Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932 Film)
Murders in the Rue Morgue is a 1932 horror film, loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". Bela Lugosi (one year after his performance as Dracula) portrays a lunatic scientist who abducts women and injects them with blood from his ill-tempered caged ape. Karl Freund's cinematography and Robert Florey's direction have been praised by critics and characterized as "expressionistic" by Leonard Maltin. Despite the film being pre-Code, violent sequences prompted Universal to cut its running time from 80 minutes to 61 minutes.
This film was produced as a compensatory package for Lugosi and Florey, after both were dropped from Frankenstein (1931). Lugosi had originally been cast as Dr. Frankenstein, and the film was to be directed by Florey. Lugosi was subsequently demoted to play the monster, however, which he claimed to have turned down. Florey was soon fired as director in favor of James Whale.
Box office results were disappointing, and Lugosi's original Universal contract for Dracula was not extended. Today, however, the film is generally well-regarded by critics and is considered a cult classic.
Read more about Murders In The Rue Morgue (1932 Film): Plot, Cast
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