''The House of Mystery'' is a 1934 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

mystery film directed by

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'', ...

. The film was an adaptation of the play ''The Ape'' by Adam Hull Shirk.

Plot

After plundering and desecrating a temple in India in 1913, drunken archeologist John Prendergast is cursed by the priest, who re-animates a gorilla Prendergast killed and orders it to wreak its revenge on the thief. Twenty years later, a partially paralyzed Prendergast resurfaces in the United States as the rich philanthropist, John Pren. His backers assemble at his mansion to demand their share of his plunder. Pren warns them that the "spirit of Kali" (the undead gorilla) killed two people he tried to repay. A

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spe ...

is held to try to contact and appease Kali, but one of the backers is found strangled afterward. Later that night, another backer is found dead, dressed in a gorilla suit. A police investigation goes nowhere, and backer Jack Armstrong is attacked by the gorilla but escapes. Another backer dies, and Pren is found unconscious—the ape's attack on him apparently interrupted. Pren proposes to his nurse, Ella, which enrages Pren's long-time companion, the Hindu girl Chanda. The police discover Pren has been faking paralysis and has been killing off his backers by allowing Kali to attack them. The ape kills Pren, but the police save Ella in the nick of time.

Cast

*Ed Lowry as Dylan "Jack" Armstrong *

Verna Hillie Verna or Virna may refer to: People * Verna Aardema (1911–2000), American author of children's books * Verna Bloom (1939–2019), American actress * Virna De Angeli (born 1976), Italian former sprinter * Virna Dias (born 1971), Brazilian retired ...

as Ella Browning * John Sheehan as Harry Smith *

Brandon Hurst Brandon Hurst (30 November 1866 – 15 July 1947) was an English stage and film actor. Early life Born in London, England, Hurst studied philology in his youth and began performing in theater in the 1880s. Before he began acting professionall ...

as Hindu Priest *

Joyzelle Joyner Joyzelle Joyner (August 27, 1905 – November 30, 1980) was an American actress and dancer. She appeared in at least thirty films between 1925 and 1935, garnering some notoriety for her appearance in '' The Sign of the Cross''. Career Joyner be ...

as Chanda *

Fritzi Ridgeway Fredericka Berneice "Fritzi" Ridgeway (April 8, 1898 – March 29, 1961) was an American silent film actress, vaudeville performer, and hotelier. Though she starred in numerous films, she is perhaps best known for her work in silent Western films ...

as Stella Walker *

Clay Clement Clay Clement (May 19, 1888 – October 20, 1956) was an American stage, film, and TV actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1918 and 1947. Clement was one of the earliest members of the Screen Actors Guild.George 'Gabby' Hayes George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

as David Fells * Dale Fuller as Mrs. Geraldine Carfax * Harry C. Bradley as Prof. Horatio Potter *

Irving Bacon Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jose ...

as Police Insp. Ned Pickens *Mary Foy as Mrs. Hyacinth Potter

Production

Prior to being released, ''The House of Mystery'' was prepared under the working titles ''The Ape'' and ''Curse of Kali'' by the studios

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. It was an adaptation of the play '' The Ape'' by

Adam Hull Shirk Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

. Among the cast was Verna Hillie who was borrowed from Paramount by Monogram for the production. Also among the cast was Laya Joy, an interpretive dancer who changed her name from Joyzelle just prior to the release of the film. The film was shot early in 1934 between January 25 and the 30 at General Service Studios.

Release

''The House of Mystery'' was released on 30 May 1934. The play ''The Ape'' was later adapted again by Monogram and directed by Nigh as '' The Ape'' (1940) 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 ...

. The two films only follow the plot point of a character disguising themselves as an ape. Siodmak spoke of the adaptation, declaring that "whether it was ''The Ape'', ''

The Climax The Climax may refer to: * The Climax (1944 film), a horror film * The Climax (1930 film), a thriller film * The Climax (illustration), a work of art by Aubrey Beardsley See also * Climax (disambiguation) Climax may refer to: Language arts * ...

'' (1944), or ''

I Walked with a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison (actor), James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who trave ...

'' (1943), I never used the original material. I used my own stories."

References

Sources

External links

* * * 1934 films 1934 mystery films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Monogram Pictures films American mystery films Films directed by William Nigh 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{mystery-film-stub