Shelter from the Storm

THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932)
Starring Karloff, Melvyn Douglass, Charles Laughton and Lilian Bond
Directed by James Whale
(72 minutes) B&W

“No beds!” shrieks the overly-religious Rebecca Femm to her brow-beaten brother and the storm-tossed visitors to their old dark house – meaning in her mind that the sinful will find no comfort within the home, but to her brother it is a literal truth as the house is old and dark but not large enough to contain housing for visitors. In a larger sense, though, it means “no rest for the wicked and innocent alike.” It is, after all, a dark and stormy night, and this is a James Whale film from 1932.

Our anxiety awaits no cue from background music here – though not a silent picture the soundtrack lacks the usual stereotypical swell of crescendos or ebb of diminuendo. Our anxiety about the characters’ fates comes from out of our own apprehension and experience. We hear behind the dialogue nothing but sounds of the world at its tempestuous worst: banging doors, breaking glass, sudden cock crows, unexpected thunder, scattershot blasts of rain against wood and glass and stone.

There are also occasional screams, and dialogue like what opens my bit of fluff here. On the other hand, if you do not care for the negatives of sister Femm, perhaps you would rather hear something positive from her hospitable brother Horace. “Have a potato,” he offers – and you need to see the film to know the magic of that line.

You need to see the film, period. You should see it twice: once to get rid of your probable-preconceptions to a very old black-and-white terror tale containing no blood and little physical violence; the second time to appreciate the subtle bits you missed while waiting for the business-as-usual during your first viewing. After that, you will want to see it again. You'll have plenty of time to see it again, because after the second time you will find yourself strangely unable to rest. Almost as if there were no beds for you, too...