USA, 1935
70m
35mm film, black and white, 1.37:1
mono, English
An American horror film directed by Roy William Neill.
Plot Summary
Anton de Bergmann returns to the family castle for the first time in ten years and is reunited with his twin brother, the tyrannical Baron Gregor. When the local peasants revolt, Gregor renounces his title in favour of Anton, then murders his own brother and assumes his identity. He then sets about pursuing Anton's lover Thea – but there's a prophecy, that Anton will murder Gregor in the castle's Black Room…
Credits
Crew
Directed by: Roy William Neill
Copyright MCMXXXV [1935] by Columbia Pictures Corp, Harry Cohn president
Productyion Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation presents
Screen Play: Arthur Strawn & Henry Myers
Story: Arthur Strawn
Assistant Director: C.C. Coleman *
Photography: Allen G. Siegler
Camera Operator: Fayte M. Browne *
Assistant Camera: Gert Andersen *
Film Editor: Richard Cahoon
Music: R.H. Bassett, Milan Roder, Louis Silvers [all uncredited]
Musical Director: Louis Silvers
Sound Recordist: Edward Bernds *
Western Electric Noiseless Recording
Costumes: Murray Mayer
Process Shots: Roy Davidson *
Matte Painter: Jack Cosgrove *
Art Director: Stephen Goosson
Cast
Boris Karloff (Anton [de Bergmann/Baron Gregor de Bergmann])
Marian Marsh (Thea [Hassel])
Robert Allen (Lt [Albert] Lussan)
Thurston Hall (Col. [Paul] Hassel)
Katherine DeMille (Mashka)
John Buckler (Beran)
Henry Kolker (Baron de Berghman)
Colin Tapley (Lt Hassel [as a young lieutenant])
Torben Meyer (Peter)
Edward Van Sloan [doctor – uncredited]
Egon Brecher [lead villager – uncredited]
Helena Grant [Anna – uncredited]
Marion Lessing [Maria – uncredited]
Robert Middlemass [the prosecutor – uncredited]
Alternative Titles
The Black Room Mystery – UK title
Horror en el cuarto negro – Spanish title
Das Schwarze Zimmer – German title
Det sorte værelse – Danish title
References
Periodicals
Daily Film Renter no.7474 (26 September 1957) p.7 – review
Film Weekly vol.14 no.360 (6 September 1935) p.32 – review
Kine Weekly no.2616 (3 October 1957) p.20 – review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.2 no.20 (September 1935) p.121 – credits, synopsis, review
Today's Cinema vol.89 no.7868 (25 September 1957) p.7 – review
Variety 17 July 1935 p.3 – credits, review (uncredited)
Books
The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.60
Boris Karloff: A Critical Acount of His Screen, Stage, Radio, Television, and Recording Work by Scott Allen Nollen pp.137-141; 376
The Columbia Checklist: The Feature Films, Cartoons, Serials and Short Subjects of Columbia Pictures, 1922-1988 by Len D. Martin p.29
Columbia Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1982 by Michael R. Pitts pp.20-22
Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography, 1931-1939 by Bryan Sennp.314-322
Horror and Science Fiction Films IV by Donald C. Willis p.48
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.38 – credits
Sound Films, 1927-1939: A United States Filmography Volume 1 by Alan G. Fetrow p.53 – credits, review
