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The Old Dark House |
List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $17.96 |
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Reviews |
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Description:
James Whale, who had audiences shivering in their boots the year before with the gothic classic Frankenstein, took a baroque twist in this strange and sly haunted-house comedy. Boris Karloff took top billing in the supporting role of Morgan, the scarred mute butler with a penchant for drink and a vicious mean streak, but the film is really an ensemble piece. Melvyn Douglas is the wisecracking romantic lead who, with his traveling companions Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart, takes refuge from a storm in the creepy old mansion lorded over by the gloriously flamboyant Ernest Thesiger and his dotty, fanatical sister Eva Moore. They are joined by more stranded passengers, a hearty Charles Laughton, whose Lancashire working-class accent and blunt manners set him apart from the social graces of his companions, and his mistress, Lillian Bond. Through the stormy evening, the five guests endure a night of madness and mayhem as the batty old family reveals its dangerous secrets. Whale combines marvelous stylistic flourishes and witty drawing-room dialogue with campy indulgence, creating a film both macabre and sardonic, a nightmarish comedy of manners. This mix of baroque horror and black humor reached its fruition in Whale's brilliant The Bride of Frankenstein. --Sean Axmaker
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