Bela Lugosi Week Film 7: The Black Cat

This week I've decided to do something a little different here at Blues In The Night. Every film reviewed this week will star Bela Lugosi. For the seventh and final film, we return back to Bela's days at Universal.

The Black Cat
1934 - Universal Pictures
Directed By Edward G. Ulmer



SYNOPSIS

An honeymooning couple (David Manners + Julie Bishop) is trapped in the home of Satan-worshiper Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff.) They are joined by Vitus (Bela Lugosi) who is searching for his wife and child who he hasn't seen since going off to fight in World War I. He is sure Poelzig knows where they are.



MY THOUGHTS

The greatest horror studio takes on the greatest horror writer and pits their greatest horror stars against each other.
The Black Cat is very loosely based on the Edgar Allen Poe story.

Bela Lugosi shines in a rare quasi-heroic role. His good-guy varies only slightly from his bad-guy portrayals. The body counts are really the only thing different. His role is mysterious and intriguing, but too dark for the average cinema-goer to root for him.
Films of the 1930's rarely delved into the psychology of characters but The Black Cat did, and Lugosi's role is much more interesting than it would have been otherwise. Lugosi uses this extra psychological aspect of the role to great effect.

Boris Karloff's performance is somewhat dry. But he looks menacing, especially with a widow's peak that would make Eddie Munster jealous, and his dark robes.

When Lugosi and Karloff are onscreen together there is a definite tension between the characters that is very real that seems to extend beyond the written page. They must have used their rivalry to great advantage in crafting their scenes together. This was the first of their 8 parings.

The Black Cat does have some major logic gaps that are too prominent to ignore:

1. Vitus fought in World War 1 as a young man and then spent the next 15 years in prison, and was released just prior to the events of this film. Yet we're supposed to believe he's also a preeminent psychologist as well?

2. Why would anyone build their expansive, modern home on a mine-laden old battlefield?

3. Of all the places in the world, why did the American couple choose Hungary to honeymoon? If there was a good reason, it was never given. I'm not knocking the country, it just seems like a completely random choice.

Despite those issues, the film is still enjoyable and stands as one of the best non-monster Universal horror films.