Bluebeard (1944)

Too much of everything

Fresh and Exciting

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Paris ,France , a tormented painter and puppeteer called Gaston Morrell (one of John Carradine's best vehicles) has a psychopatic urge to strangle gorgeous women . As he contacts Parisian women through his paintings posing as models he seduces and eventually kills them in order to carry out his dark purports . Among those getting the ending curtain call from "bluebeard" (is a type of serial killer ; specifically, it is a man who murders his wives or lovers , this type is named after the fictional "Bluebeard") are Francine Lutien , Lucille Lutien and Renee Claremont . This chiller is based on lady killer Henry-Denise Landru who seduced and murdered several women . The flick realized Noir style packs thrills , chills , drama , suspense and a lot of murders . Good acting by John Carradine as an artist hires portrait models, and after he finishes their portraits, he strangles them . It features John Carradine's own favorite performance . Furthermore , there appears Jean Parker as Lucille Lutien and Nils Asther and Inspector Jacques . And film debut of actress Sonia Sorel -Mrs. John Carradine- , who went on to do several more titles for director Edgar G. Ulmer. The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely and usually badly edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duplicated from second- or third-generation or more copies of the film . Eugen Schüfftan was actually the director of photography but could not be credited on screen because he was not yet a member of the cinematographer's union . So he was credited as production designer, the job actually done by director Edgar G. Ulmer, while the camera operator Jockey Arthur Feindel was credited as director of photography . This Noir film was professionally directed by Edgar G Ulmer , being filmed in six days . Edgar was born on September 17, 1904 in Olmütz, Moravia, Czech Republic as Edgar George Ulmer. He was a director and writer, known for Satanás (1934), Detour (1945) and People on Sunday (1930) , Aníbal (1959) , The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) , Beyond the Time Barrier (1960) , among others . Other films dealing with this known character , Henry ¨Bluebeard¨ Landru , -who was really father of various children, disposed and married 11 wives and killed them in order to feed his little family , being subsequently beheaded- , are the followings : ¨Bluebeard¨ (1901) by George Melies ; ¨Monsieur Verdoux¨ (1947) with Charles Chaplin and Martha Ryer ; ¨Bluebeard's 10 honeymoon¨ by W.L. Wilder with George Sanders , Patricia Roc and Corinne Calvet ; ¨Bluebeard¨(1963) by Claude Chabrol with Charles Denner , Stephane Audran , Danielle Darrieux , Michele Morgan and Hildegarde Neff ; soporific remake titled ¨Bluebeard¨(1972) by Edward Dmytryck with Richard Burton, Joey Heatherton , Rachel Welch , Sybil Danning , Natahalie Delon , Virna Lisi ; and ¨¨Bluebeard¨(2009) by Catherine Breillat with Dominique Thomas and Lola Creton .

PRC thriller has a few things going for it. First, John Carradine in one of his rare starring roles. Carradine was proud of his performance and he should have been. He's excellent. Second, the radiant Jean Parker. She always had a sweet gentility about her. Such a beauty. Third, director Edward G. Ulmer, who deservedly has a cult following. He uses quite a few interesting angles and techniques, never letting his limited budget stop him from being creative. There's a great moody atmosphere to this film, due in large part to his use of shadow and music. There's also a good supporting cast, including Nils Asther as the inspector on Bluebeard's trail, Ludwig Stossel as the disreputable accomplice of Bluebeard, and the beautiful Teala Loring as the sister of Jean Parker's character. Speaking of sisters: Loring was the sister of actresses Lisa Gaye and Debra Paget. Talk about good genes!

Bluebeard is striking because the director Edward G. Ullmer, who directed countless films, some forgotten and some that popped out of their poverty-row shells to be classics (Detour the most prominent and probably best), is able to make it interesting on a pure cinematographic level. Bluebeard's DVD print isn't very clear, but what can be seen is the direction and ambiance of a classy but perfectly gloomy thriller, like a skilled apprentice of German expressionism tackling a typical subject. The Bluebeard of the title is played by John Carradine as a slimy but somehow charming killer of women- strangling them after inviting them in to paint their portraits or sketch them for his puppets and then dumping them in the river- who finds a woman who he wants to design the costumes for his show. But as things develop in the movie (a short one at 74 minutes, if not as short as Detour), things grow darker, and predictable.But for all that is dated and stilted with Bluebeard, from the lessor actresses and the music that intrudes rather than compliments the scenes, it has that style of direction and Carradine. Carradine is so good here that you can just watch it for him, and even turn down the volume to just have a good look at an actor who, as would later be seen by his offspring David and Keith, could do so much with his a glint of the eye, a gesture of subtlety and mannerisms that allow us in on this character rather than just a passive observer. It's not the be-all-end-all of Bluebeard movies (I've yet to see the 1970s Bluebeard so I can't yet compare), but it's a decent one, and features operatic puppets, which is an added bonus that is only half as silly as you'd expect.

Edgar G. Ulmer directs a very nice piece of Film-Noir starring John Carradine as a serial killer. Gaston(Carradine)is known as the puppet man that puts together puppet shows in the park. What is less known is the fact that he paints portraits of beautiful woman before his compulsive perversion takes over...he strangles the women to death and dumps them in the river. When he meets Lucille(Jean Parker), he fights his urges and asks her to make clothes for his puppets. When she finds out Gaston's horrible secret, she vows to help the local authorities bring him to justice.Carradine is flawless as the menacing artist. And Parker is ravishing as she is talented. Ulmer creates a smooth 19th century Parisian atmosphere to showcase this crime drama. Other strong players: Nis Asther, George Pembroke, Carrie Devan, Teala Loring and Sonia Sorel.