The Raven

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

6.9K

YOUR RATING

Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lester Matthews, and Irene Ware in The Raven (1935)

Dr. Vollin is a brilliant but unstable surgeon with a morbid obsession for instruments of torture. He saves the life of Jean Thatcher, a beautiful young socialite injured in an automobile accident and becomes increasingly attracted to her.

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Crime Horror

A brilliant surgeon with a morbid obsession for instruments of torture grows dangerously obsessed with a young socialite whose life he's saved.A brilliant surgeon with a morbid obsession for instruments of torture grows dangerously obsessed with a young socialite whose life he's saved.A brilliant surgeon with a morbid obsession for instruments of torture grows dangerously obsessed with a young socialite whose life he's saved.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

6.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Dr. Richard Vollin
(as Lugosi, Bela Lugosi)

Lester Matthews

Dr. Jerry Halden (Credits)…

Irene Ware

Jean Thatcher

Samuel S. Hinds

Judge Thatcher

Spencer Charters

Geoffrey (Credits)…

Inez Courtney

Mary Burns

Ian Wolfe

Col. Bertram Grant (Credits)…

Maidel Turner

Harriet

Anne Darling

Autograph Hound
(scenes deleted)

June Gittelson

Autograph Hound
(scenes deleted)

Joe Haworth

Drug Clerk
(scenes deleted)

Mary Wallace

Autograph Hound
(scenes deleted)

Raine Bennett

Actor reading 'The Raven'
(uncredited)

Al Ferguson

The Crook
(uncredited)

Nina Golden

Dancer
(uncredited)

Jonathan Hale

Bedside Dr. at Jerry's Right
(uncredited)

Arthur Hoyt

Chapman - Buyer of Poe Memorabilia
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
According to Greg Mank's book "Karloff and Lugosi, Karloff received $10,000 for his work, Lugosi $5000, Irene Ware $625, Lester Matthews $1153.76, and Samuel S. Hinds $1333.35.

Goofs
After Dr. Vollin regales his house guests on the subject of Edgar Allan Poe, all rise to retire. Jean Thatcher stops, returns to her former place on the couch, and has to free her gown from the cushion. This action causes her to be the last guest to leave the room, allowing her to have a private moment with Bateman. In their subsequent two-shot, she apologizes to him for having been startled earlier when he'd entered the room where she was fixing her hair.

Quotes
Dr. Richard Vollin: Your monstrous ugliness breeds monstrous hatred. Good! I can use your hate.

Crazy credits
The names of Spencer Charters and Ian Wolfe were accidentally reversed in the credits.

Connections
Featured in House of Horror: The Raven 1935 (1958)

Soundtracks
Music
(uncredited)
from The Black Cat (1934)
Original Music and Classical Music Arrangements by Heinz Roemheld
Played as background music

User reviews108

Review

Featured review

Lugosi is Incredible!

Karloff gets the top billing in this second feature pairing both horror stars, but it is Bela Lugosi all the way who steals each and every scene he is in. Lugosi is incredible in his over-the-top performance of a morbid, obsessed doctor and Poe aficionado. Each line he utters with flair and gusto, each movement an outrageous, maniacal gesture. He is truly a ham, and an enjoyable one at that. Karloff is quite good as a killer, and the only compassionate character in the story. He is disfigured by Lugosi, so he will kill for the mad doctor. One of the best scenes is Lugosi leaving his patient to see his handiwork. Karloff shoots through several mirrors after realizing the atrocities committed on him, and from a door in the roof of the room.....Lugosi peers through and laughs...laughs with coldness, cruelty, and hysteria. The rest of the film is devoted to Lugosi utilizing his Poe recreations of torture...and I must confess as an earlier reviewer noted that you really feel little sympathy for the other characters involved...and at one point I wanted the pendulum to win. You must see this film as it is the second best of the Karloff/Lugosi pairings...but it really is a Lugosi film.