The Black Cat (1941)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Good concept, poorly executed.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This film is really bad. An old woman is killed by one of her greedy relatives; she is very fortunate, she gets out of the film in the first ten minutes. Some terrible director named Beebe was unable to overcome this horrible script. Even more horrible than the plot were the attempts at humor by Broderick Crawford, who played sort of a virile Lou Costello. His sidekick was trying to be funny, also, but he did as well as grandmother. I liked all of Crawford's other films; he should have bought the copies of this one and had it burned. This is also the worst thing ever done by Basil Rathbone, a very decent actor, who could not escape strangulation from a horrible script. And you thought Ed Wood was a bad director and that Bela Lugosi hit bottom with Plan 9 From Outer Space. Wrong on both counts. Ed Wood is Hitchcock compared to this amateur who tried to direct this film. And Lugosi, as bad as he was in Plan 9, was much better in that film than this one. The script was written during a lunch break at the studio lot; or maybe not even that long.I understand that this film opened in Tokyo one week before Pearl Harbor; I am pretty sure it was the primary reason that Japan started a war against the US. Actually one star is too high a rating, but I felt sorry for Broderick.

****SPOILERS****Broderick Crawford is the unlikely hero in this haunted house like movie as the klutzy real estate agent Herbert A. Gilmore "Gil" Smith who can't seem to put one foot in front the other without tripping over on it. It's when Henrietta Winslow, Cecilia Loftus, is mysteriously murdered that Gil goes into action trying to uncover her killer among those gathered to hear her will read and who gets all the goodies that she's to leave over to them: It turns out that Mrs. Winslow's cats get the lion shear of her money! This leads to a number of those gathered getting killed by someone who wants to eliminate them in order to get their share of Mrs. Winslow's money as well as her entire mansion.It turns out that the house gardener Eduardo Vigos, Bela Lugosi,knows the person involved in all the murders going on among the invited guests but he's soon eliminated when he's about to expose who did them by the killer. Through the entire movie Gil ends up putting his foot in his mouth at every turn and apologizing to everyone, even the killer, until the final minutes of the movie when he finally sees the light, in the crematory oven, in who's behind them. By then the killer made his or her appearance known and planned to have Gil's girlfriend Elaine, Anna Gwynne, who figured out who the killer was cremated together with the late Mrs. Winslow's cats in order to keep the truth of his actions from seeing the light of day!***SPOILERS*** It was in fact the sinister looking back cat who seems to have supernatural powers who both saves the day as well as Gil & Eline's lives by coming out of the shadows and putting an end to the killers plans. That by it tripping over a lighted candle and setting the killer on fire before he can do any more damage. There's also in the cast Gale Sondergaad as the house maid Abigail Doone who later was to make it big in the in the film "Weird Woman" in which in being the weirdo that she is was the part she was born to star in. We also had Basil Rathborn as Montague Hartley in between his Sherlock Holmes movies roles which was an in joke in the film's dialogue. And finally the future contract killer and cat lover in his break out film "This Gun for Hire" David Ladd who despite playing tough guy and big hero parts in his future movie roles was the smallest or shortest person in the film's entire cast.

For my taste, there's too much humor in this semi-spoof of the old dark house type mystery, but it manages to be fairly entertaining anyway.The strongest thing the movie has going for it is the marvelous sets, that really convey the feeling of a large and elaborately furnished old mansion out in the country. The typical thunderstorm that strands a group of people for the night is present and contributes greatly to the spooky atmosphere.Cecelia Loftus is wonderful as the old lady whose will has a surprise in store for her greedy relatives. Good supporting performances from Anne Gwynne as the nicest member of the family, with such reliables as John Eldredge and Basil Rathbone among the would-be heirs, including a surly young Alan Ladd and Gladys Cooper as Rathbone's long suffering wife. Bela Lugosi gets to look sinister a lot, but his character is actually benign, if a bit cryptic.The weakest parts have to do with the rather forced comedy involving real estate hustlers Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert, who are hoping to sell the old house and its collection of antiques. Crawford's character is meant to be a sort of bumbling hero, but he gets pretty annoying, with his almost manic energy. Hugh Herbert has a few amusing moments, such as his naive conversation with the predatory Gale Sondergaard as the housekeeper, when she offers him a suspicious looking cup of tea. But his brand of absent-minded humor is more intrusive than comical most of the time, and the picture would have been better if played a little more straight.This is a fairly entertaining little movie overall and should be enjoyed by most viewers who like the mysterious old house type of film.

Before I discuss the film in depth, I want to point out that this film wasted two talented actors. In the case of Alan Ladd, I can't blame the studio too much--after all, he was still a bit player and it wouldn't be for another year or two until he achieved notoriety. But for Universal Pictures to cast Bela Lugosi and place him in such a small and insignificant role in an old house-type movie is crazy and a real shame. It's really a shame they didn't give obnoxious Hugh Herbert one of these smaller roles, as he really, really hams it up and just doesn't fit into the overall tone of the film (likewise, he was horrible and out of place in SH!THE OCTOPUS). As for the rest of the class, with such wonderful stars as Basil Rathbone and Gladys Cooper among others, the film has some exceptional performances for such a "small" film.Despite the title, this film has nothing to do with the earlier Lugosi film of the same title nor does it compare in almost any way to the Poe short story (except for the cat stuck behind something concept). Instead, it's a murder mystery with a hint of comedy. An old lady is beset with greedy relatives who can't wait to take her fortune after she dies. She's apparently dying and one of the family even called in some people (Hugh Herbert and Broderick Crawford) to buy the contents of the old home. However, unexpectedly the lady recovers--prompting someone to kill her so they no longer need to wait! However, inexplicably, no one seems to notice when Crawford insists the lady was murdered--everyone seems very eager to accept that it was an accident--even though shortly before the lady died, there was an attempt to poison her!! This is a bit of a plot hole, as no sane people (even greedy ones) would be so quick to dismiss the possibility of murder. So, it's up to Crawford to stick around, solve the mystery and avoid a "cat-astrophe".Overall, it's a fun but relatively unremarkable Universal picture that perhaps the other reviewers have been a bit too kind to. However, it did give Crawford one of his first starring roles and is a decent time-passer. PS--Towards the end, get a load of how strong Gladys Cooper is supposed to be! Considering her age and frail look, having her exerting herself in the hidden passages is really silly. Also, had this been made just a year or so later, it probably would have been an Abbott and Costello film and probably would have worked a bit better with them in Crawford's and Herbert's roles.