''The Black Castle'' is a 1952 American

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 ...

directed by

Nathan H. Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...

and starring

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series '' ...

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 ...

Stephen McNally Stephen McNally (born Horace Vincent McNally; July 29, 1911 – June 4, 1994) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many Westerns and action films. He often played hard-hearted characters, criminals, bullies, and othe ...

Rita Corday Rita Corday (born Jeanne Paule Teipo-Ite-Marma Croset; October 20, 1920 – November 23, 1992) was an American actress. She appeared in 30 films during the 1940s and 1950s. She was sometimes billed as Paula Corday or Paule Croset. Biography ...

and

Lon Chaney Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dracu ...

It was produced by

William Alland William Alland (March 4, 1916 – November 11, 1997) was an American actor, film producer and writer, mainly of Western and science-fiction/monster films, including ''This Island Earth'', ''It Came From Outer Space'', ''Tarantula!'', ''The Dead ...

. The film was made in the United States but premiered in Sweden.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 359-360

Plot

Sir Ronald Burton, a British gentleman, investigates the disappearance of two of his friends at the Austrian estate of the sinister Count von Bruno. Bruno secretly seeks revenge against the leaders of a British force that set the natives against him in colonial Africa: Burton's missing friends are among Bruno's victims, and Burton is now also in the trap. Burton plans to escape with Bruno's abused Countess, but the Count's henchmen bar the way.

Cast

as Sir Ronald Burton, alias Richard Beckett *

as Dr. Meissen *

as Count Carl von Bruno *

as Countess Elga von Bruno (as Paula Corday) *

Lon Chaney, Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dra ...

as Gargon *

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his film and TV ...

as Count Steiken *

Michael Pate Michael Pate OAM (born Edward John Pate; 26 February 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who also worked in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early life Pate was born in Drum ...

as Count Ernst von Melcher * Nancy Valentine – Therese von Wilk * Tudor Owen as Romley *

Henry Corden Henry Corden (born Henry Cohen; January 6, 1920 – May 19, 2005) was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed's death in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in the 1 ...

as Fender *

Otto Waldis Otto Waldis (born Otto Glucksmann-Blum, May 20, 1901 – March 25, 1974) was an Austrian-American character actor in films and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was also billed as Otto Blum. Years in Germany Waldis was born Otto ...

as Krantz the Innkeeper

Production

The film was going to be directed by

Joseph Pevney Joseph Pevney (September 15, 1911 – May 18, 2008) was an American film and television director.

with

Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...

doing the art direction. Pevney was unhappy with the script and when Universal refused to make the changes he wanted, left the picture. Universal decided to promote Juran to director two weeks before filming commenced. The shoot time was twenty days. The sets were designed by the art directors

Bernard Herzbrun Bernard Herzbrun (January 10, 1891 – January 7, 1964) was an American art director. He was nominated an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Alexander's Ragtime Band''. He worked on 275 films between 1930 and 19 ...

and Alfred Sweeney. Juran says he was helped greatly by the cast, particularly Boris Karloff ("he put so much into the character that wasn't in the script"), and his assistant director, William Holland. Universal was impressed with Juran's work and offered him a one-year contract as director.

Release

Universal released ''The Black Castle'' as a "special pre-release show" on Halloween night on October 31, 1952, before placing them in general release from the first week of November. ''The Black Castle'' was then released in major cities including Philadelphia and Los Angeles which were among the first cities to release the film. The film circulated between January and April 1953 but was only released in midwestern, southeastern, and southern towns with populations between 5000 and 50,000 until August 1953.

Reception

In contemporary reviews, ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' declared it "a good program horror melodrama, the kind that gives one the chills", and noted that "The three principals do good work, and so does Boris Karloff". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' found the film "stacks up as excellent program fare". ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' commented that the film "tries hard to chill the moviegoer's spine. Most of the time, however, this boy-meets-ghoul melodrama is only tepid theatrics." A statement ''Motion Picture Exhibitor'' echoed, stating "it is just a programmer, with the names not too potent for the marquee." In a retrospective review, ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' commented in 1996 that ''Black Castle'' "features all the necessary equipage for this type of full-bodied Gothic", noting it had an "admirable atmosphere, an agreeably adventuresome flavor and some genuinely fine art direction and photography" before declaring it "The last of the old-fashioned Universal horror costumers, ''The Black Castle'' dishes up action and chills with ghoulish gusto".

Home media release

This film, along with ''

Night Key ''Night Key'' is a science fiction crime film starring Boris Karloff and released by Universal Pictures in 1937. Plot The inventor of a burglar alarm (Karloff) attempts to get back at the man who stole the profits to his invention (Hinds) befor ...

'', '' ''Tower of London'''', ''

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 * ...

'' and '' The Strange Door'', was released on DVD in 2006 by Universal Studios as part of ''The Boris Karloff Collection''. On August 25, 2020, Scream Factory released "Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6", a four-movie set in which "The Black Castle" featured a Tom Weaver audio commentary.

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Castle 1952 films 1950s English-language films American black-and-white films 1952 horror films American mystery films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Nathan Juran Films set in Austria Films set in the 18th century Films set in castles 1950s historical horror films American historical horror films 1950s mystery films 1950s American films