The Black Cat (Albert S. Rogell, 1941)

One of the approximately 680 movies (most of them pretty good) called The Black Cat that claim to be based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story while having nothing whatsoever to do with Poe besides a black cat showing up at some point (I've reviewed at least two and possibly three on this site; our late, great tortoiseshell cat Fern was absorbed by Fulci's 1981 version), 1941's The Black Cat is also one of the approximately 680 movies about a group of shady characters stuck inside an old dark house during a storm and one of the approximately 680 movies about a group of untrustworthy relatives and their associates gathered together to hear the reading of a will, with murder and conspiracy following. Are there hidden passages in this old dark house? You bet your ass.

This Black Cat gives you the enjoyable familiar standards, but, like You'll Find Out (reviewed here last month), it also breathes some fresh weird life into the old formulas, particularly in the first half, and features a stacked cast including Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, a young Alan Ladd, a young-ish Broderick Crawford (this is the only film I've seen where Crawford sprints, jumps, and rolls around in mud, which would be unimaginable even ten years later), and my personal favorite, Gale Sondergaard, who steals the movie from absolutely everybody, even the black cat.

The gold-digging relatives of Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) have converged on her Gothic cat-filled mansion upon the news that the elderly Henrietta is at death's door. Once arrived, they can barely hide their extreme annoyance that the old lady appears to have made a full recovery. Henrietta decides to read her will to them anyway from her wheelchair, two kittens on her lap, since they're all assembled. Everyone finds out how much of the estate and its fortune will be distributed their way, but the best part of the will is interrupted by the arrival of realtor A. Gilmore Smith (Crawford) and his absent-minded comic-relief associate Mr. Penny (Hugh Herbert), an antiques appraiser.

Gilmore was a neighborhood kid who used to hang out at the mansion until he was banished as a teen for throwing rocks at the cats (he's also highly allergic to them). He's also harbored a lifelong crush on Henrietta's granddaughter Elaine (Anne Gwynne), the only Winslow with a conscience. Gilmore has been working out a secret deal with Montague Hartley (Rathbone), the husband of Henrietta's niece Myrna (Gladys Cooper), to sell the estate once Henrietta dies, but finding the old lady as strong as an ox, he pitches the sale to her. She refuses, but lets Gilmore know she likes his moxy.

The rest of our prominent characters are Henrietta's other granddaughter, Margaret Gordon (Claire Dodd), who is having an affair with Montague, Myrna's hotheaded son Richard (Ladd), Henrietta's nephew Stanley Borden (John Eldredge), who would be called a failson on social media if he were a man of today, the mansion's gardener/handyman Eduardo Vidos (Lugosi), and the mansion's housekeeper Abigail Doone (Sondergaard) (more on her later).

Back to the best part of the will. Because of the timing of Gilmore and Penny's arrival, only a few of the assembled know the will's final stipulation. (But which few?) Abigail remains in the mansion and takes care of the cats until her death. Then, and only then, will the rest of the will go into effect. The shady business starts almost immediately after this scene, as does a massive thunderstorm that washes out the nearby roads. 

An attempt to poison Henrietta's milk accidentally kills one of the cats. Henrietta takes it to the property's cat crematory and mausoleum where her own ashes will be displayed along with her deceased pets (her cats are so much cooler than her stupid relatives), but something shady goes down there, too. Meanwhile, a black cat (the only kind of cat Henrietta does not love and is superstitiously afraid of) has begun wandering the property and following people who end up in a world of trouble. From then on, it's hidden passages, conspiracies, attempted murders, red herrings, cat hijinks, Mr. Penny hijinks, and family intrigue. Everyone is suspicious; everyone is a potential victim. All of this is a bad time for the characters and a good time for the viewer.

Though the actors are just fine in their roles, they all pale in comparison to Sondergaard. Doing an even more enjoyable spin on her black-clad Gothic housekeeper character from 1939's The Cat and the Canary, Sondergaard's portrayal of Abigail is the clear highlight of an already enjoyable movie. She hates Henrietta's family and takes great pleasure in letting them know it. She has some spooky, witchy qualities, and her motives are mysterious. Sondergaard gives her character so much energy, humor, style, and sensuality, and she's a constant pleasure to watch. I'm a big fan.

The oddball character building of the first half gets a bit lost in the second half's more conventional old dark house mystery, but the whole thing really zips by, and the crisp black and white cinematography is a real pleasure to look at. I give this one a solid recommendation. If you like Gail Sondergaard, cats, old dark houses, and dysfunctional families, you're probably going to have a good time with this one.