The Raven (1935 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Raven | |
|---|---|
 movie poster |
|
| Directed by | Lew Landers |
| Written by | Edgar Allan Poe (poem) David Boehm (screenplay) |
| Starring | Boris Karloff Béla Lugosi Lester Matthews Samuel S. Hinds |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 8, 1935 U.S. release |
| Running time | 61 min |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Raven (1935) is a horror film revolving around Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, featuring Béla Lugosi as a Poe-obsessed mad surgeon with a torture chamber in his basement and Boris Karloff as a fugitive murderer desperately on the run from the police. The film disturbed many viewers of the time, and many critics currently agree that it displays Lugosi's finest non-Dracula performance. Lugosi had the larger role, but Boris Karloff received top billing in huge letters as "KARLOFF," with his last name displayed in the fashion that Universal Pictures adopted while Karloff's career was at its height. Too strong for 1935 tastes, with its themes of torture, disfigurement and grisly revenge, the film did not do particularly well at the box office during its initial release (much like another 1935 horror movie, MGM's Mad Love, starring Peter Lorre), and indirectly led to a temporary ban on horror films in England. With the genre no longer economically viable, horror went out of vogue. This proved a devastating development at the time for Lugosi, who found himself losing work and struggling to support his family. Universal Pictures changed hands in 1936, and the new management was less interested in the box office novelty of the macabre.
Almost three decades later, Karloff also appeared in another film with the same title, Roger Corman's 1963 comedy The Raven with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre. Aside from the title, the two films bear no resemblance to one another.
Contents |
[edit] Marketing
Universal's pressbook heavily focused on Karloff, calling him "the uncanny master of make-up," as well as the connection to Poe. "Was Edgar Allan Poe a mental derelict?" it asks. The pressbook suggests that Poe's characters were "but a reflection of himself." Universal also suggested that cinema owners write letters to local high schools and colleges, urging their teachers to suggest the film to students.[1]
[edit] Cast
- Boris Karloff as Edmund Bateman
- Béla Lugosi as Richard Vollin
- Lester Matthews as Jerry Halden
- Irene Ware as Jean Thatcher
- Samuel S. Hinds as Judge Thatcher
- Spencer Charters as Bertram Grant
- Inez Courtney as Mary Burns
- Ian Wolfe as Geoffrey
- Maidel Turner as Mrs. Harriet Grant
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, Don G. The Poe Cinema: A Critical Filmography. McFarland & Company, 1999. p. 57-8 ISBN 078641703X
[edit] External links
- The Raven at the Internet Movie Database
|
|||||
