Top-billed at Universal for the first (and last) time since 1932, you’d think the studio execs might have come up with a role that gave Bela Lugosi something to do. Think again. In a story with real possibilities, creepy-crawly atmosphere & sudden death, Bela’s the butler at a spooky mansion: answering phones; opening doors; announcing dinner . . . that’s about it. Second-billed Lionel Atwill doesn’t get much more to do as one of three (make that four) psychiatrists, an early victim of an unknown serial killer in the house. Horror afficionados no doubt nonplussed at finding a whodunit with supernatural trimmings. Leif Erickson’s the house chauffeur with strong arms to force himself on housemaid Fay Helm & lady shrink Irene Hervey (excellent!) when not carting crippled master Ralph Morgan up & down the stairs. Nils Asther hovers mysteriously about as an Occult Prince; another pair of Docs; an hysterical housekeeper to lord it over an introverted spinster, plus Don Porter as the film’s ‘normal guy.’ No wonder the first act is promising. Even a hack megger like Ford Beebe can’t miss hitting a few bumps in the night. Especially when that perky housemaid shows up strangled and bloodied. But everything goes a bit dead as the corpses pile up, and a supernatural climax feels not just unconvincing but cheap. So it went for much Universal horror product in the ‘40s. At least, we don’t have Lon Chaney Jr. cast as a handsome leading man.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK: With his natural screen presence, why no one thought of Lugosi for straight character parts is a mystery. Only Ernst Lubitsch gave him one, a magnificent cameo in NINOTCHKA/’39; perfectly cast, unforgettable. If Lugosi couldn’t follow up after stealing a scene from Greta Garbo (!), he surely had the lamest agent in Hollywood. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2017/12/ninotchka-1939.html
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