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Last week's Movie Quiz winners

In Gods and Monsters, retired director James Whale (played by Ian McKellen) is told by his young gardener that Whale's movie Bride of Frankenstein was on television the night before, and that everyone he was with watched and enjoyed it. Whale is delighted, and he asks, "Did the people laugh?" Embarassed, and not understanding that people were supposed to laugh at much in the film, the gardener lies and says no, to Whale's disappointment.

Of course, everybody laughs at the funny stuff in Bride, and Whale's other Universal monster classic, The Invisible Man. The playful, macabre humor in those two movies is perhaps why they hold up best of all the studio's horror films. But it's a third Whale film from the early '30s that today seems to strike the perfect balance of laughs and creepiness: The Old Dark House, starring Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas and Charles Laughton.

In a way, the title tells the tale: five travellers caught in a rainstorm find themselves the accidental and not-too-welcome overnight guests of an odd brother and sister, in their spooky, crumbling mansion. Their mute, scar-faced butler Morgan (played by Karloff, when he was billed by his last name alone) gets drunk and goes on a tear-- he likes the women, especially Gloria "Titanic" Stuart-- and before the night is over, the guests learn that there are other, even weirder family members hidden in the house.

Because The Old, Dark House isn't strictly a horror film, and because the film was considered lost for decades, people often expect too much from it and are disappointed when they see it for the first time. It's not the film's fault, however, and subsequent viewings bring out its many charms. The cast is splendid, especially the character actors like Karloff and Ernest Thesiger (above), who manages to use his elegantly long nose as an echo chamber. The writing is crisp and witty; it was based on a novel by J.B. Priestly, who also co-wrote the script. (Here's the opening scene, where Raymond Massey crashes his car into a tree-- not many other movies from 1932 begin with the lead actor saying, "Hell!") And Whale's light touch brings out the best of everything.

The Kino DVD release of this film is everything a fan could have asked for, especially considering that the movie was feared lost for good. Besides the best-looking version of the film there is, there are two commentary tracks, including one by Gloria Stuart that actually got her the role in Titanic (James Cameron heard it and wanted her voice to tell the story), as well as an interview with director Curtis Harrington, who basically saved the film from decomposition.

So congratulations and a potato to the astute readers who recognized Karloff's beautiful visage in last week's clue: Wayne Palmer, E. Yarber, Mark Gisleson, Denny Lynch, Kim Kaliszewski, Dan Andreasen, and Hank Parmer.

Posted by Steve Monaco at November 21, 2005 2:00 AM

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