The Black Cat (1941)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This film is really bad. An old woman is killed by one of her greedy relatives; she is very fortunate, she gets out of the film in the first ten minutes. Some terrible director named Beebe was unable to overcome this horrible script. Even more horrible than the plot were the attempts at humor by Broderick Crawford, who played sort of a virile Lou Costello. His sidekick was trying to be funny, also, but he did as well as grandmother. I liked all of Crawford's other films; he should have bought the copies of this one and had it burned. This is also the worst thing ever done by Basil Rathbone, a very decent actor, who could not escape strangulation from a horrible script. And you thought Ed Wood was a bad director and that Bela Lugosi hit bottom with Plan 9 From Outer Space. Wrong on both counts. Ed Wood is Hitchcock compared to this amateur who tried to direct this film. And Lugosi, as bad as he was in Plan 9, was much better in that film than this one. The script was written during a lunch break at the studio lot; or maybe not even that long.I understand that this film opened in Tokyo one week before Pearl Harbor; I am pretty sure it was the primary reason that Japan started a war against the US. Actually one star is too high a rating, but I felt sorry for Broderick.

This is such a good movie, made way back in 1941, it holds up for many reasons, firstly the story is excellent, so many twists and turns, reminiscent of The Cat and The Canary. The characters are so good, Aunt Henrietta Winslow is delightful, wonderfully eccentric, but possessing a darker side. Montague Hartley is brilliantly devious, Rathbone really brings him to life, and of course there's the strange housekeeper Abigail Doone, Gale Sondergaard as always steals the show, she's fabulous. It is a visual delight, the way it's shot, the costumes etc, puts thousands of films in the shade, beautifully produced.'He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes,' what a great line, proving that even in the early 1940's film makers had a sense of humour. Hugh Herbert though is perhaps a little distracting as Mr Penny, somehow it feels as if he belongs in a different film, although his tea scene with Sondergaard is a joy. It does become a little melodramatic towards the end, and there are some painfully over the top fiery screams at the end, but all in all I have a huge love for this film.Recommended. 8/10

This is great fun. With Rathbone as the most visible of actors, it enlists a bevy of character actors from the time. In an old house, a woman who keeps cats is dying (or so everyone thinks). All the usual vultures are hovering around, waiting to get their hands on her fortune. When she suddenly takes a turn for the better, someone decides to take matters into his/her hands. Now we have a murderer on the premises and the house and its contents become a big part of the plot. Of course, each character's possible participation in the murder is weighed. Accusations abound as we are led on a merry chase. This is a cut above the low budget whodunnits that populated the screen in those days.

1941's "The Black Cat," not to be confused with Bela Lugosi's 1934 classic, is merely another 'Old Dark House' murder-mystery in a comic vein, in the wake of 1939's "The Cat and the Canary." The unfunny comedy relief is supplied by Hugh Herbert, while the remainder of the stalwart cast maintain interest throughout, despite a severely dragging middle in which virtually nothing of interest happens, one red herring topping another. The young Broderick Crawford is certainly likable, and pairs nicely with lovely Anne Gwynne, but top-billed Basil Rathbone is reduced to playing a weasely scoundrel, fooling around with beautiful Claire Dodd behind the back of desperate wife Gladys Cooper, to the annoyance of her devoted stepson (Alan Ladd). Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) has been at death's door for some time, but makes certain that her many cats will be taken care of, along with longtime housekeeper Abigail Doone (Gale Sondergaard) and caretaker Eduardo Vedos (Bela Lugosi); when she gets stabbed to death with a long hatpin, hardly anyone bats an eye. One of the nicer aspects of the film is that the titular black cat actually becomes the hero during the admittedly thrilling climax, first alerting Crawford to his girl's danger, then causing the killer's demise. Claire Dodd was enjoying a resurgence at Universal ("In the Navy," "The Mad Doctor of Market Street"), where she had previously starred in 1934's "Secret of the Château," while the relatively unknown Alan Ladd remained a year away from stardom in "This Gun for Hire." Lugosi is genuinely amusing but sadly wasted, happily hamming it up in numerous gag photos on set; Gale Sondergaard, the one cast member from "The Cat and the Canary," remains stuck in dour mode, the still attractive actress amply filling out her uniform. No classic but entertaining, "The Black Cat" appeared four times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater: Jan 4 1975 (following 1945's "A Game of Death"), Aug 28 1976 (following 1960's "Dr. Blood's Coffin"), July 23 1977 (following Al Adamson's "Man with the Synthetic Brain"), and June 11 1983 (solo). The 1934 "Black Cat" had been a 5 time broadcast before this 1941 title debuted, totaling 8 overall.