''The Ghoul'' is a 1933 British

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

and featuring

Harold Huth Harold Huth (20 January 1892 – 26 October 1967) was a British actor, film director and producer. Biography Early life He was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1892. He was a nephew of Eva Moore and a cousin of the actor Roland Pertwee. Fo ...

Dorothy Hyson Dorothy Hyson, Lady Quayle (born Dorothy Wardell Heisen; December 24, 1914May 23, 1996) was an American-born film and stage actress who worked largely in England. During World War II, she worked as a cryptographer at Bletchley Park. Early lif ...

Ernest Thesiger Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE (15 January 1879 – 14 January 1961) was an English stage and film actor. He is noted for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935). Biography E ...

, and

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

;

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

made his film debut.

Plot

Professor Henry Morlant (

), a great

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

, thinks that the ancient jewel which he calls the "Eternal Light" will give him powers of rejuvenation if it is offered up to the ancient Egyptian god

Anubis Anubis (; grc, Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian () is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depict ...

. But when Morlant dies, his servant Laing (

) steals the jewel. While a gaggle of interlopers, including a disreputable solicitor (

) and a fake

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

(

), descend on the Professor's manor to investigate or steal the jewel for themselves, Morlant returns from the dead ("when the full moon strikes the door of my tomb", he predicted before dying) to kill everyone who has betrayed him.

Cast

as Professor Henry Morlant, renowned

as Mr. Broughton, the Professor's solicitor *

as Laing, the Professor's clubfooted servant *

as Miss Betty Harlon, the Professor's niece and one of his two heirs *

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and als ...

as Ralph Morlant, the Professor's nephew and one of his two heirs *

Kathleen Harrison Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working ...

as Miss Kaney, Miss Betty Harlon's flatmate and movie's comic relief *

Sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

Aga Ben Dragore, who sold the jewel to the Professor * D. A. Clarke-Smith as Mahmoud *

as Nigel Hartley, false

Jack Raine Thomas Foster "Jack" Raine (18 May 1897 – 30 May 1979) was an English stage, television and film actor. He was a leading man of the British cinema in the late twenties and early thirties in such films as ''The Hate Ship'' (1929), '' Raise the ...

as Davis, Mr. Broughton's chauffeur (uncredited) *

George Relph George Relph, CBE (27 January 1888 – 24 April 1960) was an English actor. He acted in more than a dozen films, and also many plays. He served in the British Army in the First World War, and was shot in the leg, hindering his return to acting. ...

as Doctor (uncredited)

Release and preservation

Loosely based on a 1928 novel by Frank King (and subsequent play by King and Leonard J. Hines), ''The Ghoul'' was produced by

Gaumont British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France. Film production Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...

and released in the UK in August 1933. Release in the US followed in January 1934, with a reissue in 1938. The film was financially successful in the UK, but performed disappointingly in the US. The only film made during a brief contract dispute with Universal Studios, ''The Ghoul'' also marked the first time in over two decades that Karloff had acted in Britain and the British film industry. Subsequently, the film disappeared and was considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. In 1969, collector

William K. Everson Keith William Everson (8 April 1929 – 14 April 1996) was an English- American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector, and film historian. He also discovered several lost films. Everson's given first names were Keith William, but he r ...

located a murky, virtually inaudible subtitled copy, ''Běs'', in then-communist

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Though missing eight minutes of footage including two violent murder scenes, it was thought to be the only surviving copy of the film. Everson had a 16mm copy made and for years made it available to film societies in England and the United States, including a screening at

The New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

in New York City in 1975 on a Halloween triple bill with

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

in '' The Monster'' and

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

in '' The Gorilla''. Subsequently,

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the ...

and Janus Film made an archival negative of the Prague print and it went into very limited commercial distribution. In the early 1980s, a disused and forgotten film vault at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused w ...

, its door blocked by stacked lumber, was cleared and yielded the nitrate camera negative of the film in perfect condition. The

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

took possession of the film, new prints were made, and the complete version aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in the UK. However, the official VHS release from

MGM/UA Home Video MGM/UA may refer to: *Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, American film and television production and distribution company **United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital p ...

was of the mutilated Czech copy. In 2003, MGM/UA released the fully restored version of the film on DVD. It was subsequently released in the United Kingdom by Network Distributing, in restored DVD and Blu-Ray editions featuring a new commentary by

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

and Stephen Jones. Shown on the

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

show

Svengoolie ''Svengoolie'' is an American horror host, hosted horror movie television program. The show features horror and science fiction films and is hosted by the eponymous character Svengoolie, who was originally played by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970 to 1 ...

on March 19, 2022.

Later version

''What A Carve Up!'' (1961) is a British comedy-horror film directed by

Pat Jackson Patrick Douglas Selmes Jackson (26 March 1916 – 3 June 2011) was an English film and television director. Biography Born in Eltham, to a formerly affluent family which was severely affected by the Wall Street Crash in 1929, and his father' ...

and starring

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mid ...

Kenneth Connor Kenneth Connor, (6 June 1918 – 28 November 1993) was a British stage, film and broadcasting actor, who rose to national prominence with his appearances in the ''Carry On'' films. Early life Connor was born in Highbury, Islington, London, ...

, and

Shirley Eaton Shirley Jean Eaton (born 12 January 1937) is an English actress, author and singer. Eaton appeared regularly in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and gained her highest profile for her iconic appearance as Bond Girl Jill Masterson in ...

, loosely based on ''The Ghoul''. It was released in the United States as ''No Place Like Homicide'' in 1962.

References

External links