It's the usual reading of the will old dark house movie, done during the silent era ("The Cat and the Canary"), the golden age of movie horror ("The Old Dark House"), and remade many times. (In fact, both titles were remakes). The story is always the same---an elderly person either is dying, or has died, and the greedy relatives await the reading of the will. Some die, some are red herrings, and always, the killer is never a surprise. Of course, with the 1927 "Cat and the Canary" and 1932's "The Old Dark House", the atmosphere was so chilling that the repetition of the plot didn't matter.
Here, for this Pine-Thomas quickie, Jack Haley is the insurance salesman sent for by the deceased to sell him insurance, and he arrives to find out it is too late. But the usual assortment of relatives are present, including one who is genuinely good (heroine Jean Parker). With Bela Lugosi and Blanche Yurke as the spooky servants, coffee is always ready to be served, and the question is, is it laced with rat poison? That's a standing joke that unfortunately doesn't come off as very funny.
Poor Blanche Yurka, excellent as Madame De Farge in "A Tale of Two Cities", and equally as nefarious as any of Lugosi's villains in "Lady For a Night", doesn't get anything resembling an acting scene. Her fabulous voice is ill-used. It's a role we've seen hundreds of times-Gale Sondergaard in 1939's "Cat and the Canary", Judith Anderson in "Rebecca", Margaret Hamilton in "The Invisible Ghost", Rafaela Ottiano in "Topper Returns", and years later, Elizabeth Lawrence as Palmer Cortlandt's spooky housekeeper on "All My Children", and Beaulah Garrick as Quentin Chamberlain's equally spooky HK on "Guiding Light". But Ms. Yurka is the most ill-used of them all, a crime considering her tremendous stage career.
Lugosi plays another red-herring butler, which he did opposite the Ritz Brothers in "The Gorilla", but at least he gets more screen time than poor Ms. Yurka. The assorted relatives aren't really worth mentioning by actor's name as they run the typical assorted of greedy heirs drooling at the thought of the others demise and their inclusion as the main heir. A lawyer and "scientist of the stars" are also present, but they too, aren't very memorable. The long scene of Haley alone in the room where the coffin is makes one long for Lugosi's coffee (even if it is laced with rat poison), and an extended gag of a towel cladding Haley hiding once that towel is snagged off by a bolted door is rather unfunny.
Haley underwater in the glass covered coffin, viewing the fish in the dead man's pond, is only slightly amusing. There are no real laughs to be found, but with that cast, it's at least a curiosity. Just don't expect any nice moments like Eva Moore in "The Old Dark House" telling the young women how their skin will someday rot, all the while reminding her brother, "No beds! They can't have beds!"
Here, for this Pine-Thomas quickie, Jack Haley is the insurance salesman sent for by the deceased to sell him insurance, and he arrives to find out it is too late. But the usual assortment of relatives are present, including one who is genuinely good (heroine Jean Parker). With Bela Lugosi and Blanche Yurke as the spooky servants, coffee is always ready to be served, and the question is, is it laced with rat poison? That's a standing joke that unfortunately doesn't come off as very funny.
Poor Blanche Yurka, excellent as Madame De Farge in "A Tale of Two Cities", and equally as nefarious as any of Lugosi's villains in "Lady For a Night", doesn't get anything resembling an acting scene. Her fabulous voice is ill-used. It's a role we've seen hundreds of times-Gale Sondergaard in 1939's "Cat and the Canary", Judith Anderson in "Rebecca", Margaret Hamilton in "The Invisible Ghost", Rafaela Ottiano in "Topper Returns", and years later, Elizabeth Lawrence as Palmer Cortlandt's spooky housekeeper on "All My Children", and Beaulah Garrick as Quentin Chamberlain's equally spooky HK on "Guiding Light". But Ms. Yurka is the most ill-used of them all, a crime considering her tremendous stage career.
Lugosi plays another red-herring butler, which he did opposite the Ritz Brothers in "The Gorilla", but at least he gets more screen time than poor Ms. Yurka. The assorted relatives aren't really worth mentioning by actor's name as they run the typical assorted of greedy heirs drooling at the thought of the others demise and their inclusion as the main heir. A lawyer and "scientist of the stars" are also present, but they too, aren't very memorable. The long scene of Haley alone in the room where the coffin is makes one long for Lugosi's coffee (even if it is laced with rat poison), and an extended gag of a towel cladding Haley hiding once that towel is snagged off by a bolted door is rather unfunny.
Haley underwater in the glass covered coffin, viewing the fish in the dead man's pond, is only slightly amusing. There are no real laughs to be found, but with that cast, it's at least a curiosity. Just don't expect any nice moments like Eva Moore in "The Old Dark House" telling the young women how their skin will someday rot, all the while reminding her brother, "No beds! They can't have beds!"