Scared to Death
Encyclopedia
Scared to Death is a horror film
directed by Christy Cabanne
and starring Bela Lugosi
. It was filmed in Cinecolor
, is one of only three color pictures Lugosi made, and the only one he starred in. The film is notable for its narration by a dead woman — she describes the events leading up to her death.
The woman is married to the son of a doctor, the proprietor of a private sanatorium, where she is under unwilling treatment. Both the son and the doctor indicate they want the marriage dissolved. Arriving at the scene is a mysterious personage identified as the doctor's brother who formerly was a stage magician in Europe. He is accompanied by a threatening dwarf.
After it is apparent that the wife is terrified of the foreigners, it is disclosed that she is the former wife and partner of a Paris dancer known as René, who had been shot by the Nazis. Attempts to draw a confession that she had betrayed her dancer husband and had collaborated with the Nazis led to the use of a device employing a death mask of the dead patriot, which literally frightens her to death.
Although the young newspaperman hero and his sweetheart guess the answer to the story, they allow the diagnosis "scared to death" to stand.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Christy Cabanne
Christy Cabanne
Christy Cabanne , born William Christy Cabanne, was an American film director, screenwriter and silent film actor. Christy Cabanne was, along with Sam Newfield and William Beaudine, one of the most prolific directors in the history of American film.-Biography:Cabanne graduated from the U.S...
and starring Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
. It was filmed in Cinecolor
Cinecolor
Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M...
, is one of only three color pictures Lugosi made, and the only one he starred in. The film is notable for its narration by a dead woman — she describes the events leading up to her death.
Synopsis
Scared to Death opens with the disclosure by morgue examiners that a beautiful woman has literally died of fright. The plot reveals how she reached the fatal stage of terror.The woman is married to the son of a doctor, the proprietor of a private sanatorium, where she is under unwilling treatment. Both the son and the doctor indicate they want the marriage dissolved. Arriving at the scene is a mysterious personage identified as the doctor's brother who formerly was a stage magician in Europe. He is accompanied by a threatening dwarf.
After it is apparent that the wife is terrified of the foreigners, it is disclosed that she is the former wife and partner of a Paris dancer known as René, who had been shot by the Nazis. Attempts to draw a confession that she had betrayed her dancer husband and had collaborated with the Nazis led to the use of a device employing a death mask of the dead patriot, which literally frightens her to death.
Although the young newspaperman hero and his sweetheart guess the answer to the story, they allow the diagnosis "scared to death" to stand.
Cast
- Bela LugosiBéla LugosiBéla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
- George ZuccoGeorge ZuccoGeorge Desylla Zucco was an English character actor who appeared, almost always in supporting roles, in 96 films during a career spanning two decades, from 1931 to 1951. He is fondly remembered for his roles in classic horror films.-Early life:Zucco was born in Manchester, England...
- Nat PendletonNat PendletonNathaniel Greene "Nat" Pendleton was an American Olympic wrestler and film actor.-Early life:Pendleton was born in Davenport, Iowa to Adelaide E. and Nathaniel G. Pendleton. He studied at Columbia University where he began his wrestling career. He was twice Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling...
- Molly LamontMolly LamontMolly Lamont was a British film actress.Lamont was born in Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa. She began her career in British films in 1930 and for several years played small, often uncredited roles...
- Joyce ComptonJoyce ComptonJoyce Compton was an American actress.She was born Olivia Joyce Compton in Lexington, Kentucky and not Eleanor Hunt as is frequently erroneously stated. She had appeared in the film Good Sport with Hunt and this confusion in an early press article followed Compton throughout her career...
- Gladys Blake
- Roland VarnoRoland VarnoRoland Varno was a character actor from Utrecht, Netherlands. He appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 1940s including the Return of the Vampire, My Name is Juila Ross, Gunga Din, Three Faces West, Women in Bondage, Three's a Crowd, Flight to Nowhere and Scared to Death.Varno also appeared...
- Douglas FowleyDouglas FowleyDouglas Fowley was an American movie and television actor.Fowley was born Daniel Vincent Fowley in The Bronx, New York. The 5'11" actor is probably best remembered for his role as the movie director Roscoe Dexter in Singin' in the Rain . The actor appeared in over 240 films and later in dozens of...
- Stanley AndrewsStanley AndrewsStanley Andrews was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program Little Orphan Annie and later as "The Old Ranger", the host of Death Valley Days.-Early life:...
- Angelo RossittoAngelo RossittoAngelo Rossitto was an American actor. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" tall.Rossitto was discovered by John Barrymore and made his screen debut opposite Barrymore in The Beloved Rogue . He appeared in the then controversial 1932 film Freaks directed by Tod Browning. He appeared in another...
- Lee Bennett
- Stanley PriceStanley PriceStanley Price was an American film supporting actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1956. He was born in Kansas, United States.-Career:...
Trivia
- The film was featured on an episode of Deadly CinemaDeadly CinemaDeadly Cinema is a television show on NTTV, a Student television station at University of North Texas. The program aired for two seasons from 2003 to 2005.-Synopsis:...
. - This film and Buck Privates Come HomeBuck Privates Come HomeBuck Privates Come Home is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is a sequel to their 1941 hit, Buck Privates....
were Nat Pendleton's last films.
External links
- Paul Lewis, 2009: Review of Scared to Death at DVDCompare