The Black Cat

[jaragon]

This is very strange movie

[TopBilled]

This is very strange movie

 

Yes, it certainly is. But it's fun to watch. David Manners is an interesting actor.

[jaragon]

Yes, it certainly is. But it's fun to watch. David Manners is an interesting actor.

There are all sorts of unspeakable things hinted at- incest, **** and Karloff and Lugosi sado masochistic bromance

[Det Jim McLeod]

Yes, it certainly is. But it's fun to watch. David Manners is an interesting actor.

This maybe Manners' best performance. He was famous for being a mostly colorless leading man in horror films like "Dracula" and "The Mummy", but he gets show a bit of humor in his role here ("Next time I go to Niagara Falls!")

[TopBilled]

This maybe Manners' best performance. He was famous for being a mostly colorless leading man in horror films like "Dracula" and "The Mummy", but he gets show a bit of humor in his role here ("Next time I go to Niagara Falls!")

 

 

Good point. Yes, I think he was quite versatile and just didn't get a chance to show it much. His movie career ended in the late 30s. He never did television. I believe he became a writer.

 

There are all sorts of unspeakable things hinted at- incest, **** and Karloff and Lugosi sado masochistic bromance

 

It was made when the production code was starting to be strictly enforced. They borrowed the title from Poe, but were these topics hinted at in Poe's writing?

[jaragon]

The movie has almost nothing to do with Poe except for the tittle . 

[TopBilled]

The movie has almost nothing to do with Poe except for the title . 

 

Yeah, that's what I thought. 

[jaragon]

The story is about a man who buries a live cat along with a corpse- I thought the most bizarre aspect of the story is Lugosi's extreme fear of cats.

[ChristineHoard]

It's a fine movie and one of my favorites in the genre'.  Unique set designs, Karloff and Lugosi together, Latin gibberish spoken at the Satanic mass, Karloff being skinned alive, Lugosi's irrational fear of black cats and young gay David Manners playing yet another romantic lead in a horror film.  Perfect!

[Swithin]

So many interesting posts in this thread, and not one mentions the great director of the film, Edgar Ulmer! The Black Cat is his finest film.

 

Here's a great article about the film:

 

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/the-black-cat-1135

 

Here is the "Black Mass" recited by Karloff:

 

Latin Phrases:

• c um grano salis. Fortis cadere cedere non potest. Humanum est errare. Lupus pilum mutat, non mentem. Magna est veritas et praevalebit. Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta. Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem. Amissum quod nescitur non amittitur. Brutum fulmen. c um grano salis. Fortis cadere cedere non potest. Fructu, non foliis arborem aestima. Insanus omnes furere credit ceteros. Quem paenitet peccasse paene est innocens.

English translation:

• With a grain of salt. A brave man may fall but he cannot yield. To err is human. The wolf may change his skin but not his nature. Truth is mighty and will prevail. External actions show internal secrets. Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even. The loss that is not known is no loss at all. Heavy thunder. With a grain of salt. A brave man may fall but he cannot yield. By fruit, not by leaves, judge a tree. A madman believes all others mad. Who repents from sinning is almost innocent.

[Princess of Tap]

Yes, it certainly is. But it's fun to watch. David Manners is an interesting actor.

This maybe Manners' best performance. He was famous for being a mostly colorless leading man in horror films like "Dracula" and "The Mummy", but he gets show a bit of humor in his role here ("Next time I go to Niagara Falls!")

 

" You fool, I was only trying to help."-- My favorite Bela Lugosi line

(to David Manners)