40 Son of Kong ( 1933 )

Contrarily  Fay  Wray  wasn't  in  this  quickfire sequel  to  the  blockbuster.  The  story  picks  up  with  Carl  Denham  , again  played  by  Robert Armstrong  , on  the  run  from  people  attempting  to  sue  him  for  the  damage  wreaked  by  Kong. He  and  Captain  Engelhorn  attempt  to  make  a  living  at  shipping  in  the  Far  East  and  inevitably  are  persuaded  to  return  to  Skull  Island  by  an  old  acquaintance , a  villainous  captain  Helstrom  who  talks  of  treasure  but  really  wants  to  seize  their  boat. Also  on  the  voyage  is  a  young  singer  Helene  whose  livelihood  has  been  ruined  by  Helstrom .

Once  on the  island  they  meet  up  with  a  smaller  gorilla  that  Denham, with  a  brave  leap  of  logic , decides  must  be  Kong's  son. In  a  plot  line  stolen  from  Androcles  and  the  Lion  they  help  him  out  of  as  swamp  and  a  mutually  beneficial  relationship  develops.

It  isn't  a  patch  on  the  first  film  of  course  but  given  the  time  and  budget  constraints  it  isn't  a  bad  film.

Helen  Mack  ( as  Helene )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Helen  had  the  thankless  task  of  stepping  into  Fay  Wray's  shoes  but  was  attractive  enough  in  her  own  way. Helen's  real  surname  was  McDougall  and  she  had  been  a  child  star  in  the  silent  era. She  later  became  a  successful  writer  and  producer  in  radio  and  the early  days  of  television. She  died  of  cancer  in  1986  aged  72.

39 The Vampire Bat ( 1933 )

This  was  an  opportunistic  film  by  Majestic  Pictures  using  sets  borrowed  from  James  Whale  and  the  tried  and  trusted  players  Atwill, Wray  and  Frye.

Vampires  are  apparently  responsible  for  a  number of  deaths  in  a  German  village  although  the  young  inspector  Karl  Brettschneider  ( Melvyn Douglas )  is  sceptical. The  real  culprit  turns  out  to  be  a  mad  doctor  ( Atwill )  who  is  draining  blood  from  the  victims  to  feed  a  new  organism  he  has  created  which  looks  like  a  squirming  Yorkshire  pudding. It's  not  bad  I  suppose   but  Fay  Wray  is  the  only  reason  to  watch  it  more  than  once.

Fay  Wray  ( as  Ruth  Bertin )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

38 Night of Terror ( 1933 )

It's  difficult  to  think  of  any  facet  of  this  film  that we  haven't  seen  before, - a  driven  scientist  risking  his  life  in  a  dangerous  experiment, a  sinister  butler, a  dark  creepy  house, a  lunatic  on  the  prowl, a clownish  black  chauffeur, a  pushy  journalist  chasing  a  story  and  a  disputed  will - apart  from  the  fourth  wall  breaking  ending  where " The  Maniac "  warns  viewers  not  to reveal  the  twist  ending. It's hard  to  imagine  anyone  remembering  what  it  was  five  minutes  after  leaving  the  cinema, so  dull  and  incoherent  is  the  film. Bela  Lugosi  as  the  Indian ( ! )  butler adds  a  bit  of  quality  but  this  is  one  for  his  fans  only.

Sally  Blane  ( as  Mary  Rinehart )

Sex: No

Death : Survives

Sally's  real  name  was  Elizabeth  Young. She  was  the  sister  of  the  more  famous  Loretta  Young. She  died  of  lung  cancer  in 1997  aged  87.

Gertrude  Michael  ( as  Sarah Rinehart ) 

Sex :  No

Death : Survives

This  was  one  of  Gertrude's  first  films. She  worked  in  both  film  and  television  until  the  mid-fifties  when  alcohol  got  the  better  of  her. She  died  in  1964  aged  53.

37 Mystery of the Wax Museum ( 1933 )

This  is  an  interesting  if  not  entirely  satisfying  film  shot  in  2-colour  Technicolor  and  directed  by  Michael  Curtiz. It  reunited  a  number  of  the  players  in  Doctor  X,

Lionel  Atwill   plays  Ivan  Igor  a  sculptor  in  wax  whose  museum  in  London  is  failing  because he's   creating  figures  of  French  historical  significance  rather  than  pandering  to  the   public  desire  for  the  macabre. His  philistine  business  partner  burns it  down  for  the  insurance  money  and  Igor  is  badly  injured  in  the  process. Twelve  years  later  though  he's  planning  to  re-open  the  museum  in  New  York   but  with  his  hands  destroyed  he's  using  real  bodies  with  a  wax  coating  instead. That's  where  the  plotting  becomes  a  bit  shaky  with  some  of  his  employees  complicit  in  the  crimes  and  another  completely  but  inexplicably  innocent . That's  not  the  only  aspect  of  the  story  that  isn't  explained  sufficiently

The  film  is  unusual  in  having  two  female  leads  with  Glenda  Farrell  as  the  hard -nosed  reorter  on  the  scent  of  a  story  and  Fay  Wray  in  a  disappointingly  passive  role  as  her  flat  mate.

Fay  Wray  ( as  Charlotte  Duncan ) 

Sex :  Fay  is  stripped  for  her  ordeal  at  the  climax  of  the  film  but  this  happens  offscreen. We  do  get  another   good  look  at  her  legs  though.

Death : Survives

As  noted  above, this  isn't  one  of  Fay's  better  roles.


Glenda  Farrell  ( as  Florence  Dempsey )

Sex :  Glenda  has  one  scene  in  a  silky  nightgown  but  the  brassy  blonde  isn't  to  my  taste.

Death : Survives

Glenda  went  on  to  play  a  news  reporter  in  a  franchise  known  as  "Torchy  Blane"  beginning   in  1937. She  died  in  1971  of  lung  cancer  aged  66.

Monica  Bannister   ( as  Joan  Gale )

Sex : No

Death :  Apparently  suicide  through  an  overdose. It  is  left  unclear  if  Igor  has  procured  her  death  to  act  as  his  Joan  of  Arc  or  opportunistically  stolen  the  body.

This  is  one  of  the  very  few  films  in  which  Monica  played  a  named  character.  She  died  in  2002  aged  91.

36 King Kong ( 1933 )

This  is  such  an  iconic  film  that   outlining  the  plot  seems  rather  superfluous . An  overambitious  film  director  Car  Denham  ( Robert  Armstrong )  sails  to  a  remote  island  in  search  of  a  mythical  beast  "Kong". The  natives  kidnap  his  leading  lady  Anne  Darrow  ( Fay  Wray  in  the  role  that  made  her  a  screen  legend )  to  be  their  regular  sacrifice  to  Kong  who  turns  out  to  be  a  dinosaur-sized  gorilla. Anne  is  saved  from  numerous  perils  either  by  her  beau  Driscoll ( Bruce  Cabot ) or  by  Kong  himself  who's  taken  a  shine  to  her. Knocked  out  by  gas  bombs  Kong  is  taken  to  New  York - the  film  sidesteps  the  practicalities  of  that - Where  he  runs  amok  and  takes  Anne  for  a  trip  to  the  top  of  the  Empire  State  Building.

The  film  was  an  enormous  success  for  its  groundbreaking  special  effects  largely  achieved  by  stop-motion  animation. Besides  sequels  it's  had  two  big  budget  remakes  but  the  original's  still  the  best.

Robert  Armstrong  as  Denham   shows  that  he  doesn't  really  have  that  annoying  voice  he  used  in  The  Most  Dangerous  Game .


Fay  Wray  ( as  Anne Darrow ) 

Sex: Fay is  lightly  clad  for  most  of  the  film  but  especially  so  after  Kong  peels  off  some  of  her  dress  to  get  a  better  look  at her legs.

Death : Survives

At  the  age  of  96  Fay  was  approached  by  Peter  Jackson  to  take  a  cameo  role  in  his  2005 re-make. She  declined  the  offer  but  did  agree  to  talk  to  her successor  Naomi  Watts. She  died before filming  commenced.

Sandra  Shaw  ( as  Hotel  Woman )

Sex : No

Death : Splattered  on  the  pavements  of  Manhattan  as  Kong  lets  her  fall  on  realising  that  she's  not  Anne

Sandra  only  has  a  few  bit  parts  to  her  credit  but  is  remembered  as  Mrs  Gary  Cooper  from  1933  until  his  death  in  1961.

35 The Invisible Man ( 1933 )

This  is  another  classic  from  James  Whale. An  adaptation  of  the  H  G  Wells  story  it  stars  the  voice  and  very  briefly  the  face  of  Claude  Rains  as  Griffin, a  young  doctor  who  wants  to  make  a  name  for  himself   and  devises  a  way  of  making  himself  invisible. There  are  two  problems; he  doesn't  know  how  to  reverse  the  process   and  one  of  the  drugs  used  causes  madness. This  has  already  happened  at  the  start  of  the  film  where  a  fully-bandaged  man  comes  to  rent  a  room  at  a  pub  and  quickly  creates  havoc. As  the  authorities  investigate  Griffin's  psychotic  tendencies   come  to  the  fore  and  he  starts  killing  people.

Although  there's  a  high  death  toll,  this  film  is  also  very  funny  and  you  share  Griffn's  glee  at  what  he  can  get  up  to  in  his  new  state. The  special  effects  are  still  amazing  although  as  they  relied  to  some  extent  on  the  lighting  it  does  mean  that  all  the  scenes  were  filmed  in  semi-darkness  which  can  make  it  difficult  to  watch  without  constantly  looking  for  the  brightness  control.

Gloria  Stuart  ( as  Flora  Cranley )

Sex : No

Death  : Survives    

This  was  a  rather  thankless  role  for  Gloria, not  much  screen  time  and  having  to  stand  by  a  not  very  nice  man.

34 The Ghoul ( 1933 )

It's  good  to  finally  be  covering  a  British  film; it's  a  shame  it's  not  very  good. Very  loosely  based  on  a  Frank  King  crime  novel  this  film  grafts  on  an  Egyptian  reincarnation  story   to  capitalise  on  the  success  of   The  Mummy  but  you  can  see  all  the  stitches  and  star  Boris  Karloff  looks  like  he's  in  a  different  film  to  everyone  else.

He  plays  the  apparently  dying  Professor  Morlant  who  leaves  precise  instructions  that  he  be  buried  with  a  jewel  "The  Eternal  Light "  at  an  Egyptian  shrine  he's  made  in  his  basement  in  order  to  gain  immortality. Of  course  everyone  else  in  the  film  starting  with  his  servant  Laing  (Ernest  Thesiger )  just  wants  the  jewel  for  more  earthly  reasons.

Karloff  does  his  best   to  insert  some  menace  but  much  of  the  film  seems  more  like  a  crime caper  than  a  horror  film. It's  also  badly  lit, poorly  choreographed  and  the  hero  and  heroine   are  about  as  interesting  as  last  week's  lottery  numbers. It's  notable  for  Ralph  Richardson's   film  debut  as  a  bogus  vicar  and  I  liked  Edward  Hardwicke  as  Broughton , the  solicitor  with no  social  skills  but  there's  really  nothing  else  to  see  here.

Dorothy  Hyson   ( as  Betty  Harlon )

Sex : No

Death : Survives         

Dorothy  was  from  Chicago  but  spent  much  of  her  life  in  the  UK.  She  spent  more  time  on  the  stage  than  on  the  screen  and her  film  career  was  almost  over  by  the  forties. She  worked  as  a  code breaker  at  Bletchley  Park  during  the  war  where  she  met  her  second  husband  the  actor  Anthony  Quayle.  Thereafter  she  largely  retired  from  acting  to  bring  up  her  family. She   died  in  1996  aged  81.

Kathleen  Harrison  ( as  Kaney )

Sex : Betty's  spinster  companion  clearly  wants  it  with  the  Egyptian  villain  pursuing  the  jewel  but  alas  he's  not  interested.

Death : Survives

Kathleen  was  a  very  popular  comic  actress  who  carried  on  appearing  in  films  down  to  the  seventies. She  was  originally  from  Blackburn. She  died  in  1995  aged  103.

 

33 White Zombie ( 1932 )

This  is  generally  recognised  as  the  first  zombie  film  and  we're  lucky  it  wasn't  the  last  as  it's  abysmal  from  start  to  finish.

An  engaged  couple  Neil  and  Madeline   travel  to  Haiti  to  marry  at  the  home  of  a  plantation owner  Charles  Beaumont  who  has  befriended  them. Unknown  to  them  Charles  has  designs  on Madeline  and  conspires  with   the  local  voodoo  master  Murder  Legrande ( Bela  Lugosi  again ). He  supplies  a  potion which  apparently  kills   then  resurrects  her  as  a  zombie  mistress  for  Beaumont. Beaumont  doesn't  seem  to  have  realised  that  a  zombie  would  be  even  more  resistant  to  his  charms  and  regrets  the  transaction  while  Neil  and  a  local  missionary  plan  to  rescue  her.

The  idea  is  sound  but  it's  woefully  executed  with  shabby  special  effects  and  a  murderously  slow  pace. Lugosi  essentially  plays  Dracula  again  with  his  usual  aplomb but  some  of  the  other  acting  is  terrible  especially  John  Harron  as  Neil  who  is  just  embarrassing. At  least  Madge  Bellamy  as  Madeline  has  a  decent  excuse  for  being  wooden.

Madge  Bellamy  ( as  Madeline )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Madge  was  a  successful  silent  actress  who  began  to  struggle  in  the  sound  era. Her  career  was  already  moribund  when  in  1943  she  fired  three  shots  at  her  former  lover Albert  Murphy  and  got  a  suspended  sentence  as  she  hadn't  hit  him  . She  sued  him  for  divorce  but  he  was  able  to  prove  they  were  never  married. She  later  ran  a  shop. She  died  in  1990  aged  90.

32 The Old Dark House (1932 )

This  is  the  first  spoof  we've  let  in. It  was  directed  by  James  Whale  of  Frankenstein  fame  as  a  tongue-in-cheek contribution  to  the  dark  creepy  house  genre. It's  based  on  a  short  story  by  J B  Priestley  and  is  set  in  England . Two  sets  of  travellers  descend  on  an  old  creepy  house  seeking  shelter  from  a  storm  and  find  a  very  bizarre  family  living  there  who  all  hint  at  dark  secrets  that  are  never  quite  resolved.

Boris  Karloff   lurking  around  menacingly  as  the  sinister  butler  Morgan  is  the  nominal  star despite  having  no  lines  but  Charles  Laughton  rather  steals  the  show  as  one  of  the  guests, a bombastic,  self-made  Lancastrian  Sir  William  Porterhouse  who  gradually  becomes  a  sympathetic  character. Eva  Moore as  the  near-deaf,  puritanical,  killjoy  sister  Rebecca  comes  a  close  second  with  her  great  comic  timing.

The  inuendo-laden  script  is  a  joy  but  the  film  doesn't  quite  sustain  interest  to  the  end  with  a  rather  tame  climax,  of  which  there  are  too  many  survivors  , spoof  or  not.

Gloria  Stuart ( as  Margaret  Waverton )

Sex :  Margaret  strips  to  her  underwear  while  being  lectured  on  sin  by  Rebecca  then  puts  on  a  white  dress  which  hugs  her  tremendous  figure  for  the  rest  of  the  film.

Death : Survives

Gloria  was  born  in  Chicago  in  1910  and  this  was  one  of  her  first  films. She  became  a  big  name  in  the  thirties  but  in  1945  abandoned  Hollywood  to  become  an  artist. She  didn't  return  to  acting  until  the  mid-seventies   mainly  in  TV. There  was  a  glorious  coda  to  her  career  when  she played the  aged  Rose  in  Titanic  for  which  she  received  an  Oscar  nomination  as  Best  Supporting  Actress. At  87  she  was  the  oldest  person  ever  to  be  nominated  for  an  acting  award. In  2004  she  was  diagnosed  with  lung  cancer  and  undertook  chemotherapy  despite  her  advanced  age. She  finally  succumbed  in  2010  aged  100.

Lillian  Bond  ( as  Gladys  Ducane ) 

Sex : Gladys  is  ostensibly  Porterhouse's  mistress  but  later  confides  that  they  are  not  actually  having  conjugal  relations.

Death : Survives

Lillian   was  a  24  year  old  Londoner  who  emigrated  in  the  late  twenties. She  never  achieved  massive  fame  but  kept   a  career  going   down  to  the  fifties  when  she  was  working  mostly in  TV. She  retired  from  acting  on  turning  50  in  1958  and  died  in  1991  aged  83.  
  

31 Murders In The Rue Morgue ( 1932 )

This  loose  adaptation  of  an  Edgar  Allen  Poe  story  is  not  a  great  film  although  in  fairness  it  was  hacked  down  by  almost  a  quarter  by  Universal's  censors. With  the  disturbing  scenes  restored,  it's  probable  that  the  "comic"  and  musical  scenes  would  seem  less  time-wasting. As  it  is  the  film  swings  from  very  dark  to  very  frivolous  in  an  unsatisfactory  manner.

Bela  Lugosi  plays  Dr  Mirakle  a  sideshow  performer  in  Paris  in  1845  although  as  his  act  consists  of   lecturing  his  audience  about  evolution, displaying  a  captive  gorilla  ( though  it's  more  chimpanzee-sized  )  and  then  pretending  to  talk  to  him  Sooty-style , it's  hard  to  understand  how  he  can  afford  a  servant, horse  and  carriage  and  scientific  equipment  for  his  nefarious  business. Mirakle  is  looking  for  a  human  mate  for  Erik  the  ape;  her  suitability  determined   by  mixing  blood  together  beforehand. As  there  are  no  volunteers  for  this,   the  murder  count  rises.

Lugosi , as  ever,  doesn't  underplay  his  role  and  can  be  a  bit  hard  to  take  but  he's  head  and shoulders  above  everyone  else  in  screen  presence.

Sidney  Fox  ( as  Camille  L'Espanaye )

Sex : Erik  likes  the  look  of  Camille  but  is  shot  before  he  can  have  his  way  with  her .

Camille  is  abducted  in  her  nightgown  through  which  you  can  clearly  see  a  nipple.

Death : Survives  though  it's  not  explained  how.

 Sidney  was  from  New  York  and  changed  her  surname  from  the  Jewish  Leiffer. Her  film  career  lasted  barely  four  years  and  she  overdosed  on  sleeping  pills  probably  accidentally  in  1942  aged  30.

Betty  Ross  Clarke   ( as  Madame  L'Espanaye )

Sex : No

Death : Throttled  by  Erik  after  intervening  to  save  Camille

Betty  had  been  quite  successful  in  the  silent  era  but  was  now  doing  character  parts . Her  career  petered  out  in  the  late  thirties  but  she  still  performed  in  regional  theatre. She  died  in  1970  aged  77.

Arlene  Francis  ( as  Woman  of  the  Streets )

Sex :  In  the  most  daring  scene  to  survive  the  snip  the  unnamed  prostitute  is  seen  stripped  to  her  underclothes  and  tied  to  an  S & M  saltire  before  Mirakle  injects  her  with  Erik's  blood.

Death : Expires  shortly  after  receiving  the  injection.

Arlene  was  originally  Arlene  Kazanjian, a  Bostonian  of  Amenian  extraction. This  was  the  first  film  in  a  sporadic  movie  career  that  continued  until  1978. She  was  much  better  known  as  a  TV  host  and  panellist  in  the  fifties  and  sixties. She  died  of  cancer  in  2001  aged  93.

Edna  Marion  ( as  Mignette ) 

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  Edna's  last  film  role  as  the  girlfriend  of  the  hero's  flatmate. She  was  very  busy  in  comic  supporting  roles  in  the  twenties   often  appearing  with  Laurel  and  Hardy. She  died  in  1957   aged  50.

30. The Mummy ( 1932 )

This  was  another  popular  film, especially  in  the  UK,  a  decade  after  the  discovery  of Tutankhaman. It  starred  Boris  Karloff  as  Imothep, a  priest  originally  buried  alive  but  now resurrected  after  the  disturbance  to  his  tomb.  He's  chasing  the  reincarnation   of   his  ancient love  Princess  Ankh-es-en-Amen   who's  conveniently  in  Cairo  for  him. There's  not  a  great  deal of  suspense  in  the  film; we  know  exactly  what  he's  about  from  the  first  minutes  but  Karloff's grim  charisma  keeps  it  watchable  throughout. It  also  has  one  or  two  envelope-pushing moments  such  as  a  graphic  skewering  and  Karloff's  knife  pressing  into  the  heroine's   abdomen.

Zita  Johann ( as  Helen  Grosvenor / Princess  Ankh-es-en-Amen )

Sex :  Ankh  had  been  carrying  on  with  Imothep  before  her  death. As  Ankh,  Zita  wears  a  fairly  revealing  costume   but  she's  rather  flat-chested  and  not  all  that  attractive  actually.

Death : Ankh  died  a  couple  of  millennia  ago  but  the  cause  is  not  given. Helen  survives.

Zita  was  born  in  Austria-Hungary  but  her  family  moved  to  the  USA  in  1911. She  quit  the movie  business  after  just  seven  films  , preferring  to  work  in  the  theatre  although  she  did make  a  comeback  , over  fifty  years  later,  in  a  film  we  will  be  covering. She  died  in  1993 aged  99.

Florence  Britton ( as  Nurse )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Shamefully  uncredited  despite  having  half  a  dozen  lines  in  this, Florence  was  a  23 year  old  from  San  Francisco  who  never  rose  out  of  supporting  roles   and  made  her  last  picture  in  1933. She  later  worked  as  a  story  editor  for  CBS  in  the  fifties. She  died  in  1987  aged  77.

29 The Most Dangerous Game ( 1932 )

This  is  an  interesting  one  despite  being  made  on  the  cheap. Its  cast  included  Robert  Armstrong  and  Fay  Wray,  literally  moonlighting  from  the  latter's  most  famous  film  as  they  were   using  the  same  sets  at  night . As  this  was  a  less  ambitious  undertaking  it  was  finished  and  released  some  time  before  the  other  film  about  which  more  later.

This  film  was  based  on  a  short  story  by  Richard  Connell  about  a  mad  game  hunter  who  turns  to  using  humans  as  his  quarry. It's  a  concept  that's  influenced  numerous  more  recent  films  such  as  Hard  Target, Wolf  Creek    and  the  Hostel  films .

Joel  McCrea  , who  looks  strikingly  like  Roger  Moore, stars  as  Bob  Rainsford   a  youthful   big game  hunter  enjoying  a  luxury  cruise   with  some  friends  off  the  coast  of  South  America . Over  drinks  his  buddies  start  challenging  his  values  in  a  not  very  subtle  barrage  of foreshadowing   before  all  but  he  are  wiped  out  in  a  shipwreck  caused  by  some  treacherously relocated  marker  buoys . The  culprit  is  a  Cossack  Count  Zaroff  who  lures  people  onto  the island  to  fill  his  mysterious  Trophy  Room. Initially  accepting  his  hospitality,  Rainsford  meets a pair  of  sibling  wreck  survivors. The  girl,  Eve  Trowbridge  ( Wray )  warns  him  something  is  amiss  although  her  brother ( Armstrong  with  his  extremely  irritating  voice )  is  oblivious.

Fay  Wray  ( as  Eve  Trowbridge  )

Sex : Eve  wears  thin   low-cut  dresses  throughout.

Death : Survives

Fay  doesn't  really  deserve  to  be  called  a  "scream  queen"  in  this  one  as  her  character  is  quite  brave  and  resourceful.

28 The Monster Walks ( 1932 )

Well  we  were  due  a  clunker  and  it's  no  surprise  that  this  one  has  fallen  into  the  public  domain  now.  It's  another  entry  in  the  dark  creepy  house  genre. Young  Ruth  Earlton  returns  to  her  father's  house  with  her  doctor  fiance  ( Rex  Lease )  to  hear  the  reading  of  his  will  which  confirms  that  she's  the  heir. She  then  has  to  survive  the  night  there  when  there's  a  ready  made  patsy  in  the  form  of  her  father's  angry  chimpanzee  caged  in  the  cellar.

The  film  actually  has  a  decent  climax  but  it's  far  too  ponderous  in  getting  there  and  the  chimp  is  by  far  the  best  actor  on  show.

This  is  the  first  film  here  to  feature  a  black  actor  , William  Best ; it's  a  pity  he's  playing  a village  idiot  chauffeur  and  the  final  scene  has  some  very  uncomfortable  dialogue  about  his relationship  to  the  ape.

Vera  Reynolds  as  ( Ruth  Earleton )

Sex : No - her  peril  is  not  sexual  in  nature

Death : Survives  

Vera  was  a  big  star  in  the  silent  era  but  this  was  her  penultimate  film. In  1927  she  was  reported  to  have  made  a  suicide  attempt  but  in  hospital  it  was  diagnosed  as  acute  indigestion  and  Vera  rubbished  the  initial  reports  as  "ridiculous".  She  married  twice  and  died  in  1962  aged  62.

27 The Mask of Fu Manchu ( 1932 )

Based  on  the  Sax  Rohmer  novel  this  is  a wildly  un-p.c. piece  of  hokum  with  a  rather unsavoury   air to  it. Though  made  in  the  US  it  keeps  the  British  setting  with  an  expedition setting  out  from  London  for  Asia  to  find  the  mask  and  sword  of  Genghis  Khan  before  evil megalomaniac  Fu  Manchu  ( Boris  Karloff )  gets  his  hands  on  it  and  sparks  off  racial genocide. Unfortunately  he's  one  step  ahead  of  them  all  the  way  and  all  the  expedition  face  torture, death  or  both  before  the  film  is  done.

Without  looking  very  Asian,  Karloff  invests  his  Fu  Manchu  with  the  right  amount  of  chilling  menace  and  his  obvious  delight  in  devising  torture  scenarios   makes  this  a  forebear  of  the  Hostel  films.

Karen  Morley  ( as  Sheila  Barton )  

Sex : No , she's  dressed  in  a  sheer  white  dress  for  a  ceremony  but  she's  to  be  slaughtered  not raped.

Death : Survives

Karen  was  originally  Mildred  Linton  from  Iowa  and  started  her  career  standing  in  for  Greta Garbo  in  screen  tests. Her  career  ended  abruptly  in  the  forties  when  she  was  blacklisted  for not  co-operating  with  McCarthy. She  made  an  acting  comeback  in  TV  in  the  seventies. She died  in  2003  aged  93.

Myrna  Loy (  as  Fah  Lo  See  )

Sex :  Fah  is  Fu's  daughter  and  as  depraved  as  he  is. She  gets  off  on  the  whipping  of  hunky  Terry  ( Charles  Starrett )  and  then  has  him  stripped  to  just  a  loincloth  on  a  table  ( quite  a  long  scene   for  you , ladies ) . Fu's  plans  for  Terry  interrupt  her  going  any  further.

Death : ?  Unless  I  missed  something,  her  fate  is  not  shown  or  mentioned.

Myrna  ( who  looked  even  less  Oriental  than  her  screen  dad )  was  from  Montana   and  had  been  in  films  since  1925  usually  playing  exotic  beauties. Her  career  really  took  off  with  The  Thin  Man  in  1934   and  she  never  returned  to  horror  films. She  received  an  Honorary  Oscar  in  1981  and  died  in  1993  aged  88.

26 Island of Lost Souls ( 1932 )

This  is  the  first  cinematic  adaptation  of  HG  Wells's  novel  "The  Island  of  Dr  Moreau "  warning  of  the  dangers  of  genetic  manipulation. Wells  himself  disliked  it  saying  the  film-makers  had  discarded  the  deeper  meanings  of  the  story  in  their  desire  to  thrill. Nevertheless  as  a  horror  movie  it  works  well  thanks  to  impressive  make-up  and  sets  and  a  splendidly  camp  performance   by  Charles  Laughton  as  the  mad  scientist  creating  pseudo-humans  out  of  animals. Bela  Lugosi, unrecognisable  under  his  furry prosthetics, has a  small  role  as  spokesman  for  the  half-beasts. The  film  is  also  remembered  for  introducing  the  phrase  "The  natives  are  restless  tonight "  although  the  quotation  is  not  quite  correct.  This  film  too  was  banned  in  the  UK  for  many  years  for  its  ( very  tame, actually ) vivisection  scenes  but  is  now  rated  PG.

Leila  Hyams  ( as  Ruth  Thomas )  

Sex:  Ruth  comes  to  the  island  looking  for  her  fiance  who  has  been  stranded  there  after  a shipwreck.  One  of  the  beasts,  Ouran , watches  her  undress  ( largely  off  screen ),   then  breaks  into her  room.  It  is  implied  that  he  is acting  under  Moreau's  instructions  to  rape  her  but  her screams  arouse  the  house  before  he  touches  her.

Death : Survives  

Leila's  subsequent  films  were  not  horror  pics  so  this  is  the  last  we  see  of  her.

Kathleen  Burke  ( as  Lota, the  Panther  Woman )

Sex : Lota  has  been  developed  from  a  panther  and  Moreau  pushes  her  at  Parker  ( played  by hunky  Richard  Arlen )  to  test  her  femininity. She  duly  comes  on  to  him  but   only  gets  two   brief  clinches . In  the  first  he  pulls  away  through  guilt  and  in  the  second  he  feels  her  claw like  hands  and  backs  off.
 Lota  dresses  in  two  bra-top / skirt  combinations  ( in  the  first  the  outline  of  a  nipple  is  sometimes  visible ) .

Death : Killed  in  a  struggle  with  Ouran  - to  aid  Parker's  escape  - in  which  both  perish.

Nineteen-year  old  Kathleen  was  a  dental  nurse  in  Chicago  who  won  a  talent  contest  sponsored  by  Paramount  to  be  in  the  film. Her  film  career  was  brief , ending  in  1938. Her  only  other  horror  movie  was  Murders  in  the  Zoo  in  1933  which  is  hard  to  find. She  died  in  1980  aged  66.

25 Freaks ( 1932 )

Dracula  director   Tod  Browning  brought  his  career  to  a  shuddering  halt  with  this  one, rightly featured  in  a  Channel  Four  season  of  some  of  the  most  controversial  films  of  all  time. M-G-M  who'd  given  him  a  fair  degree  of  lassitude  after  the  success  of  Dracula ,  freaked  out  ( pun  intended )   at  the  finished  product   and   made  heavy  cuts  and  a  couple  of  significant insertions  to  make  it  less  bleak. Even  in  its  bowdlerised  version ( the  original  scenes  are thought  to  be  lost  now )  it  was  banned  in  the  UK  as  over-exploitative  until  the  1960s.

Based  partly  on  a  novel  called  Spurs   and  partly  on  Browning's   own  experiences  as  a carnival  performer , it's  a  Gothic  revenge  fantasy . A  circus  dwarf  Hans  is  due  to  inherit  a fortune  and  a  normal-bodied  trapeze  artist  Cleopatra  and  her  lover, strong  man  Hercules  plot to  obtain  it  by  Cleopatra  marrying,  and  then  slowly  poisoning,  him.  Hans's  fellow  "freaks" get  wind  of  it  and  carry  out  a  horrific  ( though  much of  the  action  was  excised )  revenge attack  on  them.

What  made  the  film  so  controversial  was  the  employment  of  so  many  genuine  deformed  performers  rather  than  professional  actors. Audiences  who'd  been  quite  happy  to  accept  Lon  Chaney's  various  screen  deformities  weren't  quite  so  keen  on  being  confronted  by  the  real  thing. It's  unlikely  that  Browning  was  deliberately  exploiting  these  people, many  of  whom  were  doubtless  happy  to  pick  up  an  extra  paycheck,   and  the  accusation  was  an  easy  cover  for  people's  visceral   revulsion  at  who  they  were  watching.

Even  leaving  aside  the  exploitation  issue  the  film  isn't  easy  to  watch. It's  been  so  hacked  about  it  now  feels   poorly-paced   with  too  many  digressive  vignettes  and  then  a  rushed  cli max  and  much  of  the  acting  is  terrible. Nonetheless  it's  not  one  you  forget  in  a  hurry.


Leila  Hyams  ( as  Venus )

Sex : Venus, the  only  wholly  sympathetic  normal-bodied  character, is  Hercules's  mistress  at  the beginning  of  the  film  but  deserts  him  and begins  a  relationship  with  a  clown, Phroso.

Death : Survives

Leila   was  one  of  the  first  second  generation  film  stars : her  parents  actually  appeared  in   films  after  she  had  retired . She  was  much  in  demand  and  quit  at  her  peak  in  1936 . Her 1927  marriage  to  agent  Phil  Berg  lasted  until  her  death  fifty  years  later.

Olga  Baclanova  ( as  Cleopatra )  

Sex : Cleopatra  has  been  seeing  Hercules  behind  Venus's  back  but  thinks  nothing  of  seducing Hans  ( largely  off  screen )  to  get  at  his  money.

Death :  Survives   ( of  a  sort,  having  been  severely  mutilated  by  the  "Freaks" )

 Olga , playing  the  first  villainess  we've  come  across, was  a  naturalised  Russian  who  left  her  native  land  for  career  rather  than  political  reasons. She  made  an  impact  in  late  period  silent  films  but  her  accent  torpedoed  her  career  in  talkies. She's  pretty  unintelligible  in  Freaks .  Her  film  and  stage  careers  ended  in  the  1940s  and  she  retired  to  Switzerland  where  she  died  in  1974  aged  81.

Daisy  Earles  ( as  Frieda )

Sex : Frieda  loves  Hans  but  their  relationship  seems  platonic  ( a  good  job  considering  they  were  real-life  siblings ).

Death : Survives

 Daisy's  real  name  was  Hilda  Schneider , one  of  a  quartet  of  dwarf  siblings , along  with  brother  Kurt  who  played  Hans, that  performed  as  The  Dancing  Dolls. They  appeared  in  many  films  both  individually  and  together  including  The  Wizard  of  Oz.  Daisy  herself  was  known  as  "The  Midget  Mae  West "  but  it  has  to  be  said  her  acting  in  Freaks  is  just  dreadful, the  poor  woman  being  stretched  well  beyond  her  capabilities. Ironically,  it  was  Daisy  who  married  a  normal -sized  person  in  real  life  but  the  marriage  was  brief. The  quartet  retired  in  1958  , bought  a  house  in  Florida   together   and  lived  there  until  each  one  died. Daisy  died  in  1980  aged  75.    

24 Doctor X (1932 )

This  was  a  very  early  Technicolour  film.  It's  an  entertaining  little  film  about  a   cannibalistic serial  killer  , the  "Moon  Killer", who  police  have  established, must  be  lurking  at  the  medical academy  run by  Dr  Xavier  ( Lionel  Atwill  ) and   aided  by  four  very  creepy  scientists  and  a  no  less  sinister  butler. Xavier  persuades  the  police  to  let  him  carry  out  his  own  investigation  to  avoid  adverse  publicity  but  a  clownish  yet  resourceful  reporter Lee  Taylor  ( Lee  Tracy ) is  already  on  the  scent. It's  B-movie  stuff  and  it's  fairly  obvious  who  the  killer  is  but  it's  well-acted , delivers  one  or  two  effective  shocks  and  introduces  one  of  the  most  famous  "scream  queens"  of  all .

Fay  Wray   ( as  Joan  Xavier )   

Sex : Joan  uses  her  sexuality  to  bend  Taylor  to  her  will  and  the  film  ends  on  an  extremely  suggestive  note.

She  is  seen  in  thin  nightgowns  and  in  a  swimsuit  which  is  short  enough  to  give  a  glimpse of  her  knickers.

Death : Survives

 Fay   was   a  25 year  old  Canadian  actress. This  may  have  been  her  first  horror  role  but  she  already  had  a  long  c.v  stretching  back  into  the  silent  era. We  will  of  course  be  meeting  her  again.

Leila  Bennett  ( as  Mamie )

Sex : No  although  Otto  the  butler  seems  to  have  designs  on  her. The  comic  maid  seems  to  have  been  a  fairly  common  trope  in  these  sort  of  films.

Death : Survives

Leila  was  from  Newark  , New  Jersey  and  was  nearly  40  when  she  made  her  film  debut. This  was  a  typical  role  for  her  and  her  film  career  only  spanned  about  5  years. She  died  in  1965 aged  72.

Mae  Busch  (  as  Madam )

Sex : Mae  appears  to  be  the  Madam  of  a  brothel  that  Taylor  pops  into  to  make  a  phone  call  and  engages  in  some  banter  with  him. Other  than  establishing  that  Taylor's  a  sleazy  character,  it's  hard  to  see  what  purpose  she  has  in  the  film.

Death : Survives

Forty  year  old  Mae   was  Australian  and   had  been  a  considerable  star  in  the  silent  era  until  mental  health  problems  got  in  the  way. Her  career  later  picked  up  with  frequent  appearances  in  Laurel  and  Hardy  films, sometimes  as  the  latter's  wife. She  died  in  1946  aged  54  of  colon  cancer. Although  still  married  her  husband  didn't   bother  to   claim  her  ashes  and  they  were  eventually  buried  by  a  chapter  of  the  Laurel  and  HArdy  Society  in  1970.