The Old Dark House
Encyclopedia
The Old Dark House is an American comedy horror
film directed by James Whale
and starring Boris Karloff
, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein
, also released by Universal Studios
.
, published in the United States under the same title as the film, and was adapted for the screen by R. C. Sherriff
and Benn Levy
.
The movie also stars Melvyn Douglas
and features Charles Laughton
, Ernest Thesiger
(Doctor Pretorius
in Whale's 1935 The Bride of Frankenstein), Raymond Massey
, and Gloria Stuart
(the elderly "Rose" in 1997's Titanic) as the ingenue
. According to the Penguin Encyclopaedia of Horror and the Supernatural, the Femm family's ancient patriarch was played by a woman, Elspeth Dudgeon (billed as "John Dudgeon"), because Whale could not find a male actor who looked old enough for the role.
In spite of the presence of Karloff, The Old Dark House was largely ignored at the American box office, although it was a huge hit in Whale's native England
. For many years, it was considered a lost film
and gained a tremendous reputation as one of the pre-eminent gothic horror films. In 1968, a print of the film was discovered by Curtis Harrington
in the vaults of Universal Studios
and was restored with the help of George Eastman House
.
, several travellers are admitted to a gloomy, foreboding mansion
belonging to the extremely strange Femm family. Trying to make the best of it, the guests must deal with their sepulchral host, Horace Femm, who claims to be on the run from the police, and his religious, obsessive, malevolent sister, Rebecca.
Things get worse as the brutish mute butler, Morgan, gets drunk, runs amok, threatens Margaret Waverton and releases the long pent-up brother, Saul, a psychotic fantasist and pyromaniac who gleefully tries to destroy the residence by setting it on fire.
invited screenwriter Benn Levy
from England
to Universal City
after being impressed with Levy's screenplay for Waterloo Bridge
(1931) which was also directed by James Whale. Levy was loaned to Paramount Pictures
, where he worked on the screenplay for Devil and the Deep
. When Levy finished work on the film, he returned to Universal to start work on The Old Dark House. The film is based on 1927 novel Benighted by J. B. Priestley
, a novel about post-World War I
disillusionment. The film follows the original plot of the book, while adding levels of comedy
to the story.
The film appeared on Universal's schedule in February 1932 and the script was submitted to the Hays Office in March. Filming finished by May 1932. Whale worked with many collaborators from his previous films including Arthur Edeson
, who was the cinematographer for Frankenstein (1931) and Waterloo Bridge
(1931), set designer Charles D. Hall
, who also worked with Whale on Frankenstein, and playwright R. C. Sherriff
, who wrote the original play for Journey's End
which Whale made into a film of the same name
in 1930.
lost the rights to the original story. Whale's fellow director and friend Curtis Harrington
helped The Old Dark House from becoming a lost film
. Harrington repeatedly asked Universal to locate the film negative and then persuaded the George Eastman House
film archive to finance a new duplicate negative of the poorly-kept first reel.
and The Hollywood Filmograph gave the film negative reviews, with Variety calling it a "somewhat inane picture". All nine of the New York
dailies
gave the film positive reviews.
The New York Times
praised the film stating that "there is a wealth of talent in the production" and "like Frankenstein, it has the advantage of being directed by James Whale who once again proves his ability". The box office reception started well in the first week of release, but later suffered through negative word of mouth. It was booked for three weeks at the Rialto Theatre
in New York
where the audience turn-out dropped to less than half in its second week and the film was pulled after ten days. The film performed better in England
, where it broke house records at the Capitol Theatre in London.
Modern reception has been more generally positive, with the film-ranking website Rotten Tomatoes
reporting that 100% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of six reviews. Ali Catterall of Channel 4
referred to the film as "Impressively atmospheric and hilariously grim". Time Out London praised the film stating that "Whale manages to parody the conventions of the dark house horror genre as he creates them, in which respect the film remains entirely modern." Karl Williams of the film database Allmovie wrote that "by the 1960s attained a grail-like status among fans of director James Whale...The Old Dark House came to be reconsidered a cult gem, part of the renewal of interest in Whale's talents many years after his creative peak".
by director William Castle
for Columbia Pictures
. It starred comedian Tom Poston
, and the Boris Karloff role was taken on by Danny Green
. The remake has not been as well received by modern critics in comparison to the original film. Craig Butler of the film database Allmovie wrote in a review of the 1963 film, that "When compared with the James Whale original upon which it is based, this remake of The Old Dark House is pretty sorry stuff."
Comedy horror
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary and film genre, combining elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it.The short story "The Legend...
film directed by James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
and starring Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, produced just one year after their success with Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, also released by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
.
Background
The film is based on the 1927 novel Benighted by J. B. PriestleyJ. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
, published in the United States under the same title as the film, and was adapted for the screen by R. C. Sherriff
R. C. Sherriff
-External links:**...
and Benn Levy
Benn Levy
Benn Wolfe Levy was a Labour Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
.
The movie also stars Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
and features Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
, Ernest Thesiger
Ernest Thesiger
Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his performance as Dr...
(Doctor Pretorius
Doctor Septimus Pretorius
Septimus Pretorius is a fictional character who appears in the Universal film Bride of Frankenstein . He is played by British stage and film actor Ernest Thesiger. Some sources claim he was originally to have been played by Bela Lugosi or Claude Rains...
in Whale's 1935 The Bride of Frankenstein), Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
, and Gloria Stuart
Gloria Stuart
Gloria Frances Stuart was an American actress, activist, painter, bonsai artist and fine printer. Over a Hollywood career which spanned, with a long break in the middle, from 1932 until 2004, she appeared on stage, television, and film, for which she was best-known...
(the elderly "Rose" in 1997's Titanic) as the ingenue
Ingenue (stock character)
See also Disingenuous, which is not quite the antonym that it may seem!The ingénue is a stock character in literature, film, and a role type in the theatre; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. Ingenue may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in...
. According to the Penguin Encyclopaedia of Horror and the Supernatural, the Femm family's ancient patriarch was played by a woman, Elspeth Dudgeon (billed as "John Dudgeon"), because Whale could not find a male actor who looked old enough for the role.
In spite of the presence of Karloff, The Old Dark House was largely ignored at the American box office, although it was a huge hit in Whale's native England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. For many years, it was considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
and gained a tremendous reputation as one of the pre-eminent gothic horror films. In 1968, a print of the film was discovered by Curtis Harrington
Curtis Harrington
Curtis Harrington was an American film and television director whose work included experimental films, horror films, and episodic television.-Biography:...
in the vaults of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and was restored with the help of George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
.
Plot
Seeking shelter from a pounding rainstorm in a remote region of WalesWales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, several travellers are admitted to a gloomy, foreboding mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
belonging to the extremely strange Femm family. Trying to make the best of it, the guests must deal with their sepulchral host, Horace Femm, who claims to be on the run from the police, and his religious, obsessive, malevolent sister, Rebecca.
Things get worse as the brutish mute butler, Morgan, gets drunk, runs amok, threatens Margaret Waverton and releases the long pent-up brother, Saul, a psychotic fantasist and pyromaniac who gleefully tries to destroy the residence by setting it on fire.
Cast
- Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as Morgan: an alcoholic muteMutenessMuteness or mutism is an inability to speak caused by a speech disorder. The term originates from the Latin word mutus, meaning "silent".-Causes:...
butler employed by the Femm family - Melvyn DouglasMelvyn DouglasMelvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
as Roger Penderel: a war veteranWar VeteranWar Veteran is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. It was first published in If magazine in March 1955.-Plot summary:The plot concerns an old man who claims to have travelled back in time from a future in which Earth has lost a devastating war to its own Martian and Venusian colonies...
who arrives at the Femm household with Margaret and Philip - Raymond MasseyRaymond MasseyRaymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
as Philip Waverton: Margaret's husband who arrives at the house with Roger - Gloria StuartGloria StuartGloria Frances Stuart was an American actress, activist, painter, bonsai artist and fine printer. Over a Hollywood career which spanned, with a long break in the middle, from 1932 until 2004, she appeared on stage, television, and film, for which she was best-known...
as Margaret Waverton: Philip's wife, who arrives at the house with Roger - Charles LaughtonCharles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
as Sir William Porterhouse - Lilian BondLilian BondLilian Bond was a British film actress of the late 1920s through the 1940s, with most of her films being B-movies.-Life and career:...
as Gladys DuCane Perkins: a chorine who is the girlfriend of Sir William - Ernest ThesigerErnest ThesigerErnest Frederic Graham Thesiger CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his performance as Dr...
as Horace Femm: the host of the house, brother to Rebecca and Saul, and son of Sir Roderick - Eva MooreEva MooreEva Moore was an English actress. Her career on stage and in film spanned six decades, and she was active in the women's suffrage movement.-Early life and career:...
as Rebecca Femm: the near deaf religious fanatic sister of Horace - Elspeth Dudgeon as Sir Roderick Femm: the 102 year old bed-ridden father of the Femm family
- Brember Wills as Saul Femm: a pyromaniac member of the Femm family, locked up in the house
Production
Universal Studios producer Carl LaemmleCarl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle , born in Laupheim, Württemberg, Germany, was a pioneer in American film making and a founder of one of the original major Hollywood movie studios - Universal...
invited screenwriter Benn Levy
Benn Levy
Benn Wolfe Levy was a Labour Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Universal City
Universal City, California
Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
after being impressed with Levy's screenplay for Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge (1931 film)
Waterloo Bridge is a 1931 American drama film directed by James Whale. The screenplay by Benn Levy and Tom Reed is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Robert E. Sherwood....
(1931) which was also directed by James Whale. Levy was loaned to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, where he worked on the screenplay for Devil and the Deep
Devil and the Deep
Devil and the Deep is a Paramount Pictures film starring Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, and Cary Grant.-Plot:Charles Storm is a naval commander whose jealousy makes life miserable for his wife Diana . His suspicions fall over his own subordinate, Lieutenant Jaeckel...
. When Levy finished work on the film, he returned to Universal to start work on The Old Dark House. The film is based on 1927 novel Benighted by J. B. Priestley
J. B. Priestley
John Boynton Priestley, OM , known as J. B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 26 novels, notably The Good Companions , as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls...
, a novel about post-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
disillusionment. The film follows the original plot of the book, while adding levels of comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
to the story.
The film appeared on Universal's schedule in February 1932 and the script was submitted to the Hays Office in March. Filming finished by May 1932. Whale worked with many collaborators from his previous films including Arthur Edeson
Arthur Edeson
Arthur Edeson, A.S.C. was a film cinematographer, born in New York City.He was nominated for three Academy Awards in his career in cinema.-Career:...
, who was the cinematographer for Frankenstein (1931) and Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge (1931 film)
Waterloo Bridge is a 1931 American drama film directed by James Whale. The screenplay by Benn Levy and Tom Reed is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Robert E. Sherwood....
(1931), set designer Charles D. Hall
Charles D. Hall
Charles D. Hall was a British-American art director and production designer. He is perhaps best remembered for his tenure at Universal Pictures, where he began his career during the silent era...
, who also worked with Whale on Frankenstein, and playwright R. C. Sherriff
R. C. Sherriff
-External links:**...
, who wrote the original play for Journey's End
Journey's End
Journey's End is a 1928 drama, the seventh of English playwright R. C. Sherriff. It was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London by the Incorporated Stage Society on 9 December 1928, starring a young Laurence Olivier, and soon moved to other West End theatres for a two-year run...
which Whale made into a film of the same name
Journey's End (1930 film)
Journey's End is a 1930 British-American war film directed by James Whale. Based on the play of the same name by R. C. Sherriff, the film tells the story of several British soldiers involved in trench warfare during the First World War...
in 1930.
Release
The Old Dark House was previewed in early July 1932 and was re-issued into theaters in 1939. In 1957, Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
lost the rights to the original story. Whale's fellow director and friend Curtis Harrington
Curtis Harrington
Curtis Harrington was an American film and television director whose work included experimental films, horror films, and episodic television.-Biography:...
helped The Old Dark House from becoming a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
. Harrington repeatedly asked Universal to locate the film negative and then persuaded the George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
film archive to finance a new duplicate negative of the poorly-kept first reel.
Reception
In the United States, VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
and The Hollywood Filmograph gave the film negative reviews, with Variety calling it a "somewhat inane picture". All nine of the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
dailies
Film Daily
The Film Daily was a daily publication that existed from 1915 to 1970 in the United States.For 55 years, Film Daily was the main source of news on the film and television industries...
gave the film positive reviews.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
praised the film stating that "there is a wealth of talent in the production" and "like Frankenstein, it has the advantage of being directed by James Whale who once again proves his ability". The box office reception started well in the first week of release, but later suffered through negative word of mouth. It was booked for three weeks at the Rialto Theatre
Rialto Theatre
The Rialto Theatre is a performance theater and concert venue located in downtown Tucson, Arizona in the United States of America. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.- History :...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where the audience turn-out dropped to less than half in its second week and the film was pulled after ten days. The film performed better in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where it broke house records at the Capitol Theatre in London.
Modern reception has been more generally positive, with the film-ranking website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reporting that 100% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of six reviews. Ali Catterall of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
referred to the film as "Impressively atmospheric and hilariously grim". Time Out London praised the film stating that "Whale manages to parody the conventions of the dark house horror genre as he creates them, in which respect the film remains entirely modern." Karl Williams of the film database Allmovie wrote that "by the 1960s attained a grail-like status among fans of director James Whale...The Old Dark House came to be reconsidered a cult gem, part of the renewal of interest in Whale's talents many years after his creative peak".
Remake
The Old Dark House was remade in 19631963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
by director William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....
for Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. It starred comedian Tom Poston
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
, and the Boris Karloff role was taken on by Danny Green
Danny Green (actor)
Danny Green was an English character actor, best known for his role as the slow-witted ex-boxer "One-Round" Lawson in The Ladykillers.He worked in film, television and on the stage.-Filmography:...
. The remake has not been as well received by modern critics in comparison to the original film. Craig Butler of the film database Allmovie wrote in a review of the 1963 film, that "When compared with the James Whale original upon which it is based, this remake of The Old Dark House is pretty sorry stuff."