Customer Reviews

The Black Raven

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

George Zucco plays Bradford the owner of a country inn and Glen Strange playing as a bumbling oaf. On a stormy night "The Black Raven" is visited by a convict with a grudge against Bradford, a bank teller who has stolen $50k, and a couple that are eloping.

The atmosphere is excellent i.e., an old dark house on a stormy night!

Glen Strange is the one that played Frankenstein the last three "Frankenstein" movies House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, and of course he played Sam on Gunsmoke.

I'm a fan of George Zucco, but I found this movie exceedingly tedious. For one thing, I couldn't see what was going on half of the time; a significant part of the action takes place either in darkened rooms or outside in the pitch black rainy night. This also contributes to a problem I had of keeping a couple of characters straight, especially the criminal types who spend most of their time hiding or stomping around huddled in rain gear. There was also very little character development-we just get one-shot glances at some of the individuals, and this lack of depth gave me little with which to distinguish some of them in my mind. One guy's a criminal who has broken out of jail in order to get revenge on Zucco's character "the Raven," (whose shadiness of character is never quite clear, particularly in terms of the past and the present). Another guy is apparently on the run after having been sold out by his own crooked boss. Then you have the stereotypical little guy who is sick of being treated like the cowardly runt he is and has embezzled fifty thousand dollars. The only half way normal people we meet are a man and woman whose plan of eloping to Canada has been delayed by the storm outside. Her father, some kind of criminally inclined businessman himself, tracks his daughter to the Raven's hotel, thus setting the stage for the night's drama. He is murdered, the embezzled money disappears, and the incompetent sheriff doesn't have the time or desire to actually investigate a crime, especially since it's so much easier to just pick somebody out and pin everything on him. The plethora of killings that follow each of his arrests greatly annoys him. The second half of the film basically consists of different people, often unidentifiable to me because of the darkness on screen, running around the house hiding from, ridiculing, and basically annoying each other. Perhaps if I had been able to actually see what was going on, I would have enjoyed this movie. Even George Zucco didn't seem to have his heart in this film. His cinematic get-togethers of either invited or unplanned guests are usually interesting, but this is an exception.

This film has it all as far as I'm concerned.

Up front, I need to say that I'm a HUGE fan of old black-and-white mystery/suspense films... so, if you're NOT such a person, this movie probably isn't going to turn your crank.

But, for fans of the genre, this one offers darn near every great old stereotype that has been seen to date (but no darting, beady eyeballs from behind portraits, dang it!).

Zucco operates an old isolated hotel (The Black Raven, by name) near the eastern U.S. -- Canadian border where he is in business smuggling both goods and people back and forth across the border at a good profit. He is assisted in this dubious endeavor by his dark and somewhat mentally-diminished step-and-fetch-it, played by the great Glenn Strange (a frequent portrayer of the Frankenstein Monster in various films).

Due to a big-time rainstorm, (which prevails throughout the movie), and which 'washes out the bridges', a dark and swarthy cast of characters are funnelled into the hotel, mostly for reasons of being-up-to-no-good. About the only legitimate folks there includes one nice-looking and sincere couple, whom are elopeing to Canada to get married, not having the blessing of her dad, a big crooked business magnate -- he shows up to put the skids to the marriage but gets knocked off and solving this mystery is the focus of the main story-line.

As I said, there are multiple sub-plots (a weasely embezzeler, a vengeful convict, a slick mafia thug, etc.), all manifested by the best character actors of the period. The sheriff who shows up to investigate the murder is wonderfully played by Charles Middleton, of Ming The Merciless (Flash Gordon) fame!

A surprise, Zucco shows his ethical side by trying to aid the young couple, as the fiance is suspected by Middleton of knocking off his future father-in-law. So, Zucco, while a crook, becomes a very sympathetic character -- that's a nice caveat of the film.

This movie conveys the essential ambiance of 'The Old Dark House' but the film quality is far superior with great sound and few film-scratch lines. The set is also just the best, with cool rooms and groovy old accoutrements. Zucco's ability here to generate an atmosphere-noir is reminiscent of his great performances in both 'Fog Island' and 'The Feathered Serpent'. In fact, the producers used the very same intrigueing filmscore here as was utilized in that latter great entry.

In the end, early-period mystery/suspense fans won't want to miss this fine movie. I don't know where it's been all these years but I'm glad that someone finally retreived it from the archives and got it on to DVD!

BLACK RAVEN IS A TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE OF A POVERTY ROW OLD DARK HOUSE MURDER MYSTERY. STORMY NIGHT, WASHED-OUT BRIDGE, WEIRD ASSORTMENT OF ODDBALL CHARACTERS WITH SHADY PASTS, SPOOKY WAYSIDE INN, SECRETS TO HIDE, AND THEN THE MURDERS BEGIN...EVERYONE IS A POTENTIAL SUSPECT OR VICTIM.
GEORGE ZUCCO IS A MASTER AT THIS KIND OF STUFF & IS GREAT TO WATCH AS ALWAYS, SECOND ONLY TO LUGOSI FOR SHEER ENTERTAINMENT VALUE IN THE LAND OF PRC/MONOGRAM. A MUST HAVE FOR FANS OF THE GENRE!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
HOWEVER,....
THE ALPHA DVD VERSION COMES FROM NOT THE GREATEST SOURCE MATERIAL. THE PRINT IS RATHER DARK MAKING IT HARD TO SEE WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON IN SOME SCENES & THAT'S WHY I KNOCK OFF A STAR IN THE OVERALL RATING OF WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE A MUST FOR ZUCCO FANS.

The ad for this film states that you will be kept guessing until the end as to who the real killer is.

Not. I was able to pick the person out within the first 10 minutes of the picture. That's really neither here nor there, but if you are looking for a shocking surprise, you won't get it from this movie.

To be fair, however, this is a better than average crime flick with good acting all around and the comedic moments are less dated that most from similar films of the era.

There is a lot of good tension in the middle of the film and the revelation of who did it works well.

"I wouldn't have thought that a vintage whodunit could be so multifaceted. Given the minimalist setting, the plot is deliciously complex. George Zucco's cool and unruffled performance is especially noteworthy. I was left guessing wildly till the very end."

The 1943 PRC effort "The Black Raven" is an interesting mix of "old dark house" stories and a slight dash of film noir.

George Zucco is great as Amos Bradford, the owner of The Black Raven Inn, a stopover on the edge of the Canadian border. Bradford is also known to the underworld as a contact man who can help crooks escape across the border to safety. Add a thunderstorm, several crooks, a pair of young lovers, a timid banker, and a bumbling handyman to the mix, and the stage is set for murder, mystery, and mayhem.

Serial fans will want to keep and eye out for the Sheriff, played by Charles Middleton. Middleton is probably best known to fans as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials.

this is good old movie dont expect to much but the acting in these movies are so cool as compared to the new hollywood style people, and the plot is cool to. were have these days gone now its crap movies and special effects

The Black Raven

The music sets the spooky mood at the beginning. Amos Bradford (The Raven) and the other characters are introduced. `The Black Raven" is an inn, Andy is the handyman. It is a dark and stormy night. Whitey Cole enters with a pistol for revenge, but is thwarted. A car arrives with a lone man. Mike Bardoni wants to slip across the border to Canada, he is a wanted man. [Note the misspelled name in the `NY Leader'.] Another visitor arrives, then a young couple Allen and Lee. The bridges are washed out, travelers can't cross over to Canada via Highway 3. We learn about the characters from their conversations. Tin Winfield also drops in for added drama. The phone is dead, they are isolated. [There are comic touches to this drama.] There is drama for Mr. Weatherby, the vacationing bank cashier. Is big Tim Winfield crooked?

The music adds to the suspense. Tim had an accident while wearing Amos' robe. Where is that money? The Sheriff enters to find out who called the police. Allen is a suspect. Bardoni wants to find the money. The actions is played for laughs at times. Can they find the murderer? The Sheriff shoots at a running man. Bardoni locks Andy and the bank cashier in the cellar, then ties up Amos and Miss Lee Winfield. Doors open and men enter and leave. A shot is fired in the dark. Another dead man! Who is guilty? More shots come from outside. There is a meeting and the murders are solved by confessions. There will be a happy ending for Allen Bentley and Lee Winfield. [Did Allen call Amos "Mr. Benson" by mistake?]

This is a low-budget drama that is still entertaining and sometimes unintentionally funny. It is set in rural upstate New York. Filming in the rain must have been a technical challenge then; it is seldom done in modern times. The setting suggests a stage play.