The Black Castle

For other uses, see Black Castle.

The Black Castle
Original film poster
Directed by	Nathan H. Juran
Screenplay by	Jerry Sackheim
Story by	Jerry Sackheim
Produced by	William Alland
Starring	Richard Greene Boris Karloff Stephen McNally Rita Corday Lon Chaney Jr.
Cinematography	Irving Glassberg
Edited by	Russel F. Schoengarth
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	October 31, 1952 (1952-10-31) (Los Angeles) December 25, 1952 (1952-12-25) (New York)
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Black Castle is a 1952 American historical gothic horror film directed by Nathan H. Juran, produced by William Alland and starring Richard Greene, Boris Karloff, Stephen McNally, Rita Corday and Lon Chaney Jr.

Plot

British gentleman Sir Ronald Burton investigates the disappearance of his two friends at the Austrian estate of the sinister Count von Bruno, who secretly seeks revenge against the leaders of a British force who set the natives against him in colonial Africa. Burton's missing friends are among Bruno's victims, and Burton is now also in the trap. Burton plans to escape with Bruno's abused countess, but the count's henchmen bar the way.

Cast

• Richard Greene as Sir Ronald Burton, alias Richard Beckett
• Boris Karloff as Dr. Meissen
• Stephen McNally as Count Carl von Bruno
• Rita Corday as Countess Elga von Bruno (as Paula Corday)
• Lon Chaney Jr. as Gargon
• John Hoyt as Count Steiken
• Michael Pate as Count Ernst von Melcher
• Nancy Valentine as Therese von Wilk
• Tudor Owen as Romley
• Henry Corden as Fender
• Otto Waldis as Krantz the Innkeeper
• Leslie Denison as Sir David Layton

Production

The film was scheduled to be directed by Joseph Pevney, with Nathan Juran as the art director, but Pevney became unhappy with the script. When Universal-International Pictures refused to adopt the changes that he wanted, Pevney withdrew and Juran was named director two weeks before filming commenced. The film was shot over the course of 20 days. Its sets were designed by the art directors Bernard Herzbrun and Alfred Sweeney.

Juran later said that he had been greatly helped by the cast, particularly Karloff, and Juran's assistant director William Holland. Universal was impressed with Juran's work and offered him a one-year contract as a director.

Release

Universal-International Pictures released The Black Castle as a special prerelease Halloween night showing in Los Angeles on October 31, 1952. The film was afforded a general release the following week, but only in cities and towns with populations under 50,000 before reaching larger cities later in 1953.

Reception

In a contemporary review, Harrison's Reports declared the film "a good program horror melodrama, the kind that gives one the chills" and noted: "The three principals do good work, and so does Boris Karloff".

The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "stacks up as excellent program fare".

Time commented that the film "tries hard to chill the moviegoer's spine. Most of the time, however, this boy-meets-ghoul melodrama is only tepid theatrics."

Home media

The film, along with Night Key, Tower of London, The Climax and The Strange Door, was released on DVD in 2006 by Universal Studios as part of The Boris Karloff Collection. In 2020, Scream Factory included the film in its four-film set Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6.

External links

• The Black Castle at IMDb
• The Black Castle at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Black Castle at the TCM Movie Database (archived)
• The Black Castle at Letterboxd