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    The Poetic Horror Films of Val Lewton

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    rodneyhee

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    y (DIRITUAL TEDDOD eet ee Ly YBiad Linaweaver He Made ‘of Wonder often found in popular art is @ recognized that the Lewton productions Horror fora share of the nostalgia market...but then as exploitation product. The Lewton 7 ‘One thing is for certain: many of Rather than repeat everyone Movies fisecer Metree Sueiue hia cuenNetatl ebe ctr oo for ete ay aa crt a aed aoa ae no a People dd a ses ShcA os bleed a. Ki BER Waa dc Sega WE Ka Be ‘There is also an audience that enjoys learned about being a creative producer Who Ewcatvimaenatrest Gsomt selene tates Don't if films went all one way orthe other, with often realized if you come at something Like For those who want (0 try their principle of WONDER’ favorite writer, G. H ‘everything right, The timing was perfect. at work here than taking a title like J Walked orror The lighting, was bigh art. The Wits Zombi and making Jone Eye characterizations always rang true. The the West Indies, while leaving it up to the Movies... aicock sun fe Manue® penal sateen sare thing, 1 Walked With a Zombie sa bette sory than Jame Eyre My theory is that the Val Lewton films are not primarily about feat, o terror, or death, orany ofthe other nice words we use in place of horror. Hbelieve these films are uniguely 4 product of the World War ea, and that ther strongest theme is about what it means to be ‘alone, Noother body of films has sorouched the center of what it means to be deeply uahappy bout the loss ofa Loved fone, These pictures capture the saddest moments in American Consider that the fest in the series, Car People, was released in 1942; the last one, Bedlam, ia 1946, when the dust had yet 10 sete ‘over a tortured world, ‘Obsessive concer over personal death receives so much atention in our ‘vn craven era that we have forgotten that once ‘upon atime there was & generation more worried about losing loved one than the thought of individual extinetion, This is indeed real fear ‘SHE KNEW STRANGE, FIERCE PLEASURES THAT NO OTHER WOMAN COULD EVER FEEL! SIMONE SIMON KENT SMITH TOM CONWAY JANE RANDOLPH lad JACK HOLT but of a very different kind than is normally discussed in articles about horror movies, These Lewton pictures counted onthe Fact that their audience was made up of people who understood how hard itis o find someone to teulylove.and now the future promised a black pt of uncertainty Not one ofthe Lewton horror films had anything to do withthe war. They spoke to an emotional nced which was amplified or made immediate by the war, But which Hollywood was largely ignoring in the tidal wave of propaganda being churned out by the studios atthe time, In most of these “war cffon pictures personal concerns had no place (anattitude immortalized in Casablanca when Bogart tells Bergman thatthe love they feel 4+ Wonder foreach other doesn’t amount to ail of beans inthis world — and if you don't remember it that way, gentle reader, listen a litle more closely next ime). I the Val Lewion horror films, love counts for lot more than a hil of| beans. (Lewton' scone film that did deal directly with the war was nota horror picture. It will be discussed in due course), The personal realm cannot help but touch onthe transcendental. For 1940's movie ers with genuine rl fetertainment that took them away from the newsreels must have come as a welcome rele: faith, there was at For those without relig tthe power ofthat era's feelings about state almost equally alien to the con- emporary mood. When dealing with supernatural subjects, ‘great filmmaker ‘ould do things on an cemotional plane that no special effect can touch. This was because old time Hollywood banked on the lnk between faith andemation. Inher ‘words the important thing about a spook was that it could take away our loved ‘one...oF be your loved fone. Compared to that, who gave adamn bout a body count? ‘Of course, Theo: ry is empty without practice, The specific techniques that Lewton's film per fected are the reason ‘these films will never be forgotten. The most famous Lewton technique isthe “bus” ‘standard term for ‘now common bit of filmic indirection. In Car People, a woman is being stalked by a Iycanthrope. Iislate tight. Every sound is amplified. She walks faster. Sudd= enly we hear a hiss Everything has p pared us forthe attack ff panther, The last thing we expect isthe hydraulic sound of bus «doors opening! So a specific moment in Val Lewton’s very first horror picture is so ‘memorable that it becomes a part of the vocabulary of film. Influence begets influence. nothing suprising in the claim that Hiteheock 50 admired the shadows cast on a shower a There is curtain in Lewion's The Seventh Vier that these shadows reached out overtime to paint the shower curtains in Psycho an even deeper black. Film is the essential collaborative medium, Before Lewton or Hitchcock, there was Fritz Lang. Creative filmmakers from Orson Welles to Edgar G. Ulmer worked together in a 75-year effort to map out these shadowlands. ‘Before focusing on each of his fils, itmust be appreciated tac the achievement of Val Lewion lies in the manner in which be applied all the tricks of his trade to produce & ‘cumulative effect that was emotionally right At least, he never went wrong in a horror 1 think its also worth pointing out ‘tha these techniques operate independently of the moral sense. Although most films tht op {or the subtle approach tend to inhabit the moral world view advanced by WONDER, there are notable exceptions. The creative irector/producer team of Roman Polanski and William Castle used these techniques to great advantage in Rosemary's Baby —a picture not {generally on the recommended list for the faithful. In contrast, Lewton's brand of sobilety is left far behind in William Friedkin’ The Exorcist, a Grand Guignol pro-Christian splatter film! But having admitted these few ‘exceptions, Iam the frst io admit that the way ofthe shadow usually heter suits @ universe of gods and judgment. Today's vocabulary of icky details seems to be more a part of the ‘of the modemist word view Having advanced my theory of the Lewton Loneliness Theme, and how this i a the beat of spiritual terror, itseems only right to look for evidence of it in the films themselves, Car People is the most famous Lewton film, released in 1942, directed by Jacques Tourneus, The pitute made Simone Simon into a cult star, Years before Hammer used the phrase “French sex kiten.” Lewton wasin there pitching. He took this fascinating woman (who had lft Hitler's Europe) and did what grat films can always do — make the ‘Whereas the 1982 remake is about sex, the original is about Jonging. Nastassia Kinski (ho took the lead in the "82 version) is frankly a beter acess, but Simone was ideal at projecting aquit sense ‘of frustration. A very good aetoe, Kent Smith, hal arguably he best role of his career asthe + Keating in The most ofa limited talent, hero (some prefer him as Pe Fountainhead), ‘Along with Simone, another limited performer began a series of fine performances This was Tom Conway (brother of the more famous character player George Sanders) who is perhaps best known to movie bulls as “The Falcon.” His rather stiff sree persona was usally off puting but Val Lewton ‘made ideal use oft, casting Conway asa series of sophisticated men who have mastered the artof emotional repression. Ofcourse, normal human repression can hardly compare to what Irena (Simone’s character) must endure. Her ‘ese i such that when he passion s aroused, she becomes a panther that must kill her lover This has produced some slight strain in her martiage to Kent Smith, So when Conssay's lecherous psychiatrist releases her repress sexuality, the picture becomes a symphony of shadows, conducted by Conway's sword cane — but nothing ean save his ie These characters are alone and unhappy, except for the career woman played by Jane Randolph, Herroleistobring the Kent Smith character back tothe neal world ater Allin the mind? Psychiatrist Tom Conway tries to convince the mysterious rena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) that the ancient Serbian curse she fears is only imaginary in 1942's Cat People. Wonder *5 Evil & Eleganc from The Leopard Man (1943), his frustrating marriage in-name-only to a were-cat. Randolph has her work eut out for hee. In passing it shouldbe noted that though ‘materialistic explanations fo the film's weird events are continuously offered, by the fade ‘ut everyone has been forced to accept the reality ofthe supematural — a makeshift cross has power over the Iyeanthrope, along withthe words “Irena, leave us in peace!” spoken to at effect by Kent Sith.) Walked With a Zombie was released in 1943, alsodlrected by Jacques Tourneur. For my money, 1 Watked With a Zombie contains ‘the most powerful images in any ofthe Lewton films. The sequence where the nurse and the 6+ Wonder -zombifed wife walk toa voodoo ceremony is Leston visual poetry at is best. The shot of the zombie guardian (he tly impressive Darby Jones) standing like a statue in the twilight of the sugar cane elds asthe wind blows away our doubis, is my single favorite moment in these films Tom Conway is back and perfect in his part, withthe best dialogue of the piture, explaining othe nurse coming to work for him (Frances Dee) why the beauty of a Caribbean sea at night is deceiving, He makes sue that she understands how the light she sees inthe ‘ocean “takes its gleam from millions of tiny ead bodies. 1's the gtr of putrescence. For horror movies, Val Lewton's pictures are filed with extraordinarily beautiful images. This one is. ‘There’s no beauty here — only death and decay.” Naturally, se falls in fove with him right away. Naturally, the relationship is, doomed, This scene effectively sets the tone for what isto Follow Dee is soon faced with the cosmic implications of real zombies in the West Indies. ‘Conway's wife has been tuned into a zombie and now he must care for her. His alcoholic half-tother Wesley (ames Ellison) blames him, and we soon learn that Wesley had a romantic attachment for his brother's now= undead wife. A neat touch is tht asa nurse, Dee cannot help but koep track of Wesley's drinking because she can always tel just by Joking how much someone has poured of a Tiguid! Before moving on, it should be noted that Lewton's portrayal of blacks was the most, realistic and humane of the period, An example ‘isthe performance of Terest Haris asthe house servant Alma in Zombie, who has wonder Tines, such as when she awakens Dee i the ‘morning, gently pulling onthe nurse's toe and saying, “didn't want to frighten you out of your sleep, Miss, Tha's why I touched you farthest fom your hear.” ‘There are some admirers of Lewton who try o deny the supernatural aspects of 1 Walked With a Zombie, as if serious artistic film (which this obviously is) could aot possibly deal with the fantastic (that notoriously juvenile concern). These are the same folks who would insist on a naturalist explanation for The Tum of. the Serew. I believe the best answer to them is found in an article by Ronald V. Borst in that grand old fanzine PHOTON (#17). He writes, concerning, Conway's zombie wife: “Christine Gordon cannot be anything else but a zombie, as there isa scone shossng the hungan (Gino Maxcur) passing a sword ‘hough her body without effect and, atthe climax she dies juss the hungan stabs her effigy.” Later Borst says that Lewton “wants his audience to seek a logical explanation and gradually wears down their resistance to an acceptance of the supernatural...” The character Mrs, Rand (Edith Barrett) might have a few Words forthe erties. She represents science and Christianity and Voodoo. She believes in all of them on an island where CCristinity and paganism meet Likewise, there are critics who try t0 ‘muster a materialist explanation for Cat People, which is even more absurd! Irena Dubrovna either turns into great cat o ese everyone else inthe story i insane, especially the doctor ‘who dis from.,.what? Part ofthis confusion ‘may stem from the fact that the majority of Lewton's horror films really aren't about the supernatural; but his weatment of mood and psychology’ ever varies. So it is that if character in a later film believes in the supernatural in an instance where the ‘explanation is clearly naturalistic (ste of the ead, the emotional impact isthe same as in the films where there really are things that £0 ‘bump in the night. Spiritual terror is inside the head, a place where there is room for consideration of a larger universe than is offered by the contemporary slce-and-dice school. ‘The very next film is Tourneur's last {or Lewton, ad illstrates better than any other Lewton picture how what they did thenis beter than whatis normally done today. The Leopard Man, released in 1943, has not one drop ofthe supernatural; but it has several drops of on: sereen blood. It conttins the most vicious Xillings of any ofthe films, anal the vitims are young girls —one ssl kid inher early ‘wens who is violently killed by an escaped leopard, The human killer at work tens out to bea psychopath with sexual problems. I this sounds like a recipe for one of today’s slasher Films, the point is how a Lewton production treated this material to once again show us the inner landscape of the mind instead of wallowing in an exterior landscape of spilled entails ‘The first two films had original screenplays. The Leopard Man was based on a novel by Comell Woolrich, most famous in ‘movieland for Hitchcock's version of Rear Window. For lovers of the noir style in suspense fiction, Woolrich i seminal figure. ‘The perfect appreciation of this film was ‘writen by another seminal igure inthe related genre of dark urban fantasy, Harlan Ellison. Writing inthe 1966 issue of CINEMA, in his article 3Faces of Fear (reprinted in Over the Ege, Belmont Books), Ellison describes The Leopard Man's mast famous scene as follows: "Mommy, open the door the leopard is afler me! The mother's face assumes the ages-old expression of harassed parenthood. Hands on hips, she tur to the door, you're Scary Stories in the Dark: All of Lewton's films could be fireside ghost stories, lke those told by Grandmother in Curse of the Cat People (1943) alvays lying, telling fibs, making up stories, how many times have [told you lying will — ‘Mommy! Open the door! “You'll stay out there tll you Team to stop lying! — “Mommy! Mom— ‘Something gigantic hits the door with a crash, The door bows inward and dust from between the eracks sift into the room, “The mother'seyes grow huge, se stares atthe Wonder®7 door. A thick black stream, moving very slowly, seeps under the door. ‘Madness crawls up behind oureyes, the mother's eyes, and we sink into a pit of blind empuiness. ‘As Ellison makes clear, the bblood is | the ‘exclamation point at the end of a brilliantly wrought passage. The blood ‘sonly there because there sno other way to make the poiat. He goes on to say ‘how that image has stayed with him all his ie. Toel Siegel's book claims that Lewton and Tour- neur later disowned the film, but I hope this isnt true. They should have felt no more guilt for how this material can be mishandled than Alfred Hitchcock or ‘Robert Bloch should have felt for the progeny of Psycho. [No subject matter is immune from bad taste; and good taste ‘can transform anything into a meal fit fora gourmet. The emo- tionally repressed figure in The Leopard Man is played by James Bell, who was good as doctor and professor types for Lewion (he was the family physician in Walked With a Zombie: here he plays the curator of a museum). ‘The quiet ‘almost hands-off manner in which he admits hhow he killed two women, and made it look like the leopard’s doing is terrifying be the motives soodd. He'd originally intended to save the gil trapped in the cemetery, but her fear reached him in a way he'd never experienced before. Basically, he kills t0 experience human contact; to escape his Toneiness fora moment. ‘There are no supernatural forces at work here (unless one wishes to argue that all 8+ Wonder murderers are possessed). But the scene of ‘monks dressed in black hoods, marching in procession to do penance for centuries old murders as the boyfriend of one of the Curse of the Cat People: The spit of Irena hovers benevolently over the lov- ‘1s she terrorized in life in one of the oddest horror’ movies ever made. ‘murdered girls guns down her killer .man, if this doesn't touch the heat of spiritual terror: T don’t know what does! The Seventh Victim, also 10 1943, addresses spiritual concerns in an unambiguous manner. Directed by Mark Robson (who had been Levton's film editor ‘on Cat People) this was Hollywood's fest serious treatment of Satanism since Ulmer’ The Black Cat (1934) (and depending on how classic Karlol/Lu camp" one finds vehicle, the Lewton pietare might count as the first serious treatment, period.) This story doesn't actually seem 0 requite the existence ofthe supernatural; belief inthe devi even if heonly livesin our heats) is what matters hee. The theme of loneliness and alienation is s0 intense in The Seventh Viti that some Lewton fans Find this one a bit too much, Tt was @ ‘commercial failure. Nottoo surprising, I suppose, for film in which the pain of being alone is s0 temible that suicide ‘sa welcome option for more than one character. Joe! Siegel writes, “Lewton was aman haunted at times by his own demons, and The Seventh Victim allows free expression to this ‘morbidly romantic Side of his nature Kim Hunter plays an orphan ‘who Teavesajoyless school for young women t0 £0 10 Joyless New York in search of her sister, Jacqueline (Jean Brooks) who has fallen in with Satanists, There she ricets our old friend Tom — Conway, playing a psychiatrist again! He leads the younger sister tothe older. ‘The doctor has unable wo cure be Jacqueline of her desire for death. Itisonly when the diabotist, ‘who call themselves Palladists, insist on Jacqveline’s death for an infraction of their rules that she balks, She wants to be the one le. When we see the Palladists trying to force her to drink a glass of poisoned wine we cannot forget het rented room where we have seen that she keeps one chair and a hangman's noose These Satanists are bored socialites. Their most interesting member is one-armed ‘woman who has joined the devil's party because of the injury life has done her. In the ‘most frankly religious scene (often disparaged by fans) the Palladist are temporarily shamed by the reciting of the Lord's Prayer. The ‘moment is exquisite. Otherexquisite moments abound; a procession of forlorn faces atthe Missing Persons Bureau, Hugh Beaumont’ failed poet, Jacqueline being chased at night, land the really surprising death of a private investigator. ‘One panicular exchange of dialogue ‘sums up this most personal of Leon's films, ‘A character observes that one of the Pallasts struck her as “sort of lonely and unhappy.” Another answers, “I guess most people are. ‘Next we tum tothe least seen ofthese films, The Ghost Skip (another 1943 release!) also directed by Mark Robson. Recent, the film has become available again. The story is 1 familiar one, the most famous example ‘courtesy of Jack London (The Sea Wo). The idea of a crazy captain who is a menace 1 bis ‘crew might strike the average sailor as fit subject matter for a documentary (Melville's ‘Maby Dick would qualify except that Ahab's ‘mania is focused on the whale instead of the crew; and many of the crew are caught up in their captain’ obsession.) Captain Stone is played by Richard Dix. He isa sympathetic villain (as Karoft’s willbe in Bedlam). Inhis horror films, Lewon insists on showing the human side of his villains; but this does not prevent the heroes from being uly heroic. Atypical modem error istoassume that you have to make your heroes ‘completely good and your villains completely ‘bad (a thoroughly un-Christian notion) or else sink into the mire where there is no good or eviland everyone is nasty. Lewton knew beter. Ruscell Wade isthe hero, He doesn't ‘want to believe thatthe captain is nuts but nally he can’t deny that the commanding officer is murdering his erewmen...just afew ‘now and then, The sailors do not realize what, is happening, and when the Wace character tries to save them they become convinced that, he i the one who isthe nut, Lewton makes effective use of inanimate objects, ting the ship itself into a kind of monster worthy of Scene out of a William Hope Hodgson story. ‘Terris tobe found in everything froma heavy iron hook o the anchor chain, Tn the end, it comes down to a problem of dealing with one man who takes his life-and-death authority over his men abit {00 seriously. Siegel writes. “One could take The Ghost Ship's ambivalent attitude over authority..as some sign of Lewion’s own ‘complex Feelings about the dangers and posers of being a movie producer’ By this point, the success of Car ‘People ve modest litle B-movie had become the sleeper hit of 1942) le 10 the inevitable, RKO wanted a sequel, Lewton did not see eye toeye on this withthe Font office — he'd said ‘everything he wanted 10 say on this subject. RKO had a simple position, too — no subject was closed where the box office was concemed. So they assigned the producer the title The Curse of the Cat People and told him {o get to work, Lewton took that obvious and ‘toroughly unoriginal tile and made film that almost defies description, Almost ‘The picture was released in 1944 ‘The three principals were back — Simone Simon, Kent Smith, and Jane Randolp’ — ‘reprising their roles from the original, Irena, Oliver, and Alice. And there any resemblance 0 Cat People ends. The directors were Gunther von Fritsch and a man who would go ‘nto one ofthe great careers in movies, Robert Wise, ‘The story of Curse ofthe Cat People is so much in the spirit of WONDER that I wonder how Rod and Lint found a time ‘machine and managed to get hack to the days of yesteryear to write the script atibuted to DeWitt Bodeen (Siegel says that despite the Boden credit, the script was largely Lewton's.) ‘Along with @ special handful of films — Invaders from Mars, The 5,000 fingers of Dr T, Phantasm, The Invisible Boy — Curse of the Cat People is entirely focused on a child's imagination and how what happens is filtered through that imagination, We're in Ray Bradbury country. Right off, it should be said that it doesn't matter fig whether the ghost of Irena Jsactually showing up ori t's all a projection ofthe lonely child's mind, The fundamentals ofthe story work ether way (battle with RKO Jef ther scratch marks on the production and there are clues wich point in both directions Re: the supernatural) Ann Carter is excellent a the litle lel Amy. Her father, the Kent ‘Smith character, is scared 10 death of her imagination. One can almost sympathize with him considering what he went through inthe firs film..hut that doesn’t compare with hovr \we feel about the lite ge Irena appears as Amy's friend, ‘Simone's performance is sweet and hauating. {prefer tis ofall her roles, even beter than her chilling portrayal of a demonic succubus in the lassie All That Money Can Buy (aka The Devil and Daniel Webster). She wins over litte Amy—and us. The main story concemns Daddy's efforts to cure Amy of the delusion that she has been seeing and conversing with the dead rena. Certain psychological theories ‘ofthe day were especially hard on imaginary friends. But there's also great sub-plot, Amy begins spending time with an old lady, a zrandmother archetype right out of fairytale. Julia Dean plays the part with great gusto, All is not well in this household eithee. The old lady denies tha her daughter is her daughter. (Elizabeth Russell plays the embittered daugor — we saw her previously as the only ‘other catperson in the original Cat People. She also does a nice bit as a dying woman in The Seventh Victim). The daughter hates Amy Tor winning her mother's affection, ‘The ultimate WONDER scene has {goto be when the old lady entertains Amy by telling the child the story of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” This scares Amy good and proper! Later, when the litle gil faces real danger, she remembers the Washington Irving story. More importantly, her faith n Irena, the good ghost, saves her in a manner both surprising and touching. I'll say no more, ‘except to repeat that in ths tory the reality of Irena is less important than the child’ belie in Irena asa benevolent spirit, ‘The foregoing Lewton films were set in contemporary times. Before turing to his last three horror productions, all period pieces ‘with better budgets and bigger casts, I should say afew words about the superlatives that keep appearing inthis anicle: “best” and “perfect” and “favorite” [plead reality, This handful of films achioved remarkable things. If Lewton's fame rested only on what has come t0 this point, it would still be a sturdy fame indeed [No Lewton picture everhad beter photography than 1 Walked Witha Zombie, None ever hada ‘moment of greater terror than The Leopard ‘Man. But for my money the best was yet to Foras longas I can remember, Bois Karloff hasbeen my favorite actor. Not favorite horror actor, mind you, but favorite actor. 1 freely admit that lve all actors and aceesses associated with the horror movie. I've never seen a character actor I didn't like, But something about Karloff spoke to me from the Karloff thought Lewton gave him the best movie roles of his careet. There is some ‘competition for this honor. Karloff never ‘downplayed his debt to James Whale and the ‘opportunity that fine diector gave toa minor character actor who was no longer young. ‘Toward the end of his life, Karloff would be sgivena magnificent partby Peter Bogdanovich ‘There are some who vote for Karl Freund as the man who gave Karloff the role of lifetime, But Lagree with Karloff that the three pictures the made for Val Lewton are the peak, the films that brought this polished, poetic horror series toa triumphant climax. “The thee Karloff ilms work together so well hata few more comments are inorder about temas abody of work. Lewton’s visual imagination has often been praised to the exclusion of other virtues, This wasaman who knew light and shadow, knew symbol and allusion. man who had the gift of all great Wonder 9 filmmakers and found directors of like mind These guys filled the background picture with such a wealth of detail that repeated viewings are simply a must, ‘The tou ble is that some of the cites who love the visual side of Lewton lack the shall we say education to app: recate the literary side of his ming precisely the part ‘of his imagination that comes to full flower in the Kacloff films and ‘makes explicit what had often remained implicit in the earlier work. One might say that Lewton's Russian soul was a literary fone, and that he realized how the advent of sound in ‘movies had created the possibility of TeA-L-K-I-N-G pictures. The Kar Toft trio is just as theatrical ‘At Teast the critical con- sensus has come agree with Boris Karloff about the value of his per formance in he fist, of these-my choice forthe best role of Karl's eareer, as the tile character of The Body Snatcher. Tis performance is soremarkablethatit has become the comerstone of an “ongoing reappraisal ‘of Karts abilities fs an actor; critic Danny Peary author of Aliemative Oscars, even takes away Ray Millan's 1945 Lost Weekend Best Actor ‘Award and gives itto Boris Karioff! We fans, ‘of course, never doubted his grand talent fora ‘moment-we who have seen him give subtle shaded portraits in even the cheapest th the-moming poverty row quickie — but t finally see him widely acknowledged by 10+ Wonder mainstream ertisis very gratifying. Hisother {two Lewton performances are nearly equal to Body Snatcher, The Isle ofthe Dead makes ideal use of Karloff’ uncanny ability to seem Boris & Bela: Two magnificent horror icons working together material worthy of thelr great talent; Val Lewton's The Body Snatcher (1946) ‘menacing and vulnerable atthe same time; and the final picture, Bedlam, is such an intelligent film, with such an intelligent performance by Karo, thatitisamirace such a product could issue forth from Hollywood The Body Snatcher was released in 1945, directed solo by Robert Wise who would later direct The Day the Earth Stood Sill, The Haunting, and other wiumphs. Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story, the film is also ‘important as the last time KarlfT was to work with Bela Lugosi. The moment when Kaif “Burkes” Lugosi is nothing short of magnificent. As long asthe superlatives are flowing, due honors ‘must be paid to Henry Daniell for the best performance of his career, as well. A solid character actor, his also remembered as one of the comic Nazis in Chaplin's The Great Dietator. ‘The nineteenth century details are what one would expect from Val Lewton (1831 Edinburgh 10 be exact), Russell Wade js a medical student ‘who is initiated into the higher mysteries of the ant by MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) who runs a medical school and deals with “th redoubtable Gray’ (Boris Karloff, a cabman with a profitable sideline of stealing corpses from the local graveyards). The young student learns that the respectable Daniell and the disreputable body snatcher have known each other for along time, and each had some connection with the famous “Burke and Hare” cease. Gray derives ‘great satisfaction from holding the past over MacFarlane's head, For his part MacFarlane wants t0 be rid of Gray but needs the bodies that his, enemy provides. The Body Snatcher is about ambivalence, MacFarlane is a divided character, a brilliant intellect but cold and tistant from his patients, a man who thinks he wants to be free of everything Gray ‘epresents—but who actually knows less about for once, with his inne self than Gray knows. A remarkable ‘moment comes atthe local tavern when Gray ‘explains that MacFarlane's face shows the knowledge he has obtained over the years but that this is knowledge of death, not life. ‘Ambivalence touches the heart ofthe ‘young medical student when he intervenes on ‘behalf ofa young girl who needs an operation that only MacFarlane can perform. Without realizing what he does, the student sets into ‘motion series of events in which Gray kills ‘woman to provide a crucial spinal section ‘without which MacFarlane cannot perform the study he must do before operating onthe gil This, in tur, sets other wheels of the plot turing, and inthe end MacFarlane finds out that he cannot be rid of Gray ever, ever, ever. ‘The climax is another Lewton moment where psychology’ can probably explain everything, but there is the slight possibility that the supernatural has revealed itselagain, tis ime in the glowing cadaverous form of Karloff- risen-from-the-grave. He's a hard man oki inthe movies. Isle ofthe Dead was also released in 1945, directed by Mark Robson. There is no question of the supernatural here. The characters who believe in vampires are dead ‘wrong (pun intended). Much of the horror

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