I covered an earlier film
called THE BLACK CAT for a previous Horrorfest, that one starring Bela Lugosi
and Boris Karloff. This is the 1941 version, directed by Albert S. Rogell. It
has a totally different story and is not a remake – it just happens to share
the same name. Both films claim to be based on THE BLACK CAT by Edgar Allan
Poe, but it’s hard to imagine how two such different films can be derived from
the same source. I’m guessing Universal just liked the title, and the use of
the name Poe.
Bela Lugosi’s once again
on hand, although this time he does not star and is relegated to a secondy (though
creepy) role as the caretaker of the estate where the movie takes place. Basil
Rathbone gets top billing but also doesn’t really star so much as support, as
the patriarch of the greedy family the plot centers around. Like THE CAT AND
THE CANARY before it, this plot revolves around family members fighting over a
will.
So, with Lugosi and
Rathbone sent to the sidelines, who is the real star of this flick? Oddly
enough it turns out to be Broderick Crawford as a realtor invited to appraise
the house ahead of the matriarch’s (Cecilia Loftus) death. Along with his
sidekick (Hugh Herbet), the duo is basically comedic relief, except Crawford
takes up the majority of the screen time and drives the majority of the plot,
as the people in the house try to figure out what’s going on when all the cats
die and someone turns up murdered.
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