THE BLACK CAT
US, 1941, 70 minutes, Black-and-white.
Basil Rathbone, Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Bela Lugosi, Anne Gwynne Gladys Cooper, Gale Sondergaard, Celia Loftus, Claire Dodd, John Eldredge, Alan Ladd.
Directed by Albert S.Rogell.
From Universal Studios in the early 1940s, continuing the tradition of horror films. This time, it is an updating of Edgar Allan Poe’s 19th century story. It relies on many of the conventions of the haunted house films.
Celia Loftus plays Henrietta Winslow, an eccentric elderly lady, devoted to cats, all over her house, (as well as having a special crematorium for them, with an entry space large enough for her to finally join them!). It is thought that she is about to die and the family have gathered – but she has no intention of dying and she reads the will, except for a final clause which alters prospects. She seems to be generous to all the relations even though she knows how little they deserve it.
Eventually, she is poisoned and there are various attempts to get to the real will. Everybody is suspect. There are hidden passages throughout the house and mysterious hands coming out of curtains…
What makes the film interesting is its cast. Basil Rathbone is his usual stiff upper lip self is Monty, this performance coming at the time when he was making the Sherlock Holmes films and, in fact, when his character makes some remark about what happened, Broderick Crawford has the line “he thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes�. His wife, Myrna, is played by Gladys Cooper, a very aristocratic presence. However, Rathbone is in a relationship with another of the relations, Margaret, Claire Dodd. There is also her husband, Stanley, John Eldredge, as well as Monte and Myrna’s son, Richard, played by Alan Ladd.
And that is not all. Not immediately recognisable, with longish unkempt hair and a moustache, is Bela Lugosi as Eduardo the gardener. Much more immediately recognisable is Gale Sondergaard as Henrietta Winslow’s companion who is to inherit the house.
And, Anne Gwynne portrays Elaine, the nice relative. Into the action comes a young man who grew up in the vicinity and knows everyone but who is in the real estate business and has a buyer for the elaborate house. Surprisingly, he is played by Broderick Crawford, no anticipation of his Huey Long in All the King’s Men (1949) but playing the dithering junior lead, the touch of romance, slapstick comedy, making interventions at all the wrong times. And, as an extra for those who enjoyed his comedy in the period, playwright and actor Hugh Herbert comes along as a prospective buyer of the mansion’s furniture. Those who enjoy his combination of daffy and dingbat comedy, puns and one-liners, double takes, will find that he contributes comic touches to the sinister atmosphere.
Some murders and attempted murders – and, the shock for the audience at the end in the Crematorium, to find that the very aristocratic Gladys Cooper is the villain!
