This film is really bad. An old woman is killed by one of her greedy relatives; she is very fortunate, she gets out of the film in the first ten minutes. Some terrible director named Beebe was unable to overcome this horrible script. Even more horrible than the plot were the attempts at humor by Broderick Crawford, who played sort of a virile Lou Costello. His sidekick was trying to be funny, also, but he did as well as grandmother. I liked all of Crawford's other films; he should have bought the copies of this one and had it burned. This is also the worst thing ever done by Basil Rathbone, a very decent actor, who could not escape strangulation from a horrible script. And you thought Ed Wood was a bad director and that Bela Lugosi hit bottom with Plan 9 From Outer Space. Wrong on both counts. Ed Wood is Hitchcock compared to this amateur who tried to direct this film. And Lugosi, as bad as he was in Plan 9, was much better in that film than this one. The script was written during a lunch break at the studio lot; or maybe not even that long.I understand that this film opened in Tokyo one week before Pearl Harbor; I am pretty sure it was the primary reason that Japan started a war against the US. Actually one star is too high a rating, but I felt sorry for Broderick.

Any time you can get as many familiar movie faces in one film viewing should never be passed up. But The Black Cat and there is a dark feline that is always around when something bad happens is a wonderful film that is right on the edge of mystery and comedy and succeeds at both.Partly that's because so many of these people have played sinister roles in other movies you will have a hard time guessing who the real perpetrator is. Even Alan Ladd whose stardom was yet to come had as his debut contract killer Raven in This Gun For Hire.Even Broderick Crawford who appears as the nominal hero of the piece played a lot of villainous thug types. He also played many a dim bulb before his Oscar in All The King's Men and it's in dim bulb mode that Crawford stays in the movie.Crawford is a real estate salesman and he's accompanied by Hugh Herbert who is an antique dealer and the only one you're reasonably sure is the murderer. They've come to make Cecilia Loftus an offer for her creepy old mansion and Herbert wants the furnishings. They arrive just in time to hear what her intentions are via a will to her grasping relatives. But she doesn't get to reveal all before she's murdered and now the hunt for the killer is on. Some more folks also get eliminated before all is revealed.Any film that has folks like those already mentioned plus Gale Sondergaard, Claire Dodd, Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Gladys Cooper, Anne Gwynne and John Eldredge should not be missed.Wouldn't have been something if Hugh Herbert was the murderer?

1941's "The Black Cat," not to be confused with Bela Lugosi's 1934 classic, is merely another 'Old Dark House' murder-mystery in a comic vein, in the wake of 1939's "The Cat and the Canary." The unfunny comedy relief is supplied by Hugh Herbert, while the remainder of the stalwart cast maintain interest throughout, despite a severely dragging middle in which virtually nothing of interest happens, one red herring topping another. The young Broderick Crawford is certainly likable, and pairs nicely with lovely Anne Gwynne, but top-billed Basil Rathbone is reduced to playing a weasely scoundrel, fooling around with beautiful Claire Dodd behind the back of desperate wife Gladys Cooper, to the annoyance of her devoted stepson (Alan Ladd). Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) has been at death's door for some time, but makes certain that her many cats will be taken care of, along with longtime housekeeper Abigail Doone (Gale Sondergaard) and caretaker Eduardo Vedos (Bela Lugosi); when she gets stabbed to death with a long hatpin, hardly anyone bats an eye. One of the nicer aspects of the film is that the titular black cat actually becomes the hero during the admittedly thrilling climax, first alerting Crawford to his girl's danger, then causing the killer's demise. Claire Dodd was enjoying a resurgence at Universal ("In the Navy," "The Mad Doctor of Market Street"), where she had previously starred in 1934's "Secret of the Château," while the relatively unknown Alan Ladd remained a year away from stardom in "This Gun for Hire." Lugosi is genuinely amusing but sadly wasted, happily hamming it up in numerous gag photos on set; Gale Sondergaard, the one cast member from "The Cat and the Canary," remains stuck in dour mode, the still attractive actress amply filling out her uniform. No classic but entertaining, "The Black Cat" appeared four times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater: Jan 4 1975 (following 1945's "A Game of Death"), Aug 28 1976 (following 1960's "Dr. Blood's Coffin"), July 23 1977 (following Al Adamson's "Man with the Synthetic Brain"), and June 11 1983 (solo). The 1934 "Black Cat" had been a 5 time broadcast before this 1941 title debuted, totaling 8 overall.

For my taste, there's too much humor in this semi-spoof of the old dark house type mystery, but it manages to be fairly entertaining anyway.The strongest thing the movie has going for it is the marvelous sets, that really convey the feeling of a large and elaborately furnished old mansion out in the country. The typical thunderstorm that strands a group of people for the night is present and contributes greatly to the spooky atmosphere.Cecelia Loftus is wonderful as the old lady whose will has a surprise in store for her greedy relatives. Good supporting performances from Anne Gwynne as the nicest member of the family, with such reliables as John Eldredge and Basil Rathbone among the would-be heirs, including a surly young Alan Ladd and Gladys Cooper as Rathbone's long suffering wife. Bela Lugosi gets to look sinister a lot, but his character is actually benign, if a bit cryptic.The weakest parts have to do with the rather forced comedy involving real estate hustlers Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert, who are hoping to sell the old house and its collection of antiques. Crawford's character is meant to be a sort of bumbling hero, but he gets pretty annoying, with his almost manic energy. Hugh Herbert has a few amusing moments, such as his naive conversation with the predatory Gale Sondergaard as the housekeeper, when she offers him a suspicious looking cup of tea. But his brand of absent-minded humor is more intrusive than comical most of the time, and the picture would have been better if played a little more straight.This is a fairly entertaining little movie overall and should be enjoyed by most viewers who like the mysterious old house type of film.