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Columbia Pictures

Produced by Harry Cohn. Directed by Roy William Neill. Screenplay by Henry Myers, from the writings of Arthur Strawn. Photography by Allen G. Siegler. Music by Louis Silvers and R.H. Bassett. Edited by Richard Cahoon. Art Direction by Stephen Goosson. Costumes by Murray Mayer. Special Photographic Effects by Jack Cosgrove. 67 min.
Cast: Boris Karloff (Gregor/Anton), Marian Marsh (Thea), Robert Allen (Lieutenant Lussan), Thurston Hall (Colonel Hassel), Katherine DeMille (Mashka), John Buckler (Benn), Henry Kolker (Baron de Berghman), Colin Tapley (Lieutenant Hassel), Torben Meyer (Peter), John Bleifer (Franz), Egon Brecher (Karl), Edward Van Sloan (Doctor), Frederick Vogeding (Josef), John George (Extra).
The horror film genre dates as far back as the earliest days of the cinema with Thomas Edison’s one reel version of “Frankenstein” in 1910. Although never as popular as it should have been, the genre seemed to suffer the most, due to its lack of sound and original music to heighten the mood. Of course, there were successful attempts at horror, with films like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1920) with John Barrymore, “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) with Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin, and “Sparrows” (1926) starring Mary Pickford. It wasn’t until 1931 when Universal Pictures released what were to become two of the greatest and most memorable horror films of all time: “Dracula” and “Frankenstein”that horror came into its own.
These two films made the names Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff household names, with many more similar roles to follow for the rest of their lives.
Karloff, as he was often billed following his initial success, had worked on stage with moderate success, which led him to Hollywood to do mostly bits and minor roles in a number of silent shorts and features. With the coming of the talkies, he found that his career was gaining momentum, due to his beautifully trained speaking voice, which, even though it possessed a slight lisp, didn’t hamper his superb diction. Some of his early supporting roles are well worth mentioning, since they are definite proof that Karloff could have been a major supporting star in his own right, had it not been for his being typecast in horror films. Movies like “The Criminal Code”, “The Yellow Ticket”, “Smart Money”, “Five Star Final” (all 1931) and “Scarface” (made in 1931 but released a year later due to censorship problems) display his incredible versatility.
By 1936, Karloff, who was enjoying incredible success, after making such great films as “Frankenstein” (1931), “The Mummy” (1932), and “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935), stated that his favorite film thus far was a little known Columbia programmer entitled THE BLACK ROOM. In it, Karloff portrays identical twins, one good and one evil. His portrayal here is so convincing, in fact, that the viewer has to remind himself that one person is indeed portraying both roles! After the evil twin disposes of his interfering sibling, he attempts to masquerade as him, which gives his performance the added dimension of tackling yet another personality!
Stylistically speaking, THE BLACK ROOM looks just as polished as one of James Whale’s horror productions over at Universal with it’s Gothic settings, secret rooms, torture chambers and forbidden family curses! Al Siegler’s fine camerawork makes the production look even better than it really is, trying to conceal some of the cheapness of the sets. The superb musical score, by Louis Silvers, is first rate and is put to excellent use, especially in the exciting climatic chase in the last reel. Apparently, this score must have been a particular favorite among B-film producers, because Monogram Pictures used it many times in their low budget productions, particularly in “Spooks Run Wild” (1941), which pitted Bela Lugosi against the East Side Kids!
Director Roy William Neill was no newcomer to the B picture cycle. His film credits included all of Universal’s Sherlock Holmes films (except the first one), which featured Basil Rathbone as the super sleuth and Nigel Bruce as the befuddled Dr. Watson. Other credits include “Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman”, “The Scarlet Claw” (both 1943) and “The House of Fear” (1945). His career ended abruptly when he died the following year.
The Hays Office (or censorship board) did object to certain scenes in THE BLACK ROOM, such as a sequence, which shows the evil brother Gregor torturing Katherine DeMille before he eventually kills her.
The scene had to be re-filmed to placate Joseph Breen, who was head of the production code so the final cut has her being disposed of off camera! Publicity stills from the deleted scene do exist, however, and one of them appears in William K. Everson’s excellent study of the horror genre “Classics of the Horror Film.”
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