Tonight on MeTV-it’s a movie from which a whole genre of film got its name- a creepy tale of unexpected visitors forced to spend a stormy night as unwelcome guests of a weird family in their rundown mansion- complete with a sinister servant and a mystery hidden on the top floor- with far more danger than just the weather! We are reserving a place for you in “The Old Dark House”!
You might recall that we have previously shown the 1963 version of this movie- a William Castle/Hammer collaboration starring comedian Tom Poston that was fairly comedic. However, this original version, from 1932, featuring the great Boris Karloff, has less humor and a far more chilling atmosphere!
Our story begins out on the road in the Welsh countryside during a violent thunderstorm, as Philip and Margaret Waverton and their wisecracking pal Roger Penderel drive along a road that appears to be getting flooded by the rain. Plagued by deep puddles and fallen trees, they finally admit they are lost- and are lucky enough to see an old mansion where they might stop to regain their bearings. After a frightening encounter with a hulking mute butler, they are admitted in, where they meet Horace Femm, an eccentric old fellow, and his even more eccentric sister Rebecca, who would rather the visitors not stay around. However, with the storm only getting worse, she allows them to shelter in the house- while constantly complaining about them! They are warned that the mute butler, Morgan, has a tendency to drink- and become very violent.
Rebecca fills Margaret in on the family history- claiming her ancestors were godless and sinful- and actually accuses poor Margaret of being the same. She warns that her 102 year old father still resides in the mansion.
With this less than cheery atmosphere, they all sit down to dinner- which is interrupted by a couple more visitors- Sir William Porterhouse and his chorus girl companion Gladys Ducane. These two new additions, boisterous and a little silly, join the dinner party (listen for the line “Have a potato”, which this film is known for!) They all adjourn to sit by the fireplace, where more stories are told- and Penderel and Gladys decide to sneak out to his car for a nip of some alcohol he has there!
Meanwhile, the storm causes the power to go out, and Philip is asked to go upstairs and fetch an oil lamp- yet Horace seems deathly afraid to accompany him- maybe because there is a locked room up there, and another from which a voice can be heard. While Margaret is alone downstairs, the now drunk Morgan stumbles in, with evil intent!
Meanwhile, Gladys, out drinking by the car with Penderel, reveals that she and Porterhouse are only platonic friends- and it looks like Penderel and the chorus girl are becoming a couple! Inside, secrets are revealed-courtesy of the aged father Sir Roderick Femm- and new dangers, as well as old ones like Morgan, provide life-threatening horrors to the hapless visitors!
This film, directed by James Whale, is where the genre of film known as an “old dark house” story indeed got that name- and you can see the similarities that following movies in that vein had. It was considered a lost film, having had the rights to the novel it is based on lost by Universal, which forced them to remove it from distribution- but we’ll tell how the film was restored, as well as running down the amazing cast, including Karloff, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton, Melvin Douglas and Ernest Thesiger- the memorable Dr. Pretorious of “Bride of Frankenstein”. We will also reveal a secret about the cast member playing the ancient Sir Roderick- and ask that our blog commenters do NOT reveal the secret! We’ll also invite you to a new, very specialized restaurant, and get visits from a questionable real estate agent you may have seen on MeTV and a vintage Easter guest. We’ll present a new song and a look at the last Flashback Weekend’s festivities.
“The Old Dark House” will open its doors via the MeTV airwaves tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. You are invited to join the multitudes live-Tweeting during the show on Twitter- just use the hashtag #svengoolie. Our Chicago area viewers get to meet up one more time with “Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy” at 11 am on CW26.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the C2E2 comics and entertainment convention last weekend- again, a great turnout and a lot of wonderful Sven fans- including some celebrities! We’ll show you a sampling down the line on future shows.
Tonight, we invite you to spend part of the easter weekend with some bad eggs- the freaky family in “The Old Dark House”!
