The Comedy of Terrors
Encyclopedia
The Comedy of Terrors is an American International Pictures
comedy
horror
film
directed by Jacques Tourneur
and starring Vincent Price
, Peter Lorre
, Basil Rathbone
, Boris Karloff
, and Joe E. Brown
(in his final film appearance). The film also features Orangey
the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat". It is a rare blend of comedy and horror, much in the vein of Universal Pictures
's 1948 classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
. The film recycles many of the character dynamics and situations (not to mention the cast) from the comedic "The Black Cat" segment of Tales of Terror
, made by AIP the year before.
A novelization of the film was written in 1964 by Elsie Lee adapted from Richard Matheson
's screenplay and published by Lancer Books in paperback (making certain changes in the story's ending).
One night, after the widow of his last victim absconds to Europe without paying his fee, Trumbull and his reluctant assistant Felix Gillie (Lorre) decide to murder their money-grubbing landlord, Mr. Black (Rathbone), who is said to have bouts of death-like sleep
, something that Trumbull and Gillie are unaware of.
Black seemingly dies of a heart attack after discovering Gillie (who had climbed into the house through an upstairs window and escaped the same way), but revives in the funeral parlor's cellar. After a prolonged chase and struggle to keep Black inside a coffin, Trumbull knocks Black out with a mallet to the head and places the supposedly deceased Black in his family crypt, returning home to celebrate his new-found wealth. However, Black awakes again, escapes from the coffin and crypt and returns to the funeral parlour, quoting random lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth
(from which he was reciting from a script at the time of his first cataleptic attack). Humorous events follow as Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the house with an ax before (finally) being shot and (presumably) killed by Trumbull after a lengthy monologue.
Gillie elopes with Trumbull's neglected wife, and Trumbull is left a depressed heap on the floor. Hinchley (Karloff), Trumbull's father-in-law, appears and gives Trumbull some "medicine" (actually poison that Trumbull had been attempting to administer to Hinchley earlier in the film). The "medicine" works as intended and Trumbull drops dead as Hinchley makes his way back to bed, oblivious to the fact he has just committed murder.
At the end of the film, Black exhibits an allergic reaction to Cleopatra the cat, indicating that he is still alive.
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur
Jacques Tourneur was a French-American film director.-Life:Born in Paris, France, he was the son of film director Maurice Tourneur. At age 10, Jacques moved to the United States with his father. He started a career in cinema while still attending high school as an extra and later as a script clerk...
and starring Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
, Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
, Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, and Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown (comedian)
Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...
(in his final film appearance). The film also features Orangey
Orangey
Orangey, a red tabby cat, was a talented animal actor owned and trained by the well-known cinematic animal handler Frank Inn.Orangey had a prolific career in film and television in the 1950s and early 1960s and was the only cat to win two Patsy Awards , the first for the title role...
the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat". It is a rare blend of comedy and horror, much in the vein of Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
's 1948 classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...
. The film recycles many of the character dynamics and situations (not to mention the cast) from the comedic "The Black Cat" segment of Tales of Terror
Tales of Terror
Tales of Terror is an American International Pictures horror film starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, and Basil Rathbone; it is the fourth in a series of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories directed by Roger Corman and released by AIP.-Plot:...
, made by AIP the year before.
A novelization of the film was written in 1964 by Elsie Lee adapted from Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
's screenplay and published by Lancer Books in paperback (making certain changes in the story's ending).
Synopsis
Set sometime in the mid to late nineteenth century in New England, the film tells of unscrupulous undertaker Waldo Trumbull (Price), who murders people in their own homes in order to keep himself in business and to have enough money for drink.One night, after the widow of his last victim absconds to Europe without paying his fee, Trumbull and his reluctant assistant Felix Gillie (Lorre) decide to murder their money-grubbing landlord, Mr. Black (Rathbone), who is said to have bouts of death-like sleep
Catalepsy
Catalepsy is also a term used by hypnotists to refer to the state of making a hypnotised subject's arm, leg or back rigid. "Arm catalepsy" is often a pre-hypnotic test performed prior to an induction into a full trance.-Causes:...
, something that Trumbull and Gillie are unaware of.
Black seemingly dies of a heart attack after discovering Gillie (who had climbed into the house through an upstairs window and escaped the same way), but revives in the funeral parlor's cellar. After a prolonged chase and struggle to keep Black inside a coffin, Trumbull knocks Black out with a mallet to the head and places the supposedly deceased Black in his family crypt, returning home to celebrate his new-found wealth. However, Black awakes again, escapes from the coffin and crypt and returns to the funeral parlour, quoting random lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(from which he was reciting from a script at the time of his first cataleptic attack). Humorous events follow as Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the house with an ax before (finally) being shot and (presumably) killed by Trumbull after a lengthy monologue.
Gillie elopes with Trumbull's neglected wife, and Trumbull is left a depressed heap on the floor. Hinchley (Karloff), Trumbull's father-in-law, appears and gives Trumbull some "medicine" (actually poison that Trumbull had been attempting to administer to Hinchley earlier in the film). The "medicine" works as intended and Trumbull drops dead as Hinchley makes his way back to bed, oblivious to the fact he has just committed murder.
At the end of the film, Black exhibits an allergic reaction to Cleopatra the cat, indicating that he is still alive.
Main cast
- Vincent PriceVincent PriceVincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
- Waldo Trumbull - Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
- Felix Gillie - Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
- Amos Hinchley - Basil RathboneBasil RathboneSir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
- John F. Black, Esq.