Movie Review: Scared to Death (1947) directed by Christy Cabanne
There’s an unusually chatty corpse in the morgue tonight, and it wants to tell us all about how it got there. Laura Van Ee (Molly Lamont) made a poor choice in marrying Ward Van Ee (Roland Varno), son of eminent physician Dr. Joseph Van Ee (George Zucco). It was a drunken bet gone horribly wrong and the two younger people despise each other. Ward would be willing to grant her a divorce, but Laura’s holding out for more money, and she’s also pretty sure the two men are trying to drive her insane. (It’s noted that she has a phobia of anything covering her face–Laura wouldn’t have done well in 2020!)
The house is excessively full tonight. Local security guard and former police officer Bill Raymond (Nat Pendleton) is romancing the disinterested maid Lilybeth (Gladys Blake) between bouts of yearning for a crime to happen. A Professor Leonide (Bela Lugosi), professional magician and former inmate of the house when it was an insane asylum, has arrived along with his deaf-mute little person companion Indigo (Angelo Rossito). He has history with Dr. Van Ee, history that might be bad for the doctor’s reputation, and prevails on that man to be allowed to stay. A Mrs. Williams (Dorothy Christie) also drops by with hints about the doctor’s past. Terry Lee (Douglas Fowley), reporter for the Times, and his slightly dim phone operator girlfriend Jane Cornell (Joyce Compton) also pop by once there’s a report of mysterious goings-on. Plus, there’s someone lurking about in a green mask who may or may not be any of those people.
Various spooky things happen, and Laura ends up–scared to death!
This comedy-thriller is best known for being Lugosi’s one starring role in a color movie. He does his best with the material handed him, alternately jolly or menacing as the scene requires. But the script is thin stuff, hoping to distract with complications instead of weaving a complete web. Why is there a little person? To distract the audience, apparently. Entire subplots are just dropped between scenes.
And the comedy and thriller bits don’t mesh well either, making this feel more like a movie that can’t make up its mind what it wants to be, rather than a coherent blend of genres. The music is poorly planned as well. You can see good ideas peeping out from behind the curtains, but they are never allowed to take center stage.
Overall, a mediocre movie which is for Lugosi fans and the “make wisecracks while watching movies” crowd.
