The Raven (1935)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (poem)
David Boehm (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 July 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

While this mad surgical genius chanted "The Raven," horrible screams rose up from his torture chamber below!

Plot:

A wealthy judge coaxes the brilliant but eccentric neurological surgeon Dr. Vollin (Lugosi), who also has an obsessive penchant for Edgar Allen Poe...

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Surgeon | Secret Door | Mad Doctor | Animal In Title

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Edmond Bateman (as Karloff)
Bela Lugosi	...	Dr. Richard Vollin
Lester Matthews	...	Dr. Jerry Halden (Credits) / Dr. Jerry Holden
Irene Ware	...	Jean Thatcher
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Judge Thatcher
Spencer Charters	...	Geoffrey (Credits) / Col. Bertram Grant
Inez Courtney	...	Mary Burns
Ian Wolfe	...	Col. Bertram Grant (Credits) / Geoffrey 'Pinky'
Maidel Turner	...	Harriet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anne Darling	...	Autograph hound (scenes deleted)
June Gittelson	...	Autograph hound (scenes deleted)
Joe Haworth	...	Drug clerk (scenes deleted)
Mary Wallace	...	Autograph hound (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #790)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: The on-screen credits interchanged the character names for Ian Wolfe and Spencer Charters.

Quotes:

Dr. Richard Vollin: Your monstrous ugliness breeds monstrous hatred. Good! I can use your hate.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: The Raven" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Romeo and Juliet Overture

Lugosi is Incredible!

Karloff gets the top billing in this second feature pairing both horror stars, but it is Bela Lugosi all the way who steals each and every scene he is in. Lugosi is incredible in his over-the-top performance of a morbid, obsessed doctor and Poe aficionado. Each line he utters with flair and gusto, each movement an outrageous, maniacal gesture. He is truly a ham, and an enjoyable one at that. Karloff is quite good as a killer, and the only compassionate character in the story. He is disfigured by Lugosi, so he will kill for the mad doctor. One of the best scenes is Lugosi leaving his patient to see his handiwork. Karloff shoots through several mirrors after realizing the atrocities committed on him, and from a door in the roof of the room.....Lugosi peers through and laughs...laughs with coldness, cruelty, and hysteria. The rest of the film is devoted to Lugosi utilizing his Poe recreations of torture...and I must confess as an earlier reviewer noted that you really feel little sympathy for the other characters involved...and at one point I wanted the pendulum to win. You must see this film as it is the second best of the Karloff/Lugosi pairings...but it really is a Lugosi film.