The Black Room (1935)

The Black Room
Directed by Roy William Niell
1935/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
First viewing

Baron Gregor de Bergmann: Perhaps you will come back from the dead to kill me?
Anton de Bergmann: [Dying words] Even from the dead!

A chance to see Boris Karloff in not one but two roles in this gothic horror tale.  The story is set in an unidentified Eastern European country in the 18th or 19th Century.  Twins are born to a baron.  This is seen as a bad omen as the baron’s house was founded when a younger twin murdered an elder twin.  Legend has it that the lineage of the house will die off the same way when a younger twin kills the elder in the Black Room.  This room is sealed.

The boys, Gregor and Anton (both played by Boris Karloff) grow up, one evil and the other good.  Gregor, the evil twin, inherits the title; Anton has a paralyzed right arm and leaves the castle unable to bear the strain of the prophecy.  Years later, the deeply unpopular tyrant/murderer Baron Gregory summons Anton back to the castle, begging for his assistance.   So begins a tale of inexorable fate.  Also starring Marian Marsh as the love interest for both twins and a local soldier.

It is fun to watch Karloff tackle these roles.  He not only delineates the good and evil twins admirably but also portrays one imitating the other.  All three characters are quite different. Otherwise, the movie is entertaining, if not earthshaking, and has a nice ironic ending.

Clip – Gregor AKA Boris Karloff on pears