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Film: The Black Room
Year: 1935
Director: Roy William Neill
Writer: Arthur Strawn and Henry Myers
Starring: Boris Karloff, Marian Marsh and Robert Allen
Review:
This was a film that I sought out years ago. My guess would be that I picked up this double feature DVD featuring Boris Karloff. The title did stick with me and I remembered part of the review ahead of seeing this for this second watch. It was finally checked out again as part of my Voyage through the FiVes.
Synopsis: ignoring an ancient prophecy, evil brother Gregor (Karloff) seeks to maintain his feudal power on his Tyrolean estate.
Now I’ll say here that I doctored up the synopsis as it did give a fairly major spoiler. Where we start though is with a woman giving birth. She is the baroness and her husband is the Baron de Berghman (Henry Kolker). He is upset when he learns that she had twins. There is a prophecy for his family, that it began with twins with the younger one being jealous of his older brother. They are Brand and Wolfran. Wolfran killed the older of the twins for the title, power and lands. The prophecy states that twins will mark the end of the family. The baron’s best friend is Paul Hassel (Colin Tapley). He scoffs at this superstitious notion. The prophecy also states that the killing of their ancestors was done in the black room, which is where they will end. It is Paul’s idea to seal the room and the baron agrees.
We then see through the years where the baroness dies and then the baron. We then see the elder brother, Baron Gregor de Berghman, who is waiting for his younger brother Anton to arrive from Budapest. The townspeople aren’t thrilled to see Anton arrive, as we soon learn that Gregor is ruthless and not well liked. There is an assassination attempt on Anton during his journey to the estate. He learns more about this during the carriage ride with Col. Hassle (now Thurston Hall), who was his father’s best friend.
Inside, Anton seeks out his brother. He’s been away for years, leaving due to the stress of the prophecy. He doesn’t have the ambition to take over and that fear wore on Gregor. They are happy to be reunited. Something I’ll include here is that Anton’s right arm was paralyzed at birth. It is here that Gregor points out why he wanted Anton to return. There is controversy surrounding him and he’s accused of abducting women. He wants to renounce his title and travel like Anton has been. They go about signing the documents to finalize this new arrangement.
That night they go over to Col. Hassle’s estate. It is here we meet his niece, Thea (Marian Marsh). She is being courted by Lt. Albert Lussan (Robert Allen). He doesn’t like how Gregor looks at her. Neither does Thea. There is also a servant named Mashka (Katherine DeMille). Gregor has her come to the manor late at night.
Mashka visits later on this evening and it ends with Gregor killing her for threatening to reveal their arrangement. He isn’t great about hiding evidence. We also learn there is a secret passage into the black room. The angry townspeople come to the estate and it is here he reveals that he’s leaving, giving his title and lands to Anton. He has another plan though, one to clear his name for the time being. It involves him impersonating his brother though.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I’ll then start is that I love the concept behind this film. I’m not entirely sure if this started out as a story elsewhere and then adapted. I do know that there is a credit to the original story for Arthur Strawn. He also was a co-writer of the screenplay. Regardless, I love that we’re dealing with self-fulfilling prophecies, the issues that arise from nobility and titles as well as the dangers of a cruel leader. It is all used here in a tight little story.
Where I’ll then delve deeper would be into the main characters of Gregor and Anton. I love that they allowed Karloff to play both roles. That does make sense since they’re twins. Plus, it showcases how good of an actor he is. What is interesting is that I love the subtle approach to introducing how villainous the Gregor character is. Anton gets shot at. He’s concerned for his brother and wants to help alleviate what is happening. It seems like he can’t fathom that his brother is a monster. I do love the plot that Gregor has come up with to ‘clear’ himself as well. It fits that character since you don’t believe he’s willing to give up his power since he truly is a tyrant.
Shifting then to the idea of prophecies. The baron is worried about it. What I love about prophecies is that if you let them stress you, they come true. There is also the idea that as humans we look at patterns. When things that are truly unrelated happen, we can correlate them together. What is great here is that Anton has no desire for the prophecy to come true. It is interesting that Gregor is doing things that are making it come true, even if he doesn’t realize it. Part of that is finding this secret entrance in that room. I do love that it is called the black room due to having onyx walls. It is also full of torture devices, which is interesting. This is in the past though and a large manor, so not completely shocked there.
I think then I’ll slightly shift to discuss the rest of the acting performances. That will also allow me to discuss how they fit into the story. Thea is beautiful and is set to inherit Col. Hassel’s lands. She is his niece but her parents passed away. They don’t give much to Marsh character-wise outside of being good looking. She has drawn the attention of Gregor and this upsets her suitor in Albert. Allen is fine to help build tension. He’s in Gregor’s way as I’ve said. He’s also a hothead so it allows things to get pinned on him. That also factors in with his superior in Col. Hassel. DeMillie, Kolker, Tapley and the rest of the cast help round this out for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. The cinematography and framing capture the era there along with the costumes. No issues there. This is still early into the history of cinema so it is limited on what they could do. There isn't much in the way of effects. It also is more about the story and the performances though. Other than that, the soundtrack fit what was needed without necessarily standing out.
In conclusion, I rather enjoyed this rewatch. The best part here is Karloff. He has two vastly different characters he’s playing. He plays both well. It is also interesting when the brothers are talking to each other. I’d say that there is a simple story. I love the gothic feel as well as incorporating the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy. This is made well enough, the biggest issues there might just be the limitations of the era. If you like movies from this era, I’d recommend it. It is a bit of a lesser talked about gem.
My Rating: 8 out of 10