This article is missing information about the film's plot, production, theatrical release, and rediscovery.(June 2019) |
The Monkey's Paw | |
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Directed by | Wesley Ruggles Ernest B. Schoedsack (uncredited) |
Screenplay by | Graham John |
Based on | "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs |
Produced by | Pandro S. Berman Merian C. Cooper |
Starring | Ivan F. Simpson Louise Carter C. Aubrey Smith |
Cinematography | Edward Cronjager Jack MacKenzie J.O. Taylor Leo Tover |
Edited by | Charles L. Kimball |
Music by | Max Steiner (uncredited) |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 58 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $100,000 [1] |
The Monkey's Paw is a 1933 American pre-Code horror film co-directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack (prologue) and Wesley Ruggles, [2] based on the short story, "The Monkey's Paw" (1902) by W. W. Jacobs. [3] [4] The film was considered lost until pictures from it were posted online in 2016; the extant copy is dubbed in French. [5]
A cursed monkey's paw grants three wishes. However, when the wishes are granted there are terrible consequences. Still Mr and Mrs White use the paw to get what they need. They end up losing something very valuable as punishment for tampering with fate.
A contemporary review in The International Photographer considered it "greatly handicapped by its unrelenting sombre mood. Even the inevitable happy ending that wags its tale at the end is hardly sufficient to dispel the gloom. The cast is uniformly capable, but the lack of a dominant screen personality is keenly felt...The photography is an example of what can be done with the new supersensitive emulsions using very little light." [6]
King Kong is a 1933 American pre-Code adventure romance monster film directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, with special effects by Willis H. O'Brien and music by Max Steiner. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it is the first film in the King Kong franchise. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot. The film follows a giant ape dubbed Kong who is offered a beautiful young woman as a sacrifice.
"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by English author W. W. Jacobs. It first appeared in Harper's Monthly in 1902, and was reprinted in his third collection of short stories, The Lady of the Barge, later that year. In the story, three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey's Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.
Merian Caldwell Cooper was an American filmmaker, actor, and producer, as well as a former aviator who served as an officer in the United States Army Air Service and Polish Air Force. In film, his most famous work was the 1933 movie King Kong, and he is credited as co-inventor of the Cinerama film projection process. He was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1952 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Before entering the movie business, Cooper had a distinguished career as the founder of the Kościuszko Squadron during the Polish–Soviet War and was a Soviet prisoner of war for a time. He got his start in film as part of the Explorers Club, traveling the world and documenting adventures. He was a member of the board of directors of Pan American Airways, but his love of film took priority. During his film career, he worked for companies such as Pioneer Pictures, RKO Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1925, he and Ernest B. Schoedsack went to Iran and made Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life, a documentary about the Bakhtiari people.
Charles Sherman Ruggles was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the elder brother of director, producer, and silent film actor Wesley Ruggles (1889–1972).
Wesley Ruggles was an American film director.
The Spiral Staircase is a 1946 American psychological horror film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Set over the course of one evening, the film follows a mute young woman in an early-20th century Vermont town who is stalked and terrorized in a rural mansion by a serial killer targeting women with disabilities. Gordon Oliver, Rhonda Fleming, and Elsa Lanchester appear in supporting roles. It was adapted for the screen by Mel Dinelli from the novel Some Must Watch (1933) by Ethel Lina White.
The House That Shadows Built (1931) is a feature compilation film from Paramount Pictures, made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the studio's founding in 1912. The film was a promotional film for exhibitors and never had a regular theatrical release.
Mighty Joe Young is a 1949 American black and white fantasy film distributed by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by the same creative team responsible for King Kong (1933). The film was produced by Merian C. Cooper, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, and Ruth Rose wrote the screenplay. It stars Robert Armstrong, Terry Moore, and Ben Johnson in his first credited screen role. Animation effects were handled by Ray Harryhausen, Pete Peterson and Marcel Delgado.
Dr. Cyclops is a 1940 American science fiction horror film from Paramount Pictures, produced by Dale Van Every and Merian C. Cooper, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack, and starring Thomas Coley, Victor Kilian, Janice Logan, Charles Halton, Frank Yaconelli and Albert Dekker.
The Most Dangerous Game is a 1932 American pre-Code horror film, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Leslie Banks.
Port Sinister is a 1953 American independently made black-and-white adventure science fiction film, produced by Jack Pollexfen and Albert Zugsmith, and directed by Harold Daniels. The film was written by Jack Pollexfen and Aubrey Wisberg and stars James Warren, Lynne Roberts, and Paul Cavanagh. Port Sinister was theatrically distributed by RKO Radio Pictures.
Hugo Riesenfeld was an Austrian-American composer. As a film director, he began to write his own orchestral compositions for silent films in 1917, and co-created modern production techniques where film scoring serves an integral part of the action. Riesenfeld composed about 100 film scores in his career.
Stingaree is an American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by William A. Wellman released by RKO Radio Pictures in 1934. The film was based on a 1905 novel by Ernest William Hornung. Set in Australia, it stars Irene Dunne as Hilda Bouverie and Richard Dix as Stingaree. Hollywood had previously filmed the Hornung story as serials in 1915 and 1917, starring True Boardman.
Long Lost Father is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film starring John Barrymore, Helen Chandler, Donald Cook, Alan Mowbray, and Doris Lloyd. It was directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack. It was based on a 1933 novel of the same title by the British writer Gladys Stern.
Blind Adventure is a 1933 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Ralph Bellamy, and Roland Young. It was released by RKO Radio Pictures.
The Terror is a 1928 American pre-Code horror film written by Harvey Gates and directed by Roy Del Ruth, based on the 1927 play of the same name by Edgar Wallace. It was the second "all-talking" motion picture released by Warner Bros., following Lights of New York. It was also the first all-talking horror film, made using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
The Monkey's Paw is a 1948 British horror film directed by Norman Lee, who also wrote the screenplay, and starring Milton Rosmer, Michael Martin Harvey, Joan Seton and Megs Jenkins. It is based on the 1902 story "The Monkey's Paw" by W. W. Jacobs. The screenplay was written by Norman Lee and Barbara Toy. It was produced by Ernest G. Roy.
Mama Loves Papa is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Frank R. Strayer and written by Monte Brice, with a story by Keene Thompson and a screenplay by Charles E. Roberts. It is a loose remake of the 1933 film Mama Loves Papa, written by Douglas MacLean. The film was produced by RKO Radio Pictures and stars Leon Errol and Elizabeth Risdon.
See Here, Private Hargrove is a 1944 black-and-white comedy film from MGM, produced by George Haight, directed by Wesley Ruggles, and starring Robert Walker, Donna Reed, and Keenan Wynn. The film was adapted from the 1942 memoir of the same name by Marion Hargrove.
The Monkey's Paw is a 1923 British silent horror film directed by Manning Haynes and starring Moore Marriott, Marie Ault, and Charles Ashton. It is an adaptation of W. W. Jacobs's 1902 short story "The Monkey's Paw". The short story was made into a 1907 one-act play by Louis N. Parker, elements of which were also incorporated into this 1923 British film by screenwriter Lydia Hayward.