Watch The Black Cat For Free

Too much of everything

Excellent but underrated film

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Bela Lugosi returns to the world of Edgar Allan Poe in this non- remake of "The Black Cat", just like Boris Karloff would do over twenty years later with "The Raven". While Karloff had a late career triumph with that comic version of Poe's sonnet, Lugosi got to do little here, pretty much going around, picking up cats and calling, "Here kitty kitty", in one of his most embarrassing non-Ed Wood screen moments. Even so, the veteran actor gets billing above the credits with Basil Rathbone, Broderick Crawford, and woo-hoo, get this, Hugh Herbert.The last name alone is an indication that this "Old Dark House" rip- off is a comedy, or at least a spoof, and a mildly funny one at that. It's another variation of "Kill the old relative so we can get their loot" plot, and in this case, the poor old thing is Cecilia Loftus, a feisty old bat who has made room for all of her greedy relatives and spooky servants in her will, with strict guidelines that concern her dozens of cats. Of all the cats she has, she refuses to keep any black ones, having made strict orders that the one black kitten born in a litter years ago be destroyed. She also has a creepy crematorium where a statue of a black cat guards all the urns of the ashes of her dead felines.Acting honors, or at least camp acting honors, go to Gale Sondergaard as the strikingly beautiful but severe and mysterious housekeeper who has been taking care of Loftus for years and is assigned the responsibility of doing the same with her cats. "What did you say?", she inquires dramatically through a slot in the front door towards Herbert whom she has just slammed the door on, only to hear an insult made at her expense. Every time she is on screen, she commands all the attention, while Hugh Herbert makes you want to turn your head in aggravation at some of his antics. He was very amusing doing his shtick in all those Warner Brothers musicals and comedies of the 1930's, but here, it just seems a bit too much and after a while is more annoying than funny.It is surprising to see a young Broderick Crawford in a romantic lead role, with that booming voice that later dominated "All the King's Men" and "Born Yesterday" in bully roles. Here, he's an old friend of the family who has been hired to try to find a buyer for the spooky house against Loftus's will. Herbert is his client who does nothing but walk around and wreck the furniture. Among the greedy relatives are Gladys Cooper as a niece who has been "little trouble", Basil Rathbone as her philandering husband, a very young Alan Ladd as his son from a first marriage who calls Loftus "grandmother", and among others, Anne Gwynne and Claire Dodd. Sliding panels, a love-seat with a foot switch that moves it 180 degrees, and other various nooks and crannies are among the tricks of this Poe's trade.Entertaining, yet somehow totally unbelievable, this is acceptable but easily forgettable, although I must admit that I have an affection for it. The killer is shown carrying a body that is obviously beyond their weight, yet they get a great come-uppance at the conclusion. Some of the frights are real, taking this beyond the farcial moments that Herbert provides a bit too much to the point of annoyance. Basil Rathbone has a great line concerning one of his most popular screen characters that will leave you in stitches.

THE BLACK CAT (Universal,1941), directed by Albert S. Rogell, became the studio's latest contribution to the Edgar Allan Poe based stories, which earlier served Universal the previous decade with its strong retelling of MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932), THE BLACK CAT (1934) and THE RAVEN (1935), all featuring Universal's horror man, Bela Lugosi. Rather than lifting a new title for another very loose adaptation to one of Poe's stories, using the last name of Usher for one of its characters, hence forming THE HOUSE OF USHER, Universal adapted THE BLACK CAT again, this time recalling Lugosi for a minor secondary role where he bears grizzled whiskers and drab working clothes for his troubles. Though not a remake nor the stylish and visually stunning class of Edgar G. Ulmer's directed pre-code chiller from 1934 that initially paired Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi for the first time, this seldom revived edition, regardless of its familiar stock music lifted from SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939), THE BLACK CAT is basically a comedy-mystery with no bearing with Ulmer's BLACK CAT any more than Ulmer's edition having little or no connection to Poe.Taken from an original screenplay by Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo, Eric Taylor and Robert Neville (were four writers necessary?), it's the old dark house story where various relatives gather in a gloomy estate awaiting for a wealthy aunt, Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) to die so that they can collect their inheritance. The relatives consist of Myrna Hartley (Gladys Cooper), Henrietta's niece; Montague Hartley (Basil Rathbone), Mona's husband; Richard Hartley (Alan Ladd), Myrna's piano playing stepson who conducts chemical research in his spare time; Margaret Gordon (Claire Dodd), Henrietta's granddaughter; Eduardo (Bela Lugosi), estate caretaker and gardener; and Elaine Winslow (Anne Gwynne), another granddaughter. Also among the individuals besides Henrietta's cats is Abigail Doone (Gale Sondergaard), a creepy housekeeper who has her moments of mental anguish. Entering the scene during the reading of the will are Hubert "Gil" Smith (Broderick Crawford), a real estate agent and friend of the family, accompanied by his partner, Mr. Penny (Hugh Herbert). Unknown to those in attendance is the final clause of the will claiming that nobody inherits the money until both aunt and her house load of cats are dead. After Aunt Henrietta is found dead, supposedly murdered, a series of mysterious occurrences take place, having Smith, who's highly allergic to cats, along with Mr. Penny, going through secret panels, braving dark passages, and finding a dead body or two along the way.As much as Rathbone's name heads the cast, the film very much belongs to Hugh Herbert, who dominates much of the proceedings with his "woo woos" with Broderick Crawford coming a close second. Herbert's scene where he is offered a cup of boiling tea prepared by Sondergaard ("You'll sleep") does have its sinister moments of humor, Universal style. Though not in the same league as some of the earlier or future made comedy chillers of the like, THE BLACK CAT does contain enough puns and in-jokes to pass for a Bob Hope comedy. One notable in-joke comes where Broderick Crawford quips about Basil Rathbone's character, "He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes," Rathbone's most famous on-screen portrayal that originated in two 1939 20th-Fox mysteries that eventually lead to a newly formed series for Universal shortly afterwards. On the gloomy side with fine photography by Stanley Cortez to his credit, the Winslow estate, with its secret panels and passageways, also contains mortuaries and cemeteries for Henrietta Winslow's cats. There's even a furnace for cremation for both her and the little furry friends upon their deaths. It's no wonder why Henrietta's relatives thought she was insane.Overlooking the fact of Universal reusing the title to the now classic 1934 thriller, and wasting the time and talent of Lugosi for a rather small role with limited dialog creeping through the estate and peeping through windows, THE BLACK CAT can be just as amusing as any other comedy thriller. One would wonder had the latest comedy teams of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello or Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson in the Crawford and Herbert roles might have made a better difference or not. Then again, Abbott and Costello's HOLD THAT GHOST, released that very same year might pass with critics as carbon copies with slight alterations - cats, cats, and more black cats. THE BLACK CAT is worthy viewing mainly for the presence of Universal's stock players rising above an ordinary script, but , especially that of Alan Ladd, billed at the bottom of the cast credits, shortly before achieving overnight stardom in Paramount's THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942).In one of the rare television broadcasts that circulated in the 1970s, the print obtained in the 1973-74 showing from New York City's WOR-TV Channel 9, was one with a slightly altered title of THE BLACK CAT MURDERS, possibly to avoid confusion to the earlier 1934 film of the same name. Distributed to home video in 1998 as part of the Universal Horror Classic series, THE BLACK CAT is also available in the DVD format as well. Not exactly a dog of a movie, it's certainly a cat's meow-mixture for 70 fun-filled minutes. (**1/2 litter boxes)

This little gem has long been one of my favourites: since I taped it in the '80's my daughter and I have watched it dozens of times, and although the 1934 horror film may be better it's still lovely to watch. Universal Pictures in the 1940's could churn out inconsequential family entertainment films like this so seemingly effortlessly and all with a special atmosphere that marked them apart from their bigger and richer rivals. Russell Gausman as set director did his usual fantastic job of creating something gorgeous to look at from nothing and the nitrate-film photography by Stanley Cortez was beautifully brooding, when the comedy allowed.Relatives with secrets and problems assemble at a dying old lady's spooky old house to find out how much they'll inherit from her when the day comes. Or whether her army of beloved pampered cats will get it all. Dapper Basil Rathbone had the biggest problems of them all - but was he the one who murdered the old lady, or was she killed from kindness after all? There could have been some mysterious feline power at work, Alan Ladd looked like he'd shoot everyone for a nickel, Gladys Cooper was very demure even if very strong, Gail Sondergaard (her line "Two is equal to one" matched her "Sometimes they get into the machinery" from Cat And The Canary) and Bela Lugosi were as creepy as ever, Claire Dodd was plain nasty and John Eldredge just too dumb to be real. However I don't care what anybody says the lovely Anne Gwynne was never going to be Guilty in my eyes! Chunky Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert bumble through it all as the hero and light relief – this was a big vehicle for Herbert to woo-hoo his way through too. His over-zaniness can be a problem at times – was he and Crawford there in place of some songs or Abbott & Costello and overall did he help or detract? And what the Hell was Anne Gwynne supposed to see in Broderick Crawford anyway??Maybe it helps to have seen it when young to see it now through rose-tinted spectacles. It can be too melodramatic at times, especially during the otherwise gripping climax, but with plenty of lovely smoky visuals and a rich atmosphere to wallow in I've always enjoyed watching this and hope to many more times.

Truly a ham-athon, featuring an impressive array of character actors of that period. I loved Gale (The Spiderwoman) Sondergaard as the house manager -- or would you say butlerette? And seeing the young Alan Ladd in an insipid role -- no Shane moves here! -- was very interesting. Like a previous poster, I would have liked to see Hugh Herbert get knocked off first, but that wouldn't have made sense within the plot because he wasn't in line to inherit. So we're stuck with him doing his usual schtick throughout the movie.There is one huge plot-hole. Herbert picks up the old lady's will and uses it as a bookmark, but drops it later. As soon as he does that, a spooky hand (belonging to the murderer, perhaps?) reaches out of the curtains and picks it up. So what happens to it after that?Anyway, I'm glad I didn't buy a theater ticket to see this old turkey, but it was worth the hour and ten minutes to see it in streaming video on Netflix. Might watch it again some time too.