The Monster | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roland West |
Written by | Willard Mack Albert Kenyon |
Based on | The Monster 1922 play by Crane Wilbur |
Produced by | Roland West |
Starring | Lon Chaney Johnny Arthur Gertrude Olmstead |
Cinematography | Hal Mohr |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Monster is a 1925 American silent horror comedy film directed by Roland West, based on the stage play of the same name by Crane Wilbur, and starring Lon Chaney and comedian Johnny Arthur. The screenplay was written by Willard Mack and Albert Kenyon. It is remembered as an early prototype "old dark house" movie, as well as a precedent to a number of horror film subgenres such as mad scientists with imbecilic assistants. Some sources list the film's release date as March 1925 while others say February.
The film has been shown on TCM network with an alternative and uncredited musical score. West later went on to direct The Bat (1926) and its later sound remake The Bat Whispers (1930). [1]
Although the film only earned $55,600 for the week ending on February 18, 1925, the film could be considered the first horror film in history to top the North American box office because the gross reported by Variety was the highest amount listed for that week in theaters nationwide. The movie was made by Roland West Productions and Tec-Art and distributed by MGM. The film was released with lavish color tints that enhanced the eerie mood. [2] [3] The film's tagline was "A mystery thriller and a love adventure. The romance of a boy and a girl in a mansion of hidden motives. You'll Guess! You'll Gasp! You'll love it! A Mansion of Many Doors- A House of Strange Shadows - What lies beyond the door? WHAT does it mean? Who can solve it? You'll keep guessing until the very end."
John Bowman, a wealthy farmer, is kidnapped one night after two mysterious men lure his car off the road. When the wreckage is discovered the next day, constable Russ Mason (Charles Sellon) forms a search party with Amos Rugg (Hallam Cooley) and Johnny Goodlittle (Johnny Arthur). Johnny has just graduated from crime school, receiving a diploma as an amateur detective.
Amos and Johnny both work at the general store in Danburg. They are both in love with Betty Watson (Gertrude Olmstead), the storeowner's daughter. Attempting to woo Betty, Amos invites her on a drive in the country. Meanwhile, Johnny has followed a mysterious stranger to the country. The strange man has lured Amos' car off the road and kidnapped the couple. Johnny accidentally enters a hidden tunnel, and all three end up at Dr Edwards' sanitarium.
Once inside, they are greeted by Dr. Gustave Ziska (Lon Chaney), who introduces Rigo (George Austin), Caliban (Walter James), and Daffy Dan (Knute Erickson), his three patients. Ziska explains that he took control of the asylum after it had closed. They[ who? ] are captured and sent to a dungeon, wherein Johnny finds Dr. Edwards and John Bowman have been kidnapped by Dr. Ziska and his cronies.
Dr. Edwards tells Johnny that Ziska, Caliban, Rigo and Daffy Dan were once his patients in the sanitarium. Ziska had been a great surgeon who went mad and began to perform unorthodox operations. He now intends to perform experiments on Betty and Amos, attempting to discover the secret of eternal life.
Amos and Johnny are captured and brought to Ziska's laboratory, where Betty lies fastened to a surgical bed. Amos is strapped to the "death chair" and connected to Betty through a transducer, which will exchange their souls. Johnny eludes Ziska's henchmen and escapes up to the roof, sending flares seen by policemen investigating the wreckage of Amos' car.
Having escaped, Johnny disguises himself as Rigo and begins to assist the doctor. He frees Betty and Amos and straps Ziska to his own death chair. Caliban appears and, mistaking the figure in the chair for Amos, activates the transducer, removing Ziska's soul from his body. Because there is no one on the surgical bed, there is no soul to complete the exchange, and Ziska is rendered completely lifeless.
Realizing his mistake, Caliban is distracted and Johnny captures him by hooking a winch to the monster's feet and hoisting him upside down. The policemen enter the laboratory to find that Johnny has successfully apprehended the madmen and located the kidnapped people. He gains the police department's respect as a detective and wins Betty's heart and hand.
In the play's 1933 revival, DeWolf Hopper played Dr. Ziska, one of his later roles.[ citation needed ]
Walter James also played Caliban in the 1922 play. [ citation needed ]
This section possibly contains original research .(October 2018) |
The genre and cinematic style of The Monster is ambiguous. It stands as an early mad scientist movie. The picture also stands as an early example of an '"old dark house" movie, even preceding The Old Dark House (1932). [1]
A distinguishing quality of The Monster which deviates from most horror films is its use of subtle humour in serious or dramatic situations. As in many conventional comedies, the protagonist Johnny Goodlittle is a comic relief character. He is also an early example of an effeminate, cowardly hero, as the actor Johnny Arthur usually played. [1]
Critic Troy Howarth stated "Viewers expecting a typical Lon Chaney vehicle are in for a major disappointment, as the actor doesn't show up into well into the picture. And while he admittedly makes for an alarming presence...it's not much of a role and doesn't allow him to evoke the kind of audience empathy one normally associates with the great actor." [1]
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Citations need formatting (see Help:Footnotes.(September 2023) |
"As always, Lon Chaney does excellent work in an unusual character role. He appears as the sinister surgeon in charge and scores heavily although his role is secondary to that of Johnny Arthur as the boob detective." ---Moving Picture World
"'The Monster' was a corking stage thriller. As a picture it proves to be somewhat suspenseful, but it seemingly is played too fast to get the full effectiveness that there was in the play...Lon Chaney does not make the crazed surgeon as terrifying a picture as he might have, and in that the film lets down to a certain extent." ---Variety
"The starch seems to have been taken out of the pictorial conception of THE MONSTER by the inclusion of too much light comedy. The result is that, although this film possesses a degree of queer entertainment, it is neither fish, fowl nor good red herring. The thrills that might have chilled one's feet and finger tips end in causing chuckles and giggles...Mr. Chaney does not have very much to do, but his various appearances are effective...Chaney looks as if he could have enjoyed a more serious portrayal of the theme." ---The New York Times [4]
"The Monster seems to us to be Lon Chaney's best part of recent years, because his art comes from within, not without...In The Monster, he appears as himself with no disfiguring makeup....a thrilling picture"--- Movie Weekly
"An entertaining comedy and mystery play...but it will prove too gruesome for tender-hearted people." ---Harrison's Reports [2]
"Spook thriller that mingles laughs and thrills in rapid succession and includes a quantity of hair-raising stunts... Johnny Arthur's part seems more important than Chaney's" ---Film Daily
"Brrrr, this one will give you delicious creeps... A real thriller!" ---Photoplay
Film historian Jon Mirsalis opined "THE MONSTER will prove somewhat of a disappointment to die-hard Chaney fans, but a delight to connoisseurs of Director Roland West's stylistic Gothic dramas. Like some of his other works, especially THE BAT and THE BAT WHISPERS, THE MONSTER is a lavish production marked by Gothic sets, lush art design, and is punctuated by both the grotesque and quite a bit of comic relief supplied by Arthur." [4]
Creighton Tull Chaney, known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film The Wolf Man (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard in Son of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), the Mummy in three pictures, and various other roles in many Universal horror films, including six films in their 1940s Inner Sanctum series, making him a horror icon. He also portrayed Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men (1939) and supporting parts in dozens of mainstream movies, including High Noon (1952), The Defiant Ones (1958), and numerous Westerns, musicals, comedies and dramas.
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star. The film remains most famous for Chaney's ghastly, self-devised make-up, which was kept a studio secret until the film's premiere. The picture also features Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Gibson Gowland, John St. Polis and Snitz Edwards. The last surviving cast member was Carla Laemmle (1909-2014), niece of producer Carl Laemmle, who played a small role as a "prima ballerina" in the film when she was about 15 years old. The film was released on September 6, 1925, premiering at the Astor Theatre in New York. The film's final budget was $632,357.
London After Midnight is a lost 1927 American silent mystery horror film directed and co-produced by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney, with Marceline Day, Conrad Nagel, Henry B. Walthall and Polly Moran. The film was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and was written by Waldemar Young, based on the story "The Hypnotist" which was written by Browning. Merritt B. Gerstad was the cinematographer, and the sets were designed by Cedric Gibbons and Arnold Gillespie. Harry Sharrock was the assistant director. The film cost $151,666.14 to produce, and grossed $1,004,000. Chaney's real-life make-up case can be seen in the last scene of the film sitting on a table, the only time it ever appeared in a film.
Matt Moore was an Irish-born American actor and director. He appeared in at least 221 motion pictures from 1912 to 1958.
Phantom of the Opera is a 1943 American romantic horror film directed by Arthur Lubin, loosely based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera and its 1925 film adaptation starring Lon Chaney. Produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, the film stars Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains, and was composed by Edward Ward.
The Ghost of Frankenstein is a 1942 American horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. It is the fourth film in the Frankenstein series by Universal Pictures, and the follow-up to Son of Frankenstein (1939). The film's plot follows the previous film's: Frankenstein's Monster and his companion Ygor are chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Henry Frankenstein to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can have revenge against his enemies and his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. The script, written by Curt Siodmak, follows The Ghost of Frankenstein and The Wolf Man, though with a number of retcons. Most significantly, Talbot only transforms into werewolf form during a full moon, which became a standard part of werewolf lore. The film involves Larry Talbot, who is brought back to life when his tomb is disturbed. His search for a way to end his seeming immortality leads to his befriending Frankenstein's monster.
The Mummy's Curse is a 1944 American horror film directed by Leslie Goodwins. Produced by Universal Pictures, it is the fifth entry in Universal's original Mummy franchise, serving as a sequel to The Mummy's Ghost (1944). It marks Lon Chaney Jr.'s final appearance as Kharis, an Egyptian mummy.
Werewolf of London is a 1935 horror film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull as the titular werewolf. The supporting cast includes Warner Oland, Valerie Hobson, Lester Matthews, and Spring Byington. Jack Pierce, who is best known for creating the iconic makeup worn by Boris Karloff in the 1931 film Frankenstein, created the film's werewolf makeup. Produced by Universal Pictures, Werewolf of London was the first feature-length werewolf film.
Johnny Arthur was an American stage and motion picture actor.
The Miracle Man is a 1919 American silent drama film starring Lon Chaney and based on a 1914 play by George M. Cohan, which in turn is based on the novel of the same title by Frank L. Packard. The film was released by Paramount Pictures, directed, produced, and written by George Loane Tucker, and also stars Thomas Meighan and Betty Compson. The film made overnight successes of the three stars, most notably putting Chaney on the map as a character actor.
The Penalty is an American psychological thriller crime film starring Lon Chaney and originally released in 1920 by Goldwyn Pictures. The movie was directed by Wallace Worsley, and written by Philip Lonergan and Charles Kenyon, based upon the pulp novel by Gouverneur Morris. The supporting cast includes Charles Clary, Doris Pawn, Jim Mason, and Claire Adams. The copyright for the film was owned by Gouverneur Morris, who wrote the novel on which the film was based. The budget for the film was $88,868.00. Portions of the film were shot in San Francisco.
A Blind Bargain is a 1922 American silent horror film starring Lon Chaney and Raymond McKee, released through Goldwyn Pictures. The film was directed by Wallace Worsley and is based on Barry Pain's 1897 novel The Octave of Claudius. Lon Chaney played a dual role in the film, as both Dr. Lamb and "the Ape Man", one of Chaney's few "true horror films". The claim that Wallace Beery appeared as an ape-man uncredited has never been proven, but does persist in many sources.
Face of the Screaming Werewolf is a 1965 horror film created by low budget film maker Jerry Warren. The film was created by combining parts of two unrelated Mexican horror films, La Casa del Terror (1960), and La Momia Azteca (1957), with the addition of original footage shot by Warren. It was released on March 3, 1965, on a double-bill with another of Warren's films, Curse of the Stone Hand.
Man-Made Monster is a 1941 American science-fiction horror film directed by George Waggner and produced by Jack Bernhard for Universal Pictures. Filmed in black-and-white, it stars Lon Chaney Jr. and Lionel Atwill. Man-Made Monster was re-released under various titles including Electric Man and The Mysterious Dr. R. Realart Pictures re-released the film in 1953 under the title The Atomic Monster as a double feature with The Flying Saucer (1950). On the film's original main title, there is no hyphen; it's simply Man Made Monster.
The Blackbird is a 1926 American silent crime film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney. The screenplay was written by Waldemar Young, based on a story "The Mockingbird" by Tod Browning. Cedric Gibbons and Arnold Gillespie handled the set design. Makeup man Cecil Holland also played one of the old men living at the mission. Character actors Eddie Sturgis and Willie Fung appeared in several other Lon Chaney movies during this time period. The film took 31 days to shoot at a cost of $166,000. The tagline was "Lon Chaney in his successor to The Unholy Three". Stills on the internet shows Chaney in his dual role. In April 2012, the film became available on DVD from the Warner Archive collection.
The Big City is a 1928 American silent crime film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney. Waldemar Young wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Tod Browning. The film is now lost.
Daffy Duck and Porky Pig Meet the Groovie Goolies is a 1972 animated one-hour TV-movie that was aired on December 16 as an episode of the anthology series The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. In this Filmation-produced movie, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and other Looney Tunes characters interact with the characters from the Filmation series Groovie Goolies.
For Those We Love is a 1921 American silent romantic drama film produced by and starring Betty Compson, and featuring Lon Chaney and Richard Rosson. Written and directed by Arthur Rosson, the film was based on a story by Perley Poore Sheehan (who later co-wrote the script for Chaney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The film was distributed by Goldwyn Pictures. Some sources list the release date as being in March 1921. This is unlikely since the film was only copyrighted in July, but the exact release date has not been confirmed. It is now considered a lost film. A still exists showing Chaney holding the heroine.
Stark Mad is a 1929 American pre-Code adventure film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Lloyd Bacon, and starring H. B. Warner, Louise Fazenda, Jacqueline Logan and Henry B. Walthall. This lurid jungle melodrama was an attempt to emulate the then-popular jungle horror films being made at the time by Tod Browning and Lon Chaney. The film was unusual in that it is set in the jungles of Central America rather than Africa.