The Raven (1935)

In the 1930s, Universal Studios was primarily known for its monster movies; the box office successes of Dracula and Frankenstein would kick start a new era of horror movies that lasted until 1936. Universal’s monster movies have left such an indelible mark on pop culture that it’s easy to over look that other horror movies the studio produced in the era; most notably the three movies based off the works of Edgar Allan Poe (The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Black Cat, and The Raven) - with Bela Lugosi appearing in each one.  The three movies may not be up to par with the likes of Bride of Frankenstein, but they are fairly enjoyable and feature some of Lugosi’s best work.  In fact, The Raven may feature my favorite Bela Lugosi performance of all time.  It is far better showcase for Lugosi’s acting abilities than his most famous role, Count Dracula. If you have read the blog before, then you know that I am not a big fan of the 1931 Dracula.  It has its share of brilliant moments but, for the most part, it is a fairly dull movie. While Lugosi is genuinely creepy as Dracula, his performance is fairy one dimensional – though, I blame this more on script, which gives Bela very little to work with. 

In The Raven, Lugosi stars as the world famous surgeon, Dr. Vollin, who has a fairly eccentric hobby – he builds the torture devices that appear in the works of Edgar Allan Poe.  Vollin always seems to Edgar Allan Poe on brain, regardless of the situation.  When a young ballerina, Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware), is injured in a car accident, Dr. Vollin is asked to perform a surgery on her (the movie emphasizes that he is only man qualified for this job).   After the surgery is a success, Vollin and Jean form a bond, and the doctor becomes fairly smitten with the much younger woman – much to the chagrin of her father.  After Judge Thatcher makes his objections known, and orders the doctor to stay away from his daughter, Vollin completely loses his mind and, with the help of a disfigured convict (Boris Karloff), he plots his revenge.

 There are a few interesting touches to The Raven that separate it from most horror movies from that era:

1.       It is heavily implied that, had it not been for the meddling of her father, Dr. Vollin and Jean would have ended up together.  While Dr. Vollin does have his eccentricities, he is also able to turn on the charm when the situation calls for it and it’s not too surprising that Jean would be attracted to his personality.  When Jean, in a show of gratitude, does a dance interpretation of “The Raven” on the stage, Dr. Vollin is genuinely moved by the gesture.  It’s also clear that Jean is one of the few souls that Dr. Vollin can actually open up to; there is a sense that she could have brought some normality to his life, but, unfortunately, fate dealt Dr. Vollin a rotten hand. After Judge Thatcher confronts Dr. Vollin, you can feel his entire world come crashing down.  He is a broken man.  That doesn’t justify attempted murder on his part, but it’s hard not to feel some sympathy towards him.  Lugosi takes what could have been a one dimensional character and makes him a tragic figure – at the end of the day he only wanted to be loved.   

2.       The Creepy Assistant was a staple in 1930s horror movies; the most famous example is probably the hunchbacked Fritz in James Whale’s Frankenstein.  These characters were either deformed and/or mute, and generally lacked any sort of empathy – they obeyed their masters without question.  Naturally, The Raven takes this trope and turns it on its head by making the creepy assistant, Edmond Bateman, the most sympathetic character in the movie.  Bateman is an escaped convict and wants to disguise his identity by having Dr. Vollin perform plastic surgery on his face. Vollin does perform the surgery, but he completely disfigures Bateman’s face.  Vollin promises to operate on it again, but only if Bateman helps him with his revenge.  Bateman reluctantly agrees.  While Karloff does play second fiddle to Lugosi in this movie, he does manage to give Bateman a spark of humanity (even the bad make up job can’t hide this fact).  Bateman, despite his criminal past, has a moral conscience but is stuck between a rock and a hard place – he wants to help Jean but he also wants his face restored back to normal.  He does attempt to warn Jean about Vollin but she either won’t listened him (out of fear), or he gets thwarted by Dr. Vollin. 

3.       The heroine in 1930s horror movies was usually a naïve innocent, or a fairly good natured sort who made the best out of a bad situation.  Therefore, it is actually surprising just how callous Jean is towards Dr. Vollin and Edmond Bateman.  After Judge Thatcher orders Dr. Vollin to stay away from his daughter, Jean doesn’t put up any resistance and immediately runs into the arms of Dr. Jerry Holden, who is a complete dullard (which is on par for this type of movie). It should also be noted that actress Irene Ware has much better screen chemistry with Lugosi than she does with Lester Matthews; which leads one to believe that she is only with Holden to please her father.  Jean completely discards Vollin and doesn’t stop to think how her actions might affect him. When Dr. Vollin invites her to his house for the weekend (along with a few other guests) she takes Jerry with her and even jokes about how Vollin is “in love with her.”  It doesn’t even occur to her to reject Vollin’s invitation; which would make more sense given the circumstance.  Judge Thatcher speaks for the audience when he wonders why Jean would accept the invite. The answer being: If she didn’t there wouldn’t be a movie.  When she first lays eyes on Bateman, she lets out a scream (despite being surrounded by other guests).  It is interesting to see this type of insensitive behavior from a 1930s heroine; though, I’m not sure if this was intentional. The filmmakers probably assumed we would side with Jean and, therefore, find all her reactions completely reasonable.  

The Raven moves at an incredibly fast pace. It is incredibly efficient in its storytelling and doesn’t waste a lot of time – the opening scene is Jean getting into a car accident, followed by Dr. Holden claiming that only Dr. Vollin can perform the necessary surgery.  It doesn’t bore you with needless subplots and there is no cringe inducing love scene between the two juvenile leads; instead it shines the spotlight on two its two legendary stars, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. 

Credits
Cast: Bela Lugosi (Dr. Vollin), Boris Karloff (Edmond Bateman), Irene Ware (Jean Thatcher), Lester Matthews (Dr. Jerry Holden), Samuel S. Hinds (Judge Thatcher), Spencer Charters (Col. Bertram Grant), Inez Courtney (Mary Burns), Ian Wolfe (Geoffrey ‘Pinky’), Maidel Turner( Harriet).

Director:  Lew Landers
Writer: David Boehm (based off the poem by Edgar Allan Poe).  
Running Time:  61 min