Movie Review: The Black Cat (1934) directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Mystery writer Paul Alison (David Manners) and his bride Joan (Julie Bishop) are spending their honeymoon in Hungary, starting with a private compartment on the Orient Express. As so often happens, the railway company accidentally double-booked their compartment with a courtly but somewhat sinister-seeming middle-aged gentleman. This is Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi), who is returning to Hungary to visit a friend after spending fifteen years in a Russian prisoner of war camp, and then some years traveling. Since it will only be a few hours, the Alisons agree to share their space.
At their stop, it’s raining heavily and the Alisons board a bus for the Hotel Hungaria, which Dr. Werdegast is also planning to stay at. The driver explains a bit of the local history. The location they’re traveling through was the site of a fierce battle during World War One, during which the fort defending the area was taken and destroyed by the Russians. On the ruins of the fort has been built the modern house of engineer/architect Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff). In the heavy storm, the bus crashes, killing the driver and wounding Joan.
There’s nothing for it but to head to Engineer Poelzig’s house, which is convenient for Dr. Werdegast as the architect is the old friend he was coming to visit. The word “friend” is perhaps a bit generous. Hjalmar was in charge of the fort during the battle, and Vitus believes that he sold out to the Russians, resulting in the fall of the stronghold and Vitus’ capture. It would explain how Hjalmar escaped unscathed and had plenty of money afterwards. What the architect definitely did do, though, was lie to Vitus’ wife Karen that her husband had died. He then bigamously married her and took Karen and her daughter (also named Karen) to America. And then to several other countries before circling back to Hungary, buying the site of the old fort and building his new house there.
Poelzig, despite his own sinister appearance, is not so bad a host that he’d turn away stranded travelers, so the Alisons are allowed to stay while Joan recovers. Also, he finds Joan striking in a way that reminds him of Karen, as did Werdegast. Hjalmar claims to Vitus that both Karens are long dead, but that’s not entirely true. Dark deeds are afoot as the new moon and a Satanic Mass approach!
This movie was the first time Karloff and Lugosi had appeared together, and they have good chemistry which explains why they were so often matched in other films. The best parts of the film are them playing the game of being polite and friendly while trying to outmaneuver each other mentally and being charmingly sinister.
The set design is excellent, the modernistic house with its tricks, above the remaining caverns of the old fort with their dark secrets. There’s also a nice soundtrack with classical pipe organ music.
The Alisons are…okay for their roles. They’re the ordinary folks who have stumbled into a decades long feud and have no context for what’s going on. Joan’s actress does get to stretch her acting muscles a bit during a sequence where’s she’s been drugged and severely out of character.
As expected by the title, there is a cat. However, since the title was chosen first for the Edgar Allen Poe spooky cred, but not any story ideas, it’s not a central character. Dr. Werdegast is violently ailurophobic, and attempts to kill Engineer Poelzig’s pet cat. (There’s a yowl offstage and the cat is claimed to have been killed.) There’s some discussion of the possible Satanic connections of black cats and the notion that cats have nine lives, and later the cat shows up alive and well without even a bandage. It plays no part in the climax, and as far as we know survives the ending.
The cultists who show up late in the movie for the Black Mass are a little disappointing; they’re extras there to fill up space and remarkably passive. One of them at least gets to play the organ.
There’s a couple of actual humor bits to lighten the tone. Two gendarmes with very strong views about which of their home towns are the most tourist friendly, the actual words of the Black Mass (but for that you need to know Latin) and a bit at the end where Mr. Alison reads a review of one of his books that criticizes unbelievable plots.
Content note: Murder, lesser violence, no blood. Poelzig keeps his previous victims on display. Also, he married his stepdaughter and is an overcontrolling husband. Peril to a cat. Younger viewers may need some guidance.
This is a must-see movie for both Karloff and Lugosi fans as they’re true co-stars here. It’s just over an hour long, so would make a good double feature for family scary movie night.
