“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of Boris Karloff in “The Old, Dark House” (1932); this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his big broadcast of a classic mammoth Universal Studios* thriller masterpiece.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of Boris Karloff in “The Old, Dark House” (1932)

Official Cohen Media Group/Cohen Film Collection theatrical re-issue trailer for the 2017 restoration of James Whale’s classic mammoth Universal Studios* thriller masterpiece adaptation of “The Old, Dark House” (1932) with Boris Karloff, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stuart, Raymond Massey and Melvyn Douglas.

“The man who played the Monster in ‘Frankenstein’ now transforms himself into the ‘mad butler’!” Original 1932 Universal Studios twinfold exhibitors’ leaflet for “The Old, Dark House” with Boris Karloff.

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago classic horror feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “The Old, Dark House” (1932) this Sat., Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The classic mammoth Universal* thriller masterpiece adaptation of “The Old Dark House” (1932) was directed by veteran studio director James Whale.  Whale’s other well-known classic mammoth Universal monster/horror/thriller masterpiece productions include “Frankenstein” (1931) with Boris Karloff in the role of Frankenstein’s monster with Colin Clive in the role of Dr. Frankenstein, the classic mammoth Universal monster/sci-fi masterpiece adaptation of H.G. Wells‘ “The Invisible Man” (1933) with Claude Rains in the title role and his classic mammoth Universal monster sequel masterpiece production of “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935) with Elsa Lanchester in the title role of the “monster’s mate, Karloff and Clive. Boris Karloff and Colin Clive.

Shortly before working on his numerous classic mammoth Universal horror/monster feature masterpiece productions, Whale co-directed with veteran director Edmund Goulding and industrialist Howard Hughes on the classic mammoth aviation-war drama masterpiece production of “Hell’s Angels” (1930, originally released via United Artists) with Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon and James Hall; according to IMDB.  Hughes himself would later acquire rival studio RKO Radio Pictures in 1948 and after the industrialist’s tinkering of the studio- Hughes sold off RKO to General Tire in 1955.  In an ironic twist, Universal Studios/MCA later acquired the rights to “Hell’s Angels” (1930) from Howard Hughes’ estate; according to a 1979 Universal theatrical re-release poster for the 1930 production.  Around that same time, Universal/MCA acquired the rights to another Howard Hughes feature production from the Hughes estate- the original edition of “Scarface” (1932, directed by Howard Hawks) with Paul Muni; which later served as the basis for Brian De Palma‘s Universal modern re-make of “Scarface” (1983) with Al Pacino. -C.H.

The screenplay for “The Old Dark House” (1932) was adapted for the screen from author J.B. Priestley‘s classic 1927 horror novel, “Benighted;” according to the American Film Institute (AFI). The screenplay adaptation of Whale’s classic mammoth 1932 Universal horror masterpiece production was written by veteran playwright/future British parliament member Benn W. Levy with additional screen dialogue written by veteran screenwriter R.C. Sherriff. Sherriff later co-wrote the screenplay adaptation for James Whale’s classic mammoth Universal sci-fi/monster masterpiece production of H.G. Wells’ “The Invisible Man” (1933) with veteran screenwriters  Philip Wylie and young Preston Sturges, years before Sturges went onto greater fame for writing many feature film comedy masterpieces for rival studio Paramount Pictures.  Sherriff later worked as a contributing screenwriter for  Lambert Hillyer’s classic mammoth Universal “Dracula” monster sequel masterpiece installment of “Dracula’s Daughter” (1936) with Gloria Holden in the title role.  Benn W. Levy previously wrote the screenplay for one of young Alfred Hitchcock‘s earliest classic mammoth British sound feature film suspense masterpiece productions, “Blackmail” (1929) with Anny Ondra, Cyril Ritchard, Sara Allgood and Charles Paton.

Whale’s classic mammoth Universal horror-thriller masterpiece adaptation of “The Old Dark House” (1932) was produced by veteran producer Carl Laemmle Jr., the son of Universal Studios founder Carl Laemmle.   The junior Laemmle was responsible for building Universal’s trademark monster/horror feature film masterpiece productions as the official trademark “house style” feature film genre for his father’s studio.

31 years after the original Universal theatrical release of James Whale’s “The Old Dark House,” legendary veteran macabre feature film director William Castle re-made “The Old Dark House” (1963) for rival studio Columbia Pictures as a classic mammoth spook comedy masterpiece adaptation production that was co-produced by Britain’s Hammer Films with a pre-“Newhart” Tom Poston, Janette Scott, Robert Morley, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns, Fenella Fielding and Peter Bull.

*After the original 1932 Universal theatrical release of James Whale’s classic horror masterpiece adaptation of “The Old Dark House,” the rights reverted back to J.B. Priestley; according to additional details from IMDB’s trivia section.   Film curator/collector Raymond Rohauer, who was known for acquiring the rights to many of Buster Keaton’s classic mammoth silent comedy feature film masterpieces later obtained the distribution rights to Whale’s adaptation of “The Old Dark House” (1932) after the film curator acquired the story rights to “Benighted,” according to NitrateVille, veteran film preservationist Robert A. Harris’ Home Theater Forum column and Andrew L. Yarrow’s Nov. 1987 New York Times obituary on Rohauer.  It was also reported that the 1932 version was withdrawn from circulation when Castle’s 1963 Columbia-Hammer adaptation was released.  Whale’s Universal feature production of “The Old Dark House” (1932) was even considered a “lost” film at one time, until film director Curtis Harrington searched for the original 35mm nitrate elements in 1968, according to Paul Tatara’s June 2005 Turner Classic Movies online article.

It was also reported that 16mm reduction re-release prints of “The Old Dark House” (1932) in the 1970s were altered with Raymond Rohauer’s name, who plastered his own name in place of Carl Laemmle’s name in the credits on 16mm non-theatrical release prints, according to film preservationist/film collector Ray Faiola’s eyewitness recollections on NitrateVille.  Throughout his film acquisition career, it was known that Rohauer foolishly affixed his own name and intertitles to films that he acquired when he didn’t have any involvement in any overall productions that he acquired.  After Rohauer’s death in 1987, the rights to the Rohauer classic film holdings were acquired by the Douris Corporation around 1995-96; according to Susan King’s 2013 Los Angeles Times article and the Online Archive of California. 

In 2011, investor and film producer Charles S. Cohen’s Cohen Media Group acquired the Rohauer-Douris film holdings and was re-christened as the Cohen Film Collection, according to Dave McNary’s Sept. 2011 Variety article. In 2016, Cohen’s firm restored “The Old, Dark House” (1932) with modern film restoration techniques, sourced from a 4K scan from the original 35mm nitrate elements held at the Library of Congress‘ Motion Picture Conservation Center.  The restoration was performed as a collaboration between Cohen Media Group and Universal Studios, according to John Hopewell’s Oct. 2016 Variety article, NitrateVille and the reverse cover art scan for the 2017 Cohen/eOne Blu-Ray release of “The Old Dark House” (1932) via Amazon.

This will mark Sven’s second big broadcast of “The Old, Dark House” (1932) on the airlanes of Me-TV. He previously showcased Whale’s classic mammoth 1932 Universal thriller adaptation masterpiece as a coast-to-coast big broadcast premiere back in April 2023.

Who was in James Whale’s classic mammoth Universal horror-thriller masterpiece adaptation of “The Old Dark House” (1932)?

The players who appeared in Whale’s classic mammoth Universal horror-thriller masterpiece adaptation of “The Old Dark House” (1932) was Boris Karloff (as Morgan), Gloria Stuart (as Margaret Waverton), Charles Laughton (as Sir William Porterhouse), Raymond Massey (as Philip Waverton), Melvyn Douglas (as Penderel), Ernest Thesiger (as Horace Femm), Lilian Bond (as Gladys), Eva Moore (as Rebecca Femm), Brember Wills (as Saul Femm) and Elspeth Dudgeon (as Sir Roderick Femm, Dudgeon’s character was known as John Femm in the production).