| The Unholy Night | |
|---|---|
 Lobby card for The Unholy Night | |
| Directed by | Lionel Barrymore |
| Written by | Edwin Justus Mayer |
| Screenplay by | Dorothy Farnum |
| Based on | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ira Morgan [1] |
| Edited by | Grant Whytock [1] |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes [1] |
| Country | United States [1] |
| Language | English [1] |
The Unholy Night is a 1929 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Lionel Barrymore and starring Ernest Torrence.
The well-to-do Lord Montague is assaulted on a fog enshrouded London street on his way to his club, but manages to escape death. He later learns that some unknown assailant is killing off the members of his old army regiment from the Indian War. A Scotland Yard inspector investigating the homicides asks Montague to have the nine remaining members of his regiment assemble at his estate, so as to protect them from being murdered one by one, and so that he can hopefully learn the identity of the assassin, assuming the killer may be one of them.
According to Exhibitors Herald-World published on April 20, 1929, the film began production under the working title The Green Ghost on 1 March 1929. [1] Initially, Rupert Julian was signed to direct the film as his first 100% dialogue feature. [1] The film's screenplay was written by Edwin Justus Mayer and adapted by Dorothy Farnum based on the short story The Green Ghost by Ben Hecht. [3] The films intertitles were by Joe Farnum. [3]
An article in Motion Picture News , Julian voluntarily withdrew from the production stating he was not comfortable directing a sound film, and wanted to earn more experience with shorts first. [1] It has not been determined if any of Julian's work was retained in the released film. [1] Lionel Barrymore took over as director, which would be his second sound film as a director. [1]
The Unholy Night was distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. on 14 September 1929. [1]
Barrymore co-directed (with French director Jacques Feyder) a French-language version of the film called Le Spectre Vert (The Green Ghost) which was released in France. This French-language version was never released in the US. Dorothy Farnum and Yves Mirande adapted the screenplay. It was Feyder's first sound film, and the first French-language film ever made in Hollywood as well. It was released in France in 1930. [4] [5] [6] [7]
From contemporary reviews, Photoplay declared the film a "Swell mystery story, artistically directed by Lionel Barrymore. Roland Young and Dorothy Sebastian are great." [8] A review in Movie Age noted that "we have seen this on previous occasions in various forms as far as plot is concerned but treatment and direction lifts it out of the rut." [8] A reviewer from Film Daily found that "the story has been done before in various forms" but that Ben Hecht's "masterly story telling style made it appear better than the theme and plot really are." [8]
New Movie Magazine stated that the film was "a bully mystery melodrama and the best of months. You will never guess the real murderer until the denouement" and praised the performances of Dorothy Sebastian. [8]
In contrast, Variety declared the film "a hopelessly involved script handled by Lionel Barrymroe in a way that would discredit a quickie director. Worse than the worst would-be thriller meller staged on Broadway and impressing as a pointless souffle burlesquing them all" concluding that the film was "a one hundred percent lemon." [8] Film critic and historian Troy Howarth, declared that "If the film is any indication of Barrymore's overall directing talent, it's no surprise that he eventually returned his focus exclusively to acting." and found the film "painfully creaky and melodramatic....unfolding in painfully static medium and long shots". [2]
Michael R. Pitts discussed in his book on obscure genre films between 1928 and 1936, that the film "consists of talk with little physical action" and that "the film moves at a fairly good pace, contains fine performances and is atmospheric in its London fog scenes and in the old mansion in which the story takes place". [3] Pitts did note that the film was overlong and "somewhat static and a bit creaky" by contemporary standards, but that "it holds up well and provides several doses of cinematic chills, especially during the climactic seance." [3]
Critic Roy Kinnard commented "This melodramatic but rather tame detective mystery relied almost entirely on dialogue to advance its plot. Boris Karloff ... is among the supporting players." [9]
Troy Howarth commented on Boris Karloff in the role of Abdul, the Hindu lawyer, who "takes advantage of his naturally dark complexion but ... struggles terribly with the thick Indian accent." [2] Leonard Maltin gave the film two stars, calling it a "stagy Ben Hecht melodrama with much hamming, especially by unbilled Karloff". [10]
William Henry Pratt, known professionally as Boris Karloff and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film Frankenstein (1931) established him as a horror icon, and he reprised the role for the sequels Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). He also appeared as Imhotep in The Mummy (1932), and voiced the Grinch in, as well as narrating, the animated television special of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), which won him a Grammy Award.
This is an overview of 1929 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The following is an overview of 1928 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Although some films released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent. This year is notable for the introduction of the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey Mouse, in the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first film to include a soundtrack completely created in post production.
The following is an overview of 1926 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
This is an overview of 1924 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
This is an overview of 1921 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.
1913 was a particularly fruitful year for film as an art form, and is often cited one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1917. The year was one where filmmakers of several countries made great artistic advancements, producing notable pioneering masterpieces such as The Student of Prague, Suspense, Atlantis, Raja Harischandra, Juve contre Fantomas, Quo Vadis?, Ingeborg Holm, The Mothering Heart, Ma l’amor mio non muore!, L’enfant de Paris and Twilight of a Woman's Soul.
The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.
The year 1910 in film involved some significant events.
Jacques Feyder was a Belgian film director, screenwriter and actor who worked principally in France, but also in the US, Britain and Germany. He was a director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 1930s he became associated with the style of poetic realism in French cinema. He adopted French nationality in 1928.
The Bells is a 1926 American silent crime film directed by James Young and starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff. It was based on an 1867 French stage play called Le Juif Polonais by Erckmann-Chatrian. The play was translated to English in 1871 by Leopold Lewis at which time it was retitled The Bells. The English version of the play was performed in the U.S. in the 19th century by Sir Henry Irving. Le Juif Polonais was also adapted into an opera of the same name in three acts by Camille Erlanger, composed to a libretto by Henri Cain.
The Sea Bat is a 1930 American pre-Code melodrama film directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Raquel Torres, Charles Bickford. Part of the film was filmed on location in Mazatlán, Mexico. The film was originally intended as a vehicle for Lon Chaney, who died on August 26, 1930.
The Yellow Ticket is a 1931 pre-Code American drama film based on the 1914 play of the same name by Michael Morton, produced by the Fox Film Corporation, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Elissa Landi, Lionel Barrymore and Laurence Olivier. Boris Karloff appears briefly in a small supporting role. The picture is also a noteworthy example of productions from the pre-Code era in that it includes brief nudity.
The Drums of Jeopardy is a 1923 American silent mystery film directed by Edward Dillon, written by Arthur Hoerl and featuring Wallace Beery. It is based on the 1920 novel of the same name by Harold McGrath which was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post. The film was released by Tru-art Film Company in November 1923. The name of the villain in the story was originally called Boris Karlov, but when the actor Boris Karloff rose to prominence circa 1923, the character's name was changed to Gregor Karlov to avoid confusion. It was changed back to Boris again in the 1931 remake of the film which starred Warner Oland as the villain.
The Bells is a play in three acts by Leopold David Lewis which was one of the greatest successes of the British actor Henry Irving. The play opened on 25 November 1871 at the Lyceum Theatre in London and initially ran for 151 performances. Irving was to stage the play repeatedly throughout his career, playing the role of Mathias for the last time the night before his death in 1905.
Cagliostro is a 1929 silent drama film directed by Richard Oswald and starring Hans Stüwe, Renée Héribel and Alfred Abel. It depicts the life of the eighteenth century Italian occultist Alessandro Cagliostro, portraying him more sympathetically than in most other works. It was based on a novel by Johannes von Guenther.
