Devlish aristocrat develops scheme to destroy his niece by forcing her into marrying womanizing scoundrel, while holding her father prisoner in a dungeon cell, not knowing that his oft-abused servant is working to set them all free.
Charles Laughton is a riot as the lecherous Sire Alain de Maletroit, gnawing without restraint on the scenery, applying relish to the dialogue..his dinner table scene, where he's tearing into his meal along with his underlings, had me in ribbons. Maletroit's château is one of those wonderful Universal sets with secret passageways, torture chambers, hidden rooms, and large areas only a massive castle could contain for banquet guests. While accepting that beautiful fair maiden Blanche(Sally Forrest)and rogue Denis de Beaulieu(Richard Wyler)would fall in love with each other is a bit of a stretch(..and this romance does deter from spending more time with Laughton and Karloff), and the fact that it's hard to fathom Maletroit trusting Voltan(Karloff) to move about unimpeded, I still found The Strange Door incredibly entertaining. The juicy sanguinary dialogue is cheerfully delivered by Laughton who understood how over-the-top the material was, playing it very tongue-in-cheek. While embarrassed critics would commonly complain of Laughton's ham, I say, "Prepare the feast!" Yep, Laughton, in his performance, might deliver the ham, but I'm at the table licking my chops with a fork and knife. Karloff, while in an unflattering role as a mistreated servant, he does get to be the hero at the end, in a suspenseful climax, badly wounded after an altercation with Laughton, attempting to deliver the key to the cell trapping Blanche, Denis, and her father as the walls are closing in to crush them. The 50's wasn't exactly that good to Karloff, but he did what he could with the roles given him. I consider The Strange Door the kind of chiller perfect for a late rainy night, a definite midnight movie deserving of a cult following, if you approach it in the right frame of mind, that is. The villains are so positively evil, you can't help but grin at their benevolent antics.
Charles Laughton is a riot as the lecherous Sire Alain de Maletroit, gnawing without restraint on the scenery, applying relish to the dialogue..his dinner table scene, where he's tearing into his meal along with his underlings, had me in ribbons. Maletroit's château is one of those wonderful Universal sets with secret passageways, torture chambers, hidden rooms, and large areas only a massive castle could contain for banquet guests. While accepting that beautiful fair maiden Blanche(Sally Forrest)and rogue Denis de Beaulieu(Richard Wyler)would fall in love with each other is a bit of a stretch(..and this romance does deter from spending more time with Laughton and Karloff), and the fact that it's hard to fathom Maletroit trusting Voltan(Karloff) to move about unimpeded, I still found The Strange Door incredibly entertaining. The juicy sanguinary dialogue is cheerfully delivered by Laughton who understood how over-the-top the material was, playing it very tongue-in-cheek. While embarrassed critics would commonly complain of Laughton's ham, I say, "Prepare the feast!" Yep, Laughton, in his performance, might deliver the ham, but I'm at the table licking my chops with a fork and knife. Karloff, while in an unflattering role as a mistreated servant, he does get to be the hero at the end, in a suspenseful climax, badly wounded after an altercation with Laughton, attempting to deliver the key to the cell trapping Blanche, Denis, and her father as the walls are closing in to crush them. The 50's wasn't exactly that good to Karloff, but he did what he could with the roles given him. I consider The Strange Door the kind of chiller perfect for a late rainy night, a definite midnight movie deserving of a cult following, if you approach it in the right frame of mind, that is. The villains are so positively evil, you can't help but grin at their benevolent antics.