It
basically started the time-honored tradition of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations
that bear at best a minimal resemblance to the stories whose titles they have
appropriated (Roger Corman was slavishly faithful, by comparison). C. Auguste Dupin
is considered the original template of the mercurial, ambiguously anti-social
deductive genius that later spawned classic sleuths like Sherlock Holmes,
Hercule Poirot, and Nero Wolfe. However, Universal turned him into a
love-struck medical student. Clearly, the studio had little understanding of
the story’s evergreen appeal, beyond the murderous orangutan. Yet that would be
enough to assure classic status for Robert Florey’s Murders in the Rue Morgue (trailer here), which screens
during Anthology Film Archive’s recently launched Simian Vérité film series.
The
carnival has come to 1840s Paris, amid the turbulent era of the “July Monarchy,”
but you wouldn’t know it from carefree Pierre Dupin, his sweetheart, Camille L’Espanaye,
and their shallow friends. Dr. Mirakle causes a sensation with his trained
gorilla Erik and his scandalous lectures in support of Darwinism. L’Espanaye
also makes a strong impression on Mirakle, and an even more so with Erik. Dupin
can tell there is something off about Mirakle, but he is distracted by the
mysteriously murdered women, whose corpses start turning up in the morgue (his
favorite late night hang) shortly after the arrival of the carny.
Typically,
the lily-white romantic interests are the weakest link in vintage Universal
monster movies, but Leon Ames (then billed as Leon Waycoff) and Sidney Fox are especially
awkward as Dupin and L’Espanaye. Not for one second do we believe his foppish
act and her childish state of arrested development could ever be remotely
compatible.
On
the other hand, Bela Lugosi and the killer monkey go together like love &
marriage and a horse & carriage. King Bela was at the peak of his
popularity at this point—and he gives fans the arched eye-brows and diabolical line-deliveries
they craved. Yet, he also seems genuinely hurt inside when L’Espanaye stands
him up.
Almost
as important as Lugosi was the presence of cinematographer Karl Freund, who
shot The Golem and Metropolis in Germany and would soon
helm the original classic Mummy. He
helps Florey decant some of the old German Expressionist magic. The Parisian rooftop
scenes remain particularly evocative, in a dark fable-ish kind of way.
It
is always a nostalgic joy to watch Lugosi at the peak of his scenery chewing
powers. Despite the drippiness of its romantic leads, it remains a fascinating
example of the homicidal ape sub-genre. Arguably, it has yet to receive proper
due for its lasting influence. Frankly, we can see echoes of Erik dragging the
swooned L’Espanaye as he scales walls and leaps from building to building in
the mack daddy of all killer ape movies, King
Kong, which released the following year—not to mention the iconic Robot Monster.
