Murders in the Rue Morgue

Murders in the Rue Morgue
Credits
Title:	Murders in the Rue Morgue
Genres:	Mystery Thriller
Directed by:	Robert Florey
Written by:	Tom Reed; Dale Van Every; Robert Florey; John Huston
Produced by:	E.M. Asher; Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Cinematography:	Karl Freund
Edited by:	Milton Carruth
Production
Distributed by:	Universal Pictures
Released:	February 21st, 1932
Rating:	Unrated
Running time:	61 min.
Country:	USA
Language:	English
Budget:	$190,000
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Murders in the Rue Morgue is an American feature film of the mystery thriller genre, which also includes elements of the horror genre. It is based on the short story of the same name by famed Gothic author Edgar Allan Poe. The movie was directed by Robert Florey, who also wrote the screen adaptation. The screenplay itself was written by Tom Reed and Dale Van Every. The movie was produced by Universal Pictures and is considered part of their "Universal Monsters" series. It premiered in the United States on February 21st, 1932. The film stars Bela Lugosi, who by this point, had already begun to carve himself a niche as a horror movie icon with his memorable performance in Universal's Dracula in 1931. In this film, he plays the role of demented scientist Doctor Mirakle, who trains a gorilla to attack young virgins. Also starring in the film is Sidney Fox as Camille L'Espanaye, Leon Ames as Pierre Dupin, Bert Roach as Paul, Betty Ross Clarke as Mme. L'Espanaye and Brandon Hurst as the Prefect of Police.

Cast

Credited cast

Actor	Role
Sidney Fox	Mlle. Camille L'Espanaye
Bela Lugosi	Doctor Mirakle
Leon Waycoff	Pierre Dupin
Bert Roach	Paul
Betty Ross Clarke	Mme. L'Espanaye
Brandon Hurst	Prefect of Police
D'Arcy Corrigan	Morgue keeper
Noble Johnson	Janos, the Black One
Arlene Francis	Woman of the street

Uncredited cast

Note: The following is taken from the full credits list for this entry on IMDB. As it is a website with user-submitted information, some of the data listed here, including character names may be inaccurate.

Actor	Role
Ted Billings	Sideshow spectator
Herman Bing	Franz Odenheimer
Agostino Borgato	Alberto Montani
Iron Eyes Cody	Indian at sideshow
Christian J. Frank	Gendarme using snuff
Charles Gemora	Erik, the Gorilla
Harrison Greene	Sideshow barker
Charlotte Henry	Blonde girl in sideshow audience
Harry Holman	Victor Albert Dupont
Edna Marion	Mignette
Torben Meyer	The Dane
Charles Millsfield	Bearded man at sideshow
Monte Montague	Workman; gendarme
John T. Murray	Gendarme
Tempe Pigott	Crone
Dorothy Vernon	Tenant
Michael Visaroff	Mirakle's sideshow barker
Polly Ann Young	Girl

Appearances

Locations

• France

• Paris

Items

• Carriage
• Corpse
• Crucifix

Creatures

• Apes

• Gorillas

• Horses

Miscellaneous

• 19th century

• 1845

• Cook
• Falling from a great height
• Police constable
• Prostitute
• Servant
• Scientific experimentation
• Scientist

• Mad scientist

• Smoking
• Stabbings
• Student

Notes

• Murders in the Rue Morgue was registered for copyright on January 27th, 1932; certificate number: LP2804.

• Originally, Universal hired George Melford to direct Murders in the Rue Morgue, but the job ultimately went to Robert Florey, perhaps as a concession for being forced off of Frankenstein. George Melford had only recently come off directing the Spanish version of Drácula with Enrique Tovar Ávalos.

• A story treatment for Murders in the Rue Morgue was put together as early as April, 1931.

• Production on Murder in the Rue Morgue began on October 19th, 1931. Principal filming concluded on November 13th, 1931. Reshoots began on December 10th, 1931 and concluded on December 19th.

• John Huston, who had been a staff writer for Universal Pictures at the time, was brought on to provide additional dialogue for Murders in the Rue Morgue. Many of his scenes were rewritten however, at the behest of Robert Florey, who felt that Houston's prose-style was too stilted for what he was hoping to achieve.

• Although most scenes involving Erik featured an actor or stunt double in a costume, all of the close-up shots were that of an actual ape. Oddly, the face was that of a chimpanzee, even though the body was that of a gorilla.

Fun Facts

• The tagline for this film is, "Innocent Beauty - this was her wedding eve. On the wall a shadow . . the beast was at large grinning horribly-cruelly. What was Her Fate?"

Recommendations

Universal Monsters films

Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon Dracula's Daughter Frankenstein Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man Ghost of Frankenstein, The

Invisible Man Returns, The Mummy, The Mummy's Hand, The Son of Dracula Son of Frankenstein Tower of London Werewolf of London

See also

• Universal Classics Horror
• Universal Classics Horror films
• Universal Classics Horror images
• Universal Classics Horror characters
• Universal Classics Horror miscellaneous

External Links

Murders in the Rue Morgue at AMG Murders in the Rue Morgue at IMDB Murders in the Rue Morgue at Wikipedia Murders in the Rue Morgue at Cinemassacre

Murders in the Rue Morgue at the Terror Trap Murders in the Rue Morgue at Themoviedb.org Murders in the Rue Morgue at Rotten Tomatoes Murders in the Rue Morgue at Horrormovies.org

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