Book-To-Movie: Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Black Cat'

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

It's another fourth Monday of the month and so that means it's time for another Book-To-Movie review! In a Book-To-Movie (BTM), we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. A few years back, we had a BTM for Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat" and its movie adaptation. However, the movie we reviewed was actually a segment in Roger Corman’s anthology film, "Tales of Terror", which features three of Poe's short stories, including "Black Cat". And I'll tell you now, I liked that version far more than the version that we're going to review today which is the 1934 Universal adaptation starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. I like Corman's version better mostly because it stays more faithful to the original short story than Universal's does. However, even though Universal's "Black Cat", directed by Edgar Ulmer, strays (excuse the pun) far from Poe's short story, as its own work it's still a good film.

Poe's Short Story, 'The Black Cat'

Poe's short tale of terror, "The Black Cat", is about an alcoholic who murder's is own pet, all-black-furred cat, but continues being haunted by it afterwards. One can say he's haunted by it literally. The same cat seems to show up after the murder in which the narrator becomes terrified of the animal and has a total hatred for it. 

Poe utilises really good in his story the myths of the nine lives of cats and black cats bringing ill fortune. Like most of his horror tales, he goes far into the psychology of the main character, showing the madness that gradually builds up to a terrifying climax. The despair of the main character leading to his own downfall is convincing.

Universal's Movie Adaptation of 'The Black Cat'

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Ulmer’s movie adaptation of “The Black Cat” shouldn't be confused with the movie of the same name that came 10 years later and also both starred Bela Lugosi and was very loosely based on Poe's short story. I won't go into that one since I haven't seen it. The story to the 1934 film adaptation is that, after having been in a car accident, a newlywed couple are stranded with psychiatrist Dr. Werdegast (Lugosi) at the Hungarian estate of Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff; note the first three letters of the character's name spell "Poe" which was probably intentional). Werdegast has returned to Hungary to take revenge on Poelzig who was his comrade in a war several years ago but betrayed him to the enemy. Werdegast and the newlyweds soon discover that Poelzig is a Satanic priest who performs human sacrifices in his home.

So, what does this movie have to do with Poe's short story that it's supposed to be based on?  Very little if anything. That very little is that there is a black cat, Poelzig’s, that Werdegast, like the main character in Poe’s story, is terrified of. His dread of it is due to a feline phobia. (Very ironic: a psychiatrist whose profession includes helping people overcome phobias has one himself!) When he first comes across the cat, he's so terrified that he throws a knife at it. The cat screeches. Although we never see the blade hitting it because the cat is out of the camera’s view at that moment, we assume it's dead. However, it shows up several more times throughout the movie. That's as much as this movie resembles Poe's story.

Even though this film barely has any resemblance to the short story, as its own work it’s good. The storyline is well-developed. Lugosi and Karloff's acting is convincing and their characters are believable and sympathetic. The setting is done in an interesting manner that takes a turn from traditional gothic horror: Poelzig's estate consists of a futuristic style castle built on top of a medieval dungeon which is in the German-Expressionist style of odd angled architecture. Also, the intense soundtrack toward the end goes really good with the rising suspense. 

There are some problems with this film, however, and that's aside from the fact that it deviates too far from Poe's story. One is that, unlike in the second half of the film, the soundtrack in the first half is very poor. Even during the intense and threatening moments, it plays as an ongoing love-romance melody. Another problem is that the actors who play the newlywed couple exaggerate their performance as much as their characters come across as too typical and melodramatic. Other than these flaws, the movie is of a high quality.

I've said in past Book-To-Movie reviews that it can be a challenge to expand a short story into a full-length film while staying faithful to the original story. Perhaps this was the problem with Universal's "The Black Cat" as far as movie adaptations go. Or perhaps the producers were simply trying to capitalise on Poe's name as a classic author. Yet, as its own movie and storyline, it's well-developed especially for a time frame shy over one hour, about the average time many movies played in the 1930s. 

I’m working on the newsletter for May so, by the time I finish it, you can expect it to release at the end of this month or early next. In my newsletter, “Night Creatures Call”, I discuss updates on my latest book project, in this case my upcoming short fiction collection “Bad Apps”. If you haven’t subscribed to the newsletter then you can do so for free here.

Have you read Poe’s short story, “The Black Cat”, or seen any of its movie adaptations?

Until next time . . .