James Whale was one of the most prolific and diverse film directors of the 1930’s. He casts such an enormous shadow over that decade, one would think that his storied career lasted many more. The shocking reality is that all of his 20 feature films were released within a span of only 11 years. His debut was JOURNEY’S END in 1930 and THEY DARE NOT LEAVE, was released in 1941. After that (aside from a short and an army training film) he retired from filmmaking and never looked back - leaving us a filmography that is mind-blowing in its variety and brilliance. Whale came from the stage, originally, and in many moments in his film career, you can see that he never left that world entirely. He reached back to his roots time and again for inspiration. In no case as obviously, or as effectively, as in his 1932 film THE OLD DARK HOUSE.
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One of the most well-worn sub-genres of Horror is the “Old, dark house” story. A story in which several strangers are somehow forced to spend a night together in a large, musty, creepy house where something terrible HAS happened and WILL happen again. Once Universal studios had released DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN to rollicking success, Carl Laemmle Jr. was eager to make more and sought stories that would have an immediate familiarity with the audiences of the time. Since the “Old dark house” genre had been popular among stage audiences for years, and since by this time, James Whale was a hot commodity for Universal, Laemmle had no hesitation when the director brought him the idea for the aptly named THE OLD DARK HOUSE.
In THE OLD DARK HOUSE, 5 people find themselves seeking shelter at a remote, isolated manor house in Wales during a thunderstorm of biblical proportions. The inhabitants of the house are the Femm family. They are odd, but they take the travelers in and events are put into motion that will expose the Femm family secrets and almost destroy them all. Very stagy and dialogue-heavy, THE OLD DARK HOUSE required an amazing cast to pull it off, and this one has a doozy. This film features Universal Horror regulars Ernest Thesiger, Gloria Stuart, and Boris Karloff - and they alone would be enough for most films of that time. THE OLD DARK HOUSE, however, features Melvyn Douglas in one of his earliest films, and also contains the American film debuts of Raymond Massey and Charles Laughton. Rounding out the cast are Eva Moore and Brember Wills who, alongside Thesiger and Karloff, create easily the most insane family unit we would see until THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.
THE OLD DARK HOUSE was at the time (and still is) labeled as a Comedy as well as a Horror film. Watching it today, it is difficult to find a lot of the comedy. It is possible that the comedy has not aged as well as the horror has. It is equally possible that the comedic approach here is more subtle than the camp approach Whale would later employ for BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Whatever the reason, the film still works as a Horror story. The house is genuinely creepy in its cavernous emptiness, and the horrible events are unfolded at a steady, deliberate pace - culminating in a confrontation at the dinner table that is still tense and frightening.
When it was released in 1932, THE OLD DARK HOUSE was a flop in the U.S. Audiences by this time were likely too aware of the conventions of the “Old dark house” story and stayed away. The film was an enormous hit in England, however - breaking the house record of the Capitol Theater in London. The film was pulled from regular circulation in 1963 when the remake was released. There are also copyright ownership issues that prevent the film from being broadcast to this very day. A strange fate for a strange film. Somehow, I think James Whale would approve…
THE OLD DARK HOUSE fun facts - This film was thought to be lost until 1968, when director Curtis Harrington found a print and had it restored.
James Whale had a difficult time finding an actor to portray the elderly Roderick Femm, as none of the actors he auditioned look old enough. He eventually cast Elspeth Dudgeon, a woman, in the role.
The opening of the film contains a “Producer’s Note” averring that the “Karloff” in this film is, indeed, the same actor that played Frankenstein’s monster.
Rebecca Femm - (touching Margaret‘s silk gown) “That’s fine stuff, but it will rot…” (touches Margaret’s skin) “That’s finer stuff still, but it will rot too, in time!”
Sir Roderick Femm - “I would like to tell you all about it, but there may not be time. You see, when you‘re as old as I am, at any minute you could just… die.”
Saul Femm - “So you thought you could cheat me, did you? You thought you could leave me sitting here and I wouldn‘t notice? But you see, I am a clever man also. And that is why we understand one another. That is why you understood so quickly that I wanted to kill you.”