SCARED TO DEATH (1947)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Dracula faced off against Professor Moriarty? Well, wonder no more! Coz now you can find out by watching the following 65 minute movie made in 1947. It was Directed by: Christy Cabanne; and Starred: Bela Lugosi, George Zucco, Nat Pendleton, with Molly Lamont.


Scared to Death

THE STORY:

Now some people hire magician's and their pet dwarfs to perform at functions or costume party's. Where as other people hire them so they can be educated in their chosen craft. But do you know what your wife Laura (Molly Lamont) has just told me, Ward (Roland Varno)? In no uncertain terms she said that you and your papa, the prestigious Doctor Van Ee (George Zucco), believe she's been playing around behind your back. And that is why you've hired a magician called Leonide (Bela Lugosi) plus his pet dwarf to snuff out her lights.

So come on, man. Own up. And please, don't give me that cockamamie story about finding an old photograph of her in a French lounge act! I mean, that's as stupid as your father hiring that bubbling-oaf Bill (Nat Pendleton) to solve a crime which hasn't been committed yet!

Oh! So some of this tale is partly true, is it, Ward? Including that part where Laura suddenly discovered a severed head sent to her bedroom? My God! Wouldn't that make for a great newspaper headline!

Then again, that's most probably why what next transpires tugs on my shoulder when my gal-pal Lilybeth (Gladys Blake) says to me, 'Hey, Terry (Douglas Fowley)! You never guess who just kicked the bucket?'. As a journalist won't stop yapping - a bumbling oaf keeps on napping - a magician has bad breath - and at the end of the day, hey, look who's just been scared to death!

THE REVIEW:

Now when I first clapped my eyes on 'Scared To Death', I was hoping I would see one of those great timely tales about a mad scientist killing someone who did him wrong in the past. But no. This isn't what I got at all. What I got instead folks, was a rather mumbled story-line that was very nice visually, yet lacked that depth of plot to actually make me sit down and enjoy it.

You see, essentially this is the type of film where its conceptual premise is fairly straight forward to follow -- A woman thinks her husband and her father-in-law are trying to kill her for her past sins. However, the execution of this premise is lavished with a number of character driven obstacles that seem to hinder its overall flow.

For instance, the style of this piece is very light and cartoon-like upon the screen, mired greatly by a hero -- as played by Douglas Fowley -- who turns up unannounced half way through it, and speaks in that very irritating fast paced-manner as if someone is holding a gun to his head!

What's more, there was also the superfluous inclusion of a dwarf character -- who never seemed to do anything except scowl or crawl -- plus a bumbling ex-cop character that was hired to do something that wasn't even needed.

Well, not until the very end of this film, anyway.  

In fact, the only aspect about this adventure I can applaud was its novelistic approach of unravelling itself. Now at the very start of this film we are presented with a dead person lying on a mortician's slab. And then throughout select points of the narrative this person comments on the nuptials in that very back and forth way you normally expect with this type of approach. So to me, personally speaking, this nuance actually gave this film a suspenseful tone that aided it's telling, even though it was still hindered by those cartoon-ish factors I mentioned previously. 

Plus, to a certain degree, I have to say that both Bela Lugosi and George Zucco added some much needed suspenseful weight to these proceedings as well. As a matter a fact, these two fine actors worked so well together on screen, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more if they had some more screen time together.

Well, let's face it. Who would you rather see in a timely tale of murder and intrigue? Two classic mastermind's of yesteryear? Or a bunch of irritating clowns that speak too much, fall over too quickly, and basically managed to transform this movie into what it is today.

Forgotten.

Anyway. By now I'm sure you got the basic gist of what I thought about this so-so film. So I tell you what. How about we all now sit back, relax, and check out the following filmic facts? (1) 'Golden Gate Films' first released this $135 thousand dollar production in America on the 1st of February, 1947. (2) Loosely translated, this project was entitled 'Dead Fear' in Brazil; 'Deadly Terror' in Hungary; and 'The Killing Would' in the Netherlands. (3) While I'm on the subject of names, during pre-production the powers that be decided to give this flick two working titles: 'Accent on Horror' and 'The Autopsy'. (4) The majority of this movie was shot at Hollywood's 'Yorke-Metro Studios', Gordon Street, situated within the Californian state of Los Angeles. (5) One of the taglines used to promote this picture, was, 'He reached out for revenge, even after death'. (6) Lionel Atwill was originally cast into the role of Doctor Van Ee, but was replaced by George Zucco when he tragically passed away before production. By the way: Both actors played Professor Moriarty in the Basil Rathbone series of Sherlock Holmes films. (7) This was the first and only time Bela Lugosi starred in a full length feature shot entirely in color. (8) After this adventure hid under the blankets, Bela Lugosi starred in the horror-comedy, 'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'; George Zucco starred in the drama, 'The Imperfect Lady'; and Nat Pendleton starred in the family-comedy, 'Buck Privates Come Home'.

 

Overall I'd say 'Scared To Death' was a pretty nice looking film with an intriguing premise behind it, yet was sorely let down with a cartoon-ish vibe and a cast of characters which were a mixed bag to say the least.

What a shame. What a bloody shame. Nuff said.

THE RATING: C+