In spring 1931, Robert Florey had been hired by Universal to adapt FRANKENSTEIN as a follow-up to Dracula, and prepared to direct the new movie. Abruptly, however, he was asked to assist in adapting Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue" into movie form, since other writers had been stumped and Florey had successfully turned Frankenstein into a feature script.
Florey subsequently discovered with anger and disappointment that Universal had decided to transfer him as both writer and director, along with prospective FRANKENSTEIN star Bela Lugosi, to RUE MORGUE. Florey saw that Universal "wanted to produce MORGUE quickly and cheaply," as the second horror movie put into production to capitalize on the success of Dracula.
Florey had a lifelong fondness for Edgar Allan Poe, but almost nothing remained of the original story in his version. He also relied on elements drawn from plays presented by the Thatre du Grand Guignol (in which he had been involved as a teen-ager), and other German expressionist films, elements that also suffused his later horror films THE FLORENTINE DAGGER (1935), THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (1941), and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946). Florey also added numerous background characters inspired by Henri Murger's stories of the Bohemians.
Universal had determined to make Lugosi their new Lon Chaney, so the Poe original had to be altered even more to serve as a Lugosi vehicle, adding a new character which he could portray, Dr. Mirakle, a fanatical pre-Darwinian evolutionist. Florey and Tom Reed collaborated on the continuity, while Reed later polished the script and wrote the dialogue with Dale Van Every. Last to be brought in for "additional dialogue" was John Huston, in one of his earliest Hollywood credits.
Poe's own character Dupin was altered from a detective presaging Sherlock Holmes to a romantic young medical student. Mirakle represents in many ways the darker, ethically questionable side of Dupin's work, epitomized by his fascination with the morgue, and Mirakle and Dupin are frequently paralleled in both plot and visuals.
There are a number of obvious similarities between FRANKENSTEIN and MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE: the scientist's peculiar assistant (symbolically bridging the evolutionary gap between the doctor and his creature); the lab in an abandoned hovel; and the monster's superhuman strength, in the climax attacking his master and being pursued by a mob. Florey candidly admitted the resemblance: "The Universal people, not being particularly bright, didn't realize that I again used the same plot, using an ape instead of a monster and this time giving the Doctor's part to Lugosi."
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is also heavily indebted to THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919), and has been described as the German classic's most direct descendant in the United States. Previously, around 1925, Florey had shot tests for a "Caligari-esque" experimental film, THE MAD DOCTOR; only a few stills survive, but in costume, make-up, pose and lighting they bear a close resemblance to Drs. Caligari and Mirakle.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is also a popularization and Americanization of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. Upon learning that MORGUE had to be a Lugosi horror story rather than a Poe mystery, the screenwriters took the entire framed story of CALIGARI prior to the asylum, and with deceptive simplicity transformed the remainder into a Hollywood genre film.
Not only does MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE use a CALIGARI-like story, it also has a similar visual design. The setting of MORGUE is not the familiar Paris, which was impossible on the limited budget; it is the Boulevard du Crime, a dark underworld of temptations, menace and mystery.
The acting in MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was in a different vein from the Hollywood norm of naturalism and contemporaneity, striving instead to accent the period setting and fantastic nature of the story through florid, stereotypical characterizations compatible with the bizarre set design and expressionistic camera-work.
Cinematographer Karl Freund's trademark mobile camera was almost perpetually on the move, in a manner reminiscent of his virtuoso work on THE LAST LAUGH, and RUE MORGUE was especially advanced over FRANKENSTEIN in terms of camera mobility.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was, overall, exceptionally fast-paced and lasts only a tight 62 minutes. "I saw the rushes of MURDERS every evening and worked closely with the cutter," explained Florey, "telling him how I wanted the film edited, quick cuts lasting less than a few frames, etc." But Florey was never one to allow even a rapid tempo to grow monotonous by its speed, and so the story pauses periodically for languorous moments. This combines with a shift in the movie--horror dominating the first half and detection the latter part--resulting in diminished suspense during the second half, as the audience waits in frustration for Dupin to deduce what the viewer has already seen. This factor, combined with the tendency of some scenes to be far more effective than others in generating terror, creates a certain unevenness throughout the film.
Shooting on MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE lasted 23 days, filming sometimes nearly round the clock, going five days over schedule but remaining under budget. Just as MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was completed, the enormous grosses of FRANKENSTEIN convinced the studio to allow seven days of re-takes and added scenes, bringing the total cost of the film to $190,099just about half the budget of Dracula.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was, and remains, in many ways utterly unique: none of the other Universal horror films were so redolent of European film-making techniques, in terms of visual design, lighting, camera technique, exaggerated acting, and deliberate pacing; there was little of the characteristic gloss or unobtrusive style of Hollywood studio production. The differences from the norm of American film-making have been even more apparent by the "remakes" of the Poe story over the years.
Florey subsequently discovered with anger and disappointment that Universal had decided to transfer him as both writer and director, along with prospective FRANKENSTEIN star Bela Lugosi, to RUE MORGUE. Florey saw that Universal "wanted to produce MORGUE quickly and cheaply," as the second horror movie put into production to capitalize on the success of Dracula.
Florey had a lifelong fondness for Edgar Allan Poe, but almost nothing remained of the original story in his version. He also relied on elements drawn from plays presented by the Thatre du Grand Guignol (in which he had been involved as a teen-ager), and other German expressionist films, elements that also suffused his later horror films THE FLORENTINE DAGGER (1935), THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK (1941), and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946). Florey also added numerous background characters inspired by Henri Murger's stories of the Bohemians.
Universal had determined to make Lugosi their new Lon Chaney, so the Poe original had to be altered even more to serve as a Lugosi vehicle, adding a new character which he could portray, Dr. Mirakle, a fanatical pre-Darwinian evolutionist. Florey and Tom Reed collaborated on the continuity, while Reed later polished the script and wrote the dialogue with Dale Van Every. Last to be brought in for "additional dialogue" was John Huston, in one of his earliest Hollywood credits.
Poe's own character Dupin was altered from a detective presaging Sherlock Holmes to a romantic young medical student. Mirakle represents in many ways the darker, ethically questionable side of Dupin's work, epitomized by his fascination with the morgue, and Mirakle and Dupin are frequently paralleled in both plot and visuals.
There are a number of obvious similarities between FRANKENSTEIN and MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE: the scientist's peculiar assistant (symbolically bridging the evolutionary gap between the doctor and his creature); the lab in an abandoned hovel; and the monster's superhuman strength, in the climax attacking his master and being pursued by a mob. Florey candidly admitted the resemblance: "The Universal people, not being particularly bright, didn't realize that I again used the same plot, using an ape instead of a monster and this time giving the Doctor's part to Lugosi."
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is also heavily indebted to THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1919), and has been described as the German classic's most direct descendant in the United States. Previously, around 1925, Florey had shot tests for a "Caligari-esque" experimental film, THE MAD DOCTOR; only a few stills survive, but in costume, make-up, pose and lighting they bear a close resemblance to Drs. Caligari and Mirakle.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE is also a popularization and Americanization of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. Upon learning that MORGUE had to be a Lugosi horror story rather than a Poe mystery, the screenwriters took the entire framed story of CALIGARI prior to the asylum, and with deceptive simplicity transformed the remainder into a Hollywood genre film.
Not only does MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE use a CALIGARI-like story, it also has a similar visual design. The setting of MORGUE is not the familiar Paris, which was impossible on the limited budget; it is the Boulevard du Crime, a dark underworld of temptations, menace and mystery.
The acting in MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was in a different vein from the Hollywood norm of naturalism and contemporaneity, striving instead to accent the period setting and fantastic nature of the story through florid, stereotypical characterizations compatible with the bizarre set design and expressionistic camera-work.
Cinematographer Karl Freund's trademark mobile camera was almost perpetually on the move, in a manner reminiscent of his virtuoso work on THE LAST LAUGH, and RUE MORGUE was especially advanced over FRANKENSTEIN in terms of camera mobility.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was, overall, exceptionally fast-paced and lasts only a tight 62 minutes. "I saw the rushes of MURDERS every evening and worked closely with the cutter," explained Florey, "telling him how I wanted the film edited, quick cuts lasting less than a few frames, etc." But Florey was never one to allow even a rapid tempo to grow monotonous by its speed, and so the story pauses periodically for languorous moments. This combines with a shift in the movie--horror dominating the first half and detection the latter part--resulting in diminished suspense during the second half, as the audience waits in frustration for Dupin to deduce what the viewer has already seen. This factor, combined with the tendency of some scenes to be far more effective than others in generating terror, creates a certain unevenness throughout the film.
Shooting on MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE lasted 23 days, filming sometimes nearly round the clock, going five days over schedule but remaining under budget. Just as MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was completed, the enormous grosses of FRANKENSTEIN convinced the studio to allow seven days of re-takes and added scenes, bringing the total cost of the film to $190,099just about half the budget of Dracula.
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE was, and remains, in many ways utterly unique: none of the other Universal horror films were so redolent of European film-making techniques, in terms of visual design, lighting, camera technique, exaggerated acting, and deliberate pacing; there was little of the characteristic gloss or unobtrusive style of Hollywood studio production. The differences from the norm of American film-making have been even more apparent by the "remakes" of the Poe story over the years.