank Mills (Tom Neal; he'd star in DETOUR in 1945) to help. Wagner's nurse Judy (Wanda McKay) doesn't suspect but her boyfriend Richard (John Archer) goes undercover as a bum to study the underprivileged and winds up dead. The nutty ending has an insane doctor resurrecting Wagner's dead victims who in turn kill him. Since Richard comes back to life he and Judy live happily ever after. When Richard is on the Bowery he meets two oddballs almost in a row. One is played by Pat Costello and the other by Bernard Gorcey! Wheeler Oakman, Victor Adamson and Snub Pllard have small roles.

Director Wallace Fox made several "East Side Kids" comedies (that were set in The Bowery) and directed Lugosi in THE CORPSE VANISHES the same year. After making PILLOW OF DEATH, one of the Inner Sanctum series of film at Universal he drifted into low budget westerns then went into TV (The Gene Autry Show, Ramar Of The Jungle). He dies in 1958.

https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2020/01/vanishing-bride.html

Sam Katzman was the executive producer of this low budget quickie released through Monogram but it's not bad despite some lapses in reason!

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Bela, Basil and Broderick

THE BLACK CAT-1941-Rich cat loving Mrs. Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) seems on the verge of death but still lives. Her relatives wait around. She has a spooky caretaker Eduardo (Bela Lugosi) and a spooky housekeeper Abigail (Gale Sondergaard). Mrs. Winslow is so nuts about cats she has her own feline crematorium. Relatives include niece Myrna (Gladys Cooper), her hard up for cash husband Monty (Basil Rathbone), her uncaring step-grandson Richard (Alan Ladd), granddaughter Margaret (Claire Dodd), grandson Stanley (John Eldredge) and granddaughter Elaine (Anne Gwynne). After Henrietta tells them what she's leaving them in her will, real estate agent Gil Smith (Broderick Crawford) stops by with antique dealer Mr. Penny (Hugh Herbert) to buy the house. He's allergic to cats. When Henrietta is stabbed to death everyone is a suspect. Even though Henrietta told everyone what they were getting Abigail and the cats get everything until her death.. Gil says to Rathbone's character "He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes". Later Abigail is killed and Eduardo becomes the chief suspect. But Elaine figures out who the real killer is. Gil arrives in time to save Elaine from being cremated. 

Director Albert S. Rogell had been making movies since the silent days and made a version of LIL ABNER around this time. Of course Lugosi and Karloff had starred in a movie of the same name back in 1934. Bela is good in his role but still kind of a wasted red herring. 

Basically this BLACK CAT is enjoyable but typical Universal “old dark house” murder mystery played mostly as a comedy. Some sources say Marlene Dietrich is standing in for Claire Dodd in one scene shot from the back with no dialogue.

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All Star Mash Up

THE GIFT OF GAB-1934-This ancient relic from Universal Pictures takes place in a radio station and features several musical numbers. Around the 45 minute mark Bela Lugosi shows up in a closet with a smoking gun and says “What time is it?”. About a minute later Boris Karloff shows up (billed “Karloff”) in top hat and cape, smokes a cigarette and laughs maniacally. The main leads are Edmund Lowe (who starred as CHANDU with Bela the year before) and Gloria Stuart (THE INVISIBLE MAN and SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM the year before). Also appearing include the great Sterling Holloway, Ruth Etting, Chester Morris, Phil Baker, Paul Lukas, Ethel Waters and many others. Originally The 3 Stooges were supposed to be in the cast but they signed on with Columbia Pictures and were replaced by some clones.

https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-blue-room.html

It's only one of three films the famous cinematographer Karl Freud directed (the other 2 are THE MUMMY and MAD LOVE). Gloria Stuart had starred with Boris two years earlier in THE OLD DARK HOUSE.

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Vanishing Bride

THE CORPSE VANISHES-1942-Somebody is killing then kidnapping the corpses newlywed brides. 

A young headstrong reporter named Pat (Luana Walters) and her older comic photographer Sandy (Vince Barnett) try to investigate. It's all a fiendish plot by Dr. George Lorenz (Bela Lugosi) who extracts bodily fluid from the dead brides to keep his ungrateful wife, The Countess (Elizabeth Russell) young and vital. Dr. Foster (Tris Coffin) assists Lorenz in a cure for The Countess. Lorenz uses drugged orchids and gets help from “my little family” which includes little Toby (Angelo Rossitto), tough guy Mike (George Eldredge), housekeeper Fagah (Minerva Urecal; also in THE APE MAN with Bela) and her brutish son Angel (Frank Moran) who Lorenz whips. He and his wife also like to sleep in coffins. When Pat is forced to stay at the doc's place for the night she snoops around and sees Angel talking to a dead bride. When Foster sees Lorenz strangle Angel he decides to help Pat by setting up a phony marriage but instead Lorenz drugs and kidnaps her. Before he can make the lethal injection Fagah stabs him to death (he killed her son). When the Countess tries to make the injection Fagah stabs her too. 

This is a typical outrageous Monogram studios Lugosi melodrama with Bela being a pretty cruel guy. Luana Walters is good as the noisy wisecracking lead. Too bad she didn't get better roles. Wallace Fox directed Lugosi in THE BOWERY AFTER MIDNIGHT the same year. He also made several “East Side Kids” comedies. Later he made a bunch of westerns and went into TV. He died in 1958. Sam Katzman was the producer...

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The Big Showdown!

FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN-1943-Two grave robbers attempt to rob the grave of the deceased Lawrence Talbot. When they open the grave they find Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) is alive and he grabs one of the robbers. Later Talbot is found on the streets of a town with a head wound. He's taken to a hospital run by Dr. Mannering (Patrick Knowles) but he's suspected of being an impostor when the police inspector (Dennis Hoey) discovers Lawrence Talbot died years ago. At night with the rise of the full moon, Larry becomes a werewolf and kills a policeman. Next day when he confesses to the crime, no one believes him. They think he's deluded. 

Later Larry escapes the hospital and finds the gypsy Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) also the mother of Bela, the wolfman who bite Larry originally. They go to Vasaria to find Dr. Frankenstein but he's dead. After the wolfman kills a woman, the town's people (including Dwight Frye) go after him/it. Seeking refugee in some old ruins he stumbles upon the frozen body of the infamous Frankenstein monster (Bela Lugosi). Larry thaws him out and the monster shows him where his creator kept his diary but alas it's not there. Desperate, Larry contacts Ilsa, The Baroness Frankenstein but she says she doesn't have the diary either. Never the less, the burgomaster (Lionel Atwill) invites the Baroness and Larry to “The Festival of the New Wine”. Larry freaks out when he hears a singer do a song about life being short. Dr. Mannering finds him and says he needs psychiatric care. Just then the monster invades the square but Larry helps him escape and they hide out at the ruined castle. 

Later Mannering, the baroness and Maleva go to the ruins and the baroness shows Larry where the diary is hidden. Unfortunately Mannering forgets all about helping Talbot and becomes obsessed with reviving the monster and wants to see it at “it's full power”. He botches things up completely when Ilsa tries to stop him. Talbot changes into the wolfman and the monster escapes and menaces Ilsa for a bit then the two monsters fight. During the tussle (in which Mannering and Ilsa escape) rotund bartender Vazec (Ray Evans) blows up the dam, flooding the castle and interrupting thefight. The end. Maleva is forgotten about.

The story behind FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN is that originally Universal wanted Chaney to play both monster roles. When that was scrapped Lugosi was hired to play the monster. His portrayal is often criticized heavily but once again there's a more to it. In the original story the monster had the ability to talk. However when the movie was finished nobody liked the dialogue. Some said it was laughable. It was re-cut with all of the monster's speaking parts taken out. Also the monster was blind but in the re-editing this was also taken out. They didn't shoot any additional scenes to explain any of it which left Lugosi's monster kind of looking like an arm waving buffoon at times. Although Franky's evil grin as he's being revived is the highlight scene. There's also stories of several stuntmen subbing for Lugosi. One scene of the monster in ice is definitely Eddie Parker. 

Of course back in the day, the studio wanted Lugosi to play the monster in the original FRANKENSTEIN. He fought against it and Boris Karloff got the role.  

FMTW is a sequel to both TTHE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE WOLFMAN. It was directed by Roy William Neil who was already into the work he would arguably best known for: the Universal Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Since it's edited down it's hard to judge. The direction and acting are good but there's really not that much of the monster and when he does finally clash with the wolfman it's a brief duel ended prematurely. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak has said that he originally came up with the title as a joke. 

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Even A Man Who Is Pure In Heart....

THE WOLFMAN-1941-In England Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns home to Castle Talbot after spending 18 years in America, upon the death of his older brother. His dad Sir John (Claude Rains) wants him to become one of the family again. Cheerful Larry no sooner gets settled when he's fooling around with a telescope and spies Gwen (Evelyn Ankers) in her antique shop. When he visits she tells him about werewolves and the sign of the pentagram.

Larry wants his fortune told so he, Gwen and her friend Jenny (Fay Helm) visit a gypsy camp. There Bela (Bela Lugosi) reads Jenny's fortune and it's not good. He sees a pentagram on her palm. While Larry romances Gwen Bela turns into a werewolf and kills Jenny. Larry kills the werewolf with his silver cane but is bitten in the process. He's helped home by Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) . Later the chief of police (Ralph Bellamy) and Doctor Lloyd (Warren William) find Jenny and Bela (not a wolf anymore). The next day Larry recovers and his wolf bite has disappeared. Larry overhears Maleva talking to the dead Bela and finds out he was her son. Later Gwen introduces Larry to her fiance Frank Andrews (Patrick Knowles), game keeper for the estate. Maleva gives Larry the low down on his curse and the gypsies pack up and leave as Larry turns into the title character. His first victim is a gravedigger. Next time he goes out prowling he gets his foot caught in a trap planted by the constable. He passes out but doesn't get caught because Maleva finds him and somehow gets him to change back to human. Larry goes to Gwen for help but when he sees the sign of the pentagram on her palm he freaks out. He confesses his fears to his dad but Sir John doesn't believe it. He straps his son to chair in a locked room while everyone is out hunting the wolf. He transforms and escapes. Gwen winds up in the foggy woods being pursued by hairy Larry. He attacks her but Sir John confronts him and in an ironic twist beats him to death with Larry's cane. Larry turns human and Maleva declares “Your suffering is over”.

 THE WOLF MAN kind of ushered in the second era of Universal horror films. Director George Waggner also did MAN MADE MONSTER with Chaney the same year. He later made THE CLIMAX with Karloff. This has a great cast and the foggy scenes where the wolf man prowls are excellent despite being all done in the studio. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak went on to write several more in the series. Waggner later went into TV. His last work was on the BATMAN TV in the '60's.

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The Black Sleep

THE BLACK SLEEP-1956-Dr. Cadman (Basil Rathbone) has discovered the title drug and uses it on his former student Ramsey (Herb Rudley) who was suppose to be hanged for murder. Cadman needs Ramsey to assist him in his brain operations. No sooner do they get to his castle home when they meet the brutish Mongo (Lon Chaney Jr.) who's attacking Laurie (Patricia Blair), one of Cadman's nurses. It turns out Mongo is Laurie's father and once a respected doctor. Now only another nurse Daphne (Phyllis Stanley) can control him. At first Ramsey thinks Cadman is brilliant but during an operation he realizes while the black sleep can induce a coma like effect the patient can still feel pain. This doesn't seem to bother Cadman in the least and Ramsey sees that his former teacher is insane and his real goal is to cure his comatose wife. The doctor has a mute servant Casimir (Bela Lugosi) and a gypsy grave robber Udu (Akim Tamiroff) who helps him out. Cadman is a full grown nut who cares nothing about human life and has a basement full of failed experiments in his dungeon to prove it. The “patients” include Curry (Tor Johnson), a big now blind guy, a bible spouting long hair crazy guy Borg (John Carradine), the (now disfigured) sailor (George Sawaya) they operated on earlier and bald girl (Sally Yarnell) with patches of hair all over her body. Of course they rise up and attack, causing Mr. and Mrs. Cadman to fall to their deaths.

THE BLACK SLEEP is always described as an “all star horror” movie and on paper it is. But most of the cast is wasted. Chaney is a dumb grunting henchman, Tor sits around looking “Lobo-ish” (although they do show a “before” picture of his character looking kind of dapper!) and worst of all the great Lugosi in his final full length movie role as the mute butler! Whoever thought this was a good idea should have been injected with “the black sleep” themselves! At least they put Carradine's voice to good use! Rathbone is great as the mad scientist and Tamiroff and Rudley are ok in supporting roles. 

Director Reginald Le Borg had already worked with Lon Chaney in '40's on THE MUMMY'S GHOST and “The Inner Sanctum” series. The next year he directed the disappointing VOODOO ISLAND with Boris Karloff (at least he got to speak...).

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Charlie Chan Again

THE BLACK CAMEL-1931-In Hawaii, movie star Shelah Fane (Dorothy Revier) has doubts about marrying actor Allen Jaynes (William Post Jr.) She sends for mystic Tarneverro (Bela Lugosi; soon after DRACULA) to help her. Her friend Julie (Sally Eilers) doesn't like him but she’s too busy being wooed by real estate agent Jimmy Bradshaw (Robert Young). Later Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) makes his first appearance at the Royal Hawaiian hotel and confronts Tarneverro about his activities in Honolulu. He mentions the 3 year old Lenny Mayo murder case and maybe the fortune teller could help. Later Shelah visits the mystic and under duress admits she was in Mayo’s house the night he was killed. Later she receives an orchid from a guy named Bob Fyfe (Victor Vaconi). Her butler Jessop (unbilled Dwight Frye) is in love with her maid (though she says she’s not in love with him) and says he would do anything for her. After frolicking on the beach Julie and Jimmy find Shelah dead. Thus begins the scenario that was typical of so many Chan films to follow. A roomful of people, nearly each one a suspect.

Warner Oland debuted as Charlie Chan earlier in the year in CHARLIE CHAN CARRIES ON which unfortunately is now a "lost" film. In fact the next three entries are also lost. The next surviving picture with Oland is CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON.

 I liked THE BLACK CAMEL because Bela has a large pivotal role but I dislike it because of the racist characterization of Chan’s dumb overzealous Japanese assistant Kashimo (Otto Yamaoka). Much more degrading and annoying than any of his sons ever were! For some reason director Hamilton MacFadden is un-credited.

“Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here”

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Lon Frank

THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN-1942-In the wake of events that transpired in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, the angry villagers blow up Castle Frankenstein despite the best efforts of Ygor (Bela Lugosi; also in BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT the same year) to dissuade them (the broken neck ex-assistant to Wolf Frankenstein seems to have recovered from being shot to death in the last installment). Their explosive blasts unleash the monster from his sulfur pit doom of the previous picture much to the delight of Ygor (“My friend!”). After being struck by lightening the monster becomes stronger. The duo decided to visit Vasaria where the baron's second song Ludwig Frankenstein (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) lives. Ludwig is a brain surgeon who studies “diseases of the mind” and is assisted by the cheerful Dr. Kettering (Barton Yarborough; later in the I LOVE A MYSTERY series of films) and the unhappy Dr. Bohmer (Lionel Atwill; also in PARDON MY SARONG with Abbott & Costello the same year) and his daughter Elsa (Evelyn Ankers; in the previous year's THE WOLFMAN). 

Igor and his friend walk right into the village square and scare children. The monster befriends a little girl (“Are you a giant?”) and takes her to the rooftops to retrieve her ball. After returning the girl to her daddy he's overpowered by the cops and townspeople. Cut to Ludwig's residence where town prosecutor Erik (Ralph Bellamy; also in THE WOLFMAN) tells the doctor about an imprisoned madman who killed 2 villagers. But unbeknownst to Erik, Ygor has already met with Ludwig to discuss helping fix his friend's “sick brain”. When he's put on trial the monster escapes and almost kills Ludwig but Ygor's horn playing pacifies him. Bringing him back to Ludwig's laboratory the monster kills Kettering and gas is used to subdue him. Ludwig plans to take the monster apart “piece by piece” but his father's ghost (also Hardwicke) intervenes and Ludwig decides to put Kettering's brain into the monster's head! Ygor convinces Bohmer (who feels his part in Frankenstein's experiments have been overlooked because of a mistake he made years before) to put his demented brain in the monster's skull. Erik accuses Ludwig of deception and the doc nearly 'fesses up but the monster kidnaps his little girlfriend and all that's put to the side. The operation is a success but of course the monster's evil brain has been replaced by one that is even eviler. It doesn't go as planned though. The monster, now talking with Ygor's voice plans on ruling the world but it turns out Ygor's blood doesn't match the monster's and he (they?) go blind. The monster kills Bohmer and starts a fire that burns down the house, killing him (for now) and Ludwig while Erik saves Elsa. 

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN director Earle C. Kenton made this fine if a little convoluted follow-up which although cheats on story continuity provides some good scenes and great performances. Cedric Hardwicke is excellent as the noble scientist who wants to do the right thing but once again falls victim to the “Frankenstein curse”. And having Lugosi back as the scheming Ygor (especially since he was killed at the end of SON) is a major plus. Though criticized a lot for his portrayal Lon Chaney (in the first post-Karloff role of the monster) does an acceptable job considering he's not given much to do! Atwill of course is at his best here, the seemingly co-operative assistant hiding a bitter vengeance driven other self. The screenplay is by W. Scott Darling, a prolific film writer before his death by drowning in 1953. GHOST of course features several actors in un-billed roles: Holmes Herbert, Richard Alexander, Harry Cording and Dwight Frye.

Director Kenton later worked with Abbott and Costello and also made two "sequels"  HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and HOUSE OF DRACULA.

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Bela!

POSTAL INSPECTOR-1936- Bill Davis, a postal inspector (Ricardo Cortez) investigates mail fraud and meets famous singer Connie Larrimore (Patricia Ellis) on a plane during a storm. She sings “When You're Through with Your Shower” to calm the passengers. Later she meets her old friend Charlie Davis (Michael Loring) who works for the Federal Reverse and is Bill's brother. Gregory Benez (Bela Lugosi), the owner of the night club Connie sings at owes a gangster 50 thou. He learns that the Federal Reverse is transferring 3 million dollars in old money and he and his partners steal it while Bill deals with a flood. A high speed chase through a flooded town is the finale. Hattie McDaniels and Frank Wilcox have un-billed roles.

 POSTAL INSPECTOR is a neat little B film trying to actually give insight on the work of the US Post Office and how it deals with crime. But the real reason to see it is Bela's turn as the uptight gangster (an untypical role for him to be playing at the time). Director Otto Brower had made THE PHANTOM EMPIRE with Gene Autry the year before and made other “programmers” like POSTAL INSPECTOR. 

However as a second unit director Brower on worked bigger films like THE GRAPES OF WRATH, BRIGHAM YOUNG and WESTERN UNION (sometimes with no credit). He died of a heart attack in 1946 while doing second unit work on DUEL IN THE SUN. Screenwriter Horace McCoy wrote B movies and his novel THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY was adapted into a movie in 1969 (after two previously failed attempts). Lead actress Patricia Ellis starred in movies with Joe E. Brown, James Cagney and Jack Haley but retired form films in the late 30's.

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I'm Ravin'

THE RAVEN-1935-Judge Thatcher's daughter is near death after a car crash. He (Samuel S. Hinds) implores the famous but retired Dr. Vollin (Bela Lugosi) to perform life saving surgery on the “root nerves at the base of the brain”. The Edgar Allen Poe loving doctor (“It's more than a hobby”) finally agrees and the operation is a success. A month later the organ playing doc is obsessed with his patient Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) who doesn't respond to his come-ons as she is engaged to a doctor named Jerry (Lester Matthews). The judge has his suspicions and tells Vollin to steer clear of his daughter. Vollin couldn't care less and tells the judge he wants his daughter and will get her. Later a wanted criminal named Bateman (Boris Karloff) who “shot his way out of San Quentin” and later killed a guy with a blowtorch wants Vollin to give him a new face. Vollin does but gives him a deformed face and blackmails him into doing his bidding if he wants a real face. Vollin invites The Judge and Jean and Jerry and some others to his place. Bateman is his disfigured but sympathetic butler. Jean wins Bateman's heart when she apologizes to him after initially being frightened by him. The Judge still insists Vollin is mad despite everyone else's flip attitude. 

The nutty doctor has a recreation of Poe's “The Pit and The Pendulum” in his basement and makes Bateman strap the judge on the pendulum. A crazy climax ensues with Bateman saving the day but dying and Vollin crushed to death. Bela says “Death is my talisman", “I'm the sanest man who ever lived” and “I like to torture” and is very insane in the leading role. It's usually said that this is kind of “Bela's movie” where he has the biggest stand out role and it's true in a way. But Karloff snags the more sympathetic role and intimately becomes 'the hero”. It was a big year for Boris (billed as “Karloff”) as he also made THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE BLACK ROOM. Bela wasn't exactly sitting on his hands either making MARK OF THE VAMPIRE for Tod Browning, starring in THE RETURN OF CHANDU and THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE. Director Louis Freidlander (later known as Lew Landers) would direct both horror stars separately years later: Lugosi in THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE and Karloff in THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU.

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The Legend Begins

DRACULA-1931-Every horror fan knows this was the first sound horror film and despite its flaws it ushered in the “golden age” of monsters and vampires. Universal followed it with their adaptation of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and at night a special Spanish language version was filmed using many of the same sets. Some claim it's better than the famous Tod Browning version but Carlos Villarias in the lead is no Lugosi. Here are some quotes:

“I dislike mirrors”.

“For one who has not even lived a single lifetime you are a wise man, Van Helsing”.

“The Strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him”.

“Isn't this a strange conversation for men who aren't crazy?”.

“I am Dracula”.

“I bid you welcome”.

“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make”.

“The Spider spinning his web for the unwary fly. The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield”.

“I never drink... wine”.

“Your will is strong Van Helsing”.

Rats,rats rats! Thousands, millions of them. All red blood. All these will I give you”.

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