USA, 1935
61m
35mm film, black and white, 1.37:1
mono, English
An American horror film directed by Lew Landers using the pseudonym Louis Friedlander.
Plot Summary
A brilliant surgeon, Dr Vollin, is driven mad by his lust for a young dancer he is asked to operate on after she is disfigured in a car crash. Vollin, a Poe fanatic, has re-created many of the torture chambers from his stories and isn't afraid to use them. Meanwhile, a killer arrives at the doctor's surgery looking for him to change his appearance to help him evade the law and Vollin sees the perfect instrument for his murderous schemes to woo the young dancer.
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Louis Friedlander [real name: Lew Landers]
Copyright MCMXXXV [1935] by Universal Pictures Corp., Carl Laemmle, president
Universal presents
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr *
Associate Producer: David Diamond
Screenplay: David Boehm
Suggested by Edgar Allan Poe's immortal classic
Photographer: Charles Stumar
Film Editor: Albert Akst
Music Supervision: Gilbert Kurland
Music: W. Franke Harling *, Heinz Roemheld *, Clifford Vaughan *
Dialogue Director: Florence Enright
Westrex Recording Recording
Art Director: Albert S. D'Agostino
Dance Arrangement: Theodore Kosloff
Cast
Karloff [real name: Boris Karloff] (Edmond Bateman)
Lugosi [real name: Bela Lugosi] (Dr Richard Vollin)
Lester Matthews (Dr Jerry Halden)
Irene Ware (Jean Thatcher)
Samuel S. Hinds (Judge Thatcher)
Spencer Charters (Geoffrey)
Inez Courtney (Mary Burns)
Ian Wolfe (Colonel Bertram Grant)
Maidel Turner (Harriet)
Jonathan Hale [doctor] *
Arthur Hoyt [Mr Chapman] *
Walter Miller [doctor] *
Madeline Talcott [nurse] *
Cyril Thornton [butler] *
Helen Ware [bit part] *
Alternative Titles
Der Rabe – German title
Links
Extracts included in
Universal Horror (1998)
References
Periodicals
Avant-Scène du Cinéma no.338 (March 1985) pp.52-87 – script
Film Journal vol.2 no.2 (January – March 1973) pp.52-59 – review
Film Weekly vol.1 no.355 (2 August 1935 p.28 – review
Filmfax no.72 (April/May 1999) pp.43, 80 – illustrated article
Monthly Film Bulletin Vol.2 no.18 (July 1935) p.90 – credits, synopsis, review
Sight & Sound vol.1 no.2 (February 2000 p.62 – video review
Books
The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (2nd edition) pp.63-64 – review, credits
Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.323 – credits
The Horror Factory by Bruce Dettman and Michael Bedford pp.45-47 – article
Of Gods and Monsters by John T. Soister pp.232-240 – illustrated credits, article
Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.394 – credits
Universal Horrors by Michael Brunas, John Brunas, Tom Weaver – illustrated article
Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror by Michael Mallory pp.182-183 – illustrated article
