The Black Cat is 'suggested by the story by Edgar Allen Poe', which is another way of saying that it has almost nothing to do with Poe's oft-told tale of the macabre. This film is, in fact, yet another 'old dark house' murder mystery, in which the greedy relatives of a cat-crazy old woman gather in an spooky mansion on a stormy night waiting for her to drop dead. However, instead of dying naturally, the old dear is killed with a knitting needle, someone turning to murder to get their hands on the money.
This could have been a thoroughly enjoyable thriller -- it certainly has some great names in the cast, including Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Alan Ladd and the beautiful Anne Gwynne -- but like so many horror films of the era, it is ruined by some terrible comedy, Hugh Herbert as clumsy antiques dealer Mr. Penny being the main culprit. He's in far too many scenes and his signature 'woo-hoo' laugh is enough to make one wish they could reach into the screen and shake the man firmly by the throat. Broderick Crawford as realtor Gil Smith handles his comedic role better -- one comic relief should have been more than enough.
While there's some fun to be had with all of the expected genre tropes -- the raging storm, the creepy housekeeper (Gale Sondergaard), the shifty cat-wrangler (Lugosi), the secret passageways etc. -- The Black Cat would have been so much more entertaining without all of the 'woo-hoos'.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for the line "He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes", spoken about Rathbone's character.
This could have been a thoroughly enjoyable thriller -- it certainly has some great names in the cast, including Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Alan Ladd and the beautiful Anne Gwynne -- but like so many horror films of the era, it is ruined by some terrible comedy, Hugh Herbert as clumsy antiques dealer Mr. Penny being the main culprit. He's in far too many scenes and his signature 'woo-hoo' laugh is enough to make one wish they could reach into the screen and shake the man firmly by the throat. Broderick Crawford as realtor Gil Smith handles his comedic role better -- one comic relief should have been more than enough.
While there's some fun to be had with all of the expected genre tropes -- the raging storm, the creepy housekeeper (Gale Sondergaard), the shifty cat-wrangler (Lugosi), the secret passageways etc. -- The Black Cat would have been so much more entertaining without all of the 'woo-hoos'.
4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for the line "He thinks he's Sherlock Holmes", spoken about Rathbone's character.