Phantom of the Rue Morgue *** (1954, Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest, Anthony Caruso) – Classic Movie Review 2,684

Karl Malden stars in the engagingly shambolic 1954 American horror mystery movie Phantom of the Rue Morgue, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Director Roy Del Ruth’s 1954 American horror mystery movie Phantom of the Rue Morgue stars Karl Malden, who takes on the old Bela Lugosi role in Warner Bros’ engagingly shambolic rejig of the 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s 1841 short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue. It is important as the first modern detective story, with C Auguste Dupin as the first fictional detective.

It is one of several 3D productions during the 1950s released by Warner Bros, who were attempting to repeat the success they had with their 3D horror movie House of Wax the previous year, with cinematographer J Peverell Marley shooting in eye-catching WarnerColor. It took $1,450,000 at the US box office.

The moment Dupin questions the sailor about the murders. Illustration by Byam Shaw for a London edition dated 1909.

There’s an outbreak of strange murders in the Rue Morgue, a fictional street in Paris, in 1870s France. So the baffled police approach Professor Paul Dupin (Steve Forrest) to help, and some suspects are uncovered, including a sailor named Jacques the One-Eyed (Anthony Caruso) and a professor called Dr Marais (Malden), who is involved in bizarre unauthorised animal experiments.

Malden is deliciously all-whooping hysteria as the insane murderer who runs loose with a demented ape on the streets of Paris, but that only helps the campy enjoyment. There is plenty of eerie atmosphere, at any rate lots of things come lurching towards us. It was made and originally shown in 3D, perhaps to inject some depth into the Grand Guignol pantomime-style plot, theatrical performances and cardboard cut-out protagonists.

Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley of The Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1895

Also in the cast are Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Allyn Ann McLerie, Dolores Dorn, Erin O’Brien-Moore, Merv Griffin, Paul Richards, Rolfe Sedan and Veola Vonn.

Charles Gemora plays Sultan the Gorilla again as he did in Bela Lugosi’s 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue. Gemora’s study of real gorillas at the San Diego Zoo and his expertise on makeup gave him an extensive movie career as a gorilla.

The cast

The cast are Karl Malden as Dr Marais, Claude Dauphin as Inspector Bonnard, Patricia Medina as Jeanette, Steve Forrest as Professor Paul Dupin, Allyn Ann McLerie as Yvonne, Anthony Caruso as Jacques the One-Eyed, Veola Vonn as Arlette, Dolores Dorn as Camille, Merv Griffin as Georges Brevert, Paul Richards as Rene the Knife-thrower, Rolfe Sedan as LeBon, Erin O’Brien-Moore as Wardrobe Woman, Charles Gemora as Sultan the Gorilla, The Flying Zacchinis as Themselves, Tito Vuolo as Pignatelli, Marie Blake as Marie, Henry Kulky as sailor Maurice, Leonard Penn as Gendarme Dumas, Frank Lackteen as Gendarme Chavet, George J Lewis as Gendarme Duval, Rico Alaniz as Gendarme, Belle Mitchell as Concierge, and Creighton Hale as Concierge’s Husband.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,684

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Facsimile of Poe’s original manuscript for The Murders in the Rue Morgue.