Showing posts with label Patric Knowles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patric Knowles. Show all posts

The Wolfman (1941)

The Wolfman (1941) is a Universal horror cycle classic lycanthrope thriller adventure amalgamation of Gothic ambience and psychological film making which juxtaposes the primal and the civilized within a tragically cursed protagonist who goes on to play in a variety of non-threatening carnival of monsters-style of movies, while cycling into the larger culture notions of monsterism coded with what in film noir terms could be a kind of gothic Überwald mis en scene.

Exploring the fragility of human identity through lycanthropic metamorphosis, The Wolfman (1941) has become one of the more indelible stopping points in the narratives of horror lore, not so much creating horror as such, but forming a solid concrete base upon which to build the identity of this genre.

The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942)

The Mystery of Marie Roget (1942) is a historical film noir mystery rendering of an early detective  crime solving story film starring Patric Knowles. 

The story in question is The Mystery of Marie Rogêt written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1842. The film, directed by Phil Rosen and produced by Universal Pictures, is set in 1889.

In 1889 Paris, musical comedy star Marie Roget has been missing for ten days. Police inspector Gobelin is investigating her disappearance. This is side shaving of film noir with the ambience of the old city creating ham where there should may not be so much ham, but also creating tension where possible, in a solid attempt to bring the mystery and the history as one to the screen.

The French Minister for Naval Affairs, Henri Beauvais, a friend of Marie's grandmother, Madame Cecile Roget, and her younger sister Camille, threatens to take Gobelin off the case. Therefore, Gobelin brings medical officer Dr. Paul Dupin into the case.