The Old Dark House (1932)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1932
Running Times: 70 mins
Format: black and white     35mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Presenter: Carl Laemmle
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr

SCRIPT
Script: Benn W. Levy, R.C. Sherriff (uncredited)
Novel: Benighted by J.B. Priestley

DIRECTION
Director: James Whale
Assistant Director: Joseph A. McDonough

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Arthur Edeson

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Clarence Kolster

MUSIC
Music: David Broekman, Bernhard Kaun, Heinz Roemheld (all uncredited)

SOUND
Sound Recordist: William Hedgcock

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Jack P. Pierce

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Charles D. Hall

CAST
Boris Karloff (Morgan)
Melvyn Douglas (Roger Penderel)
Charles Laughton (Sir William Porterhouse)
Lilian Bond (Gladys DuCane)
Ernest Thesiger (Horace Femm)
Eva Moore (Rebecca Femm)
Raymond Massey (Philip Waverton)
Gloria Stuart (Margaret Waverton)
John Dudgeon (real name: Elspeth Dudgeon) (Sir Roderick Femm)
Brember Wills (Saul Femm)

PLOT SUMMARY

Stranded in deepest, darkest Wales during a storm, a group of travellers seek shelter in the old dark house belonging to the odd Femm family. The guests are unnerved by the eccentric clan and positively terrified when the hulking butler Morgan becomes drunk and frees Saul, the psychotic pyromaniac brother who has been locked up in a secret room...

A rather over-rated horror comedy, given something of a reputation by the involvement of both Karloff and Whale. It is, at times, very atmospheric, but it's also rather dull and stodgy, and only the great cast saves it. Historian William K. Everson noted that the film "almost invariably disappoints on its first viewing" but to be honest, not many will want to go back for a second time. A disappointment.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures
Video Distributor: Kino Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID 3146 KN)
DVD Distributor: Kino Video (K113)

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: unrated

1932
October
20: USA – theatrical release

1983
December
30: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

1986
February
1: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 4)

1992
August
7: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

1998
May
27: USA - laserdisc release (Image Entertainment (ID 3146 KN))

1999
April
2: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

June
22: USA - DVD release (Kino Video (K113))

2000
December
29: UK - television broadcast (on BBC2)

El caserón de las sombras – Spanish title
Das Haus des Grauens – German title
Das Haus des Schreckens – Austrian title
Överaskade av natten – Swedish title
Une soirée étrange – French title

SEE ALSO
Haunted Honeymoon (1986)
The Old Dark House (1963)
Who Killed Who? (1943)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998)
Universal Horror (1998)

MAGAZINES

American Cinematographer vol.69 no.10 (October 1988) pp.42-48 (USA)
credits, article

Cinema Booking Guide Supplement vol.2 no.6 (October 1932) pp.18, 19
credits, review

Classic Images no.172 October 1989 pp.24, 26, 52 (USA)
illustrated review, article

Classic Images no.286 (April 1999) p.41 (USA)
review

Classic Images no.297 (March 2000) p.31 (USA)
article

Fangoria no.150 March 1996 pp.46-47 (USA)
illustrated note

Filmfax no.61 (June / July 1997) p.52 (USA)
illustrated credits, review

Kinematograph Weekly 8 September 1932 (UK)
note

Kinematograph Weekly no.1970 (18 January 1945) p.28 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.12 no.133 (January 1945) p.5 (UK)
note

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.46 no.546 (July 1979) p.159 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Picturegoer vol.2 no.88 (28 January 1933) p.19 (UK)
review

BOOKS

Hollywood Cauldron: Thirteen Horror Films from the Genre's Golden Age by Gregory William Mank (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. (1994))
article

James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters by James Curtis (London: Faber and Faber (1998))
article

Universal Horrors by Michael Brunas, John Brunas, Tom Weaver (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. (1990))
article

KEYWORDS

book into film, families, old dark houses, psychopath, pyromaniacs

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008