The Unholy Night

THE STORY & GENRE -- Someone is murdering members of the old army regiment. Real hypnotic power, phony seance and ghosts. Lionel Barrymore directs. Roland Young, Boris Karloff star.

THE VERDICT -- Great atmosphere but very talky, and could've been wrapped up in an hour.

FREE ONLINE -- Yes, 93 minutes (TCM print commonly), sound. Silent version does not appear to have survived.

This very early talkie mystery-thriller was directed by Lionel Barrymore, and is quite well acted and written if one has a taste for old-fashioned melodrama and barnstorming ham. A fascinating period piece, which, if one likes the period, is priceless.

THE UNHOLY NIGHT (aka: GREEN GHOST) is one of the earlier in a long line of "old dark house"-type movies. This time, a thick fog settles over London, and a killer takes advantage of the cover, strangling a number of unwary victims. The scene switches to the obligatory mansion, where a group of soldiers have gathered for a reunion. As often happens in these films, a will is introduced, and a mysterious figure apparently starts murdering them.

It's all fairly enjoyable in a mindless way, but the real highlight is a cameo from Boris Karloff. While his character isn't in it for long, he certainly makes the best of it. He's basically the world's creepiest lawyer. The rest is a silly yarn, but Mr. Karloff is superb...

Aka..."Green Ghost"

Of Course "Hollywood" and "The Movies" Would Capitulate Completely to the "Bible-Thumpers", Those Self-Imposed Over-Seers from "The Moral Majority", and Ironically Would Become...

"The Most Popular Art-Form of the 20th Century"

One has to Wonder and Report that "Bending Over Backwards" was a Painful "Lock-Step". Because "The Code" was Rigid, All-Encompassing and "Commanding".

The Code was Impossibly Restraining, and Uncompromising. Without the "Codes" Approval there was No Chance of Recouping Production-Cost, or God-Forbid, a "Profit"...No-Code, No-Distribution, No-Profit.

Probably Unconstitutional Under the 1st Amendment, it had a Stranglehold of Evil on the Art-Form for 25 Years and Hampered, if Not Surely "Castrated" the Ability to Freely Express and the Result was Producing and Exhibiting a "False-Front" of a Reality that Did-Not-Exist. Except in the Minds of Fascists, Control-Freaks, and Fundamentally a Figment of Christian-Idealism.

1929...It's the Year of "The Talkies" or as Ballyhooed..."All Talking-All Singing-All Dancing" and the Transitional "Growing Pains" were All Over All of the Movies in that Land-Mark Year.

Not Only Technically, but Presented Unanswered Questions...What Do Audiences Want"...What will They Tolerate?... It was Unexplored Territory for the Hybrid, so there was a Goodly Amount of Experimentation and Blind-Ambition.

This Story, an "Old-Dark-House" Type was Popular, Common, and a Path Well Traveled In-Print and On-Stage, was Made by "Money-Bags" MGM (More Stars than in the Heavens!), Directed by Celebrated Actor Lionel Barrymore, from a Story by Ben Hecht.

The Movie Looks and Sounds Better than Most of the "Crop" of Cinema in those Early-Days, a Well-Polished, Slick Presentation with an Over-Use of Sing-Along Camaraderie alongside Spooky Spiritualism, and Mystery-Thriller Tropes.

It's a "Talky-Talkie-Type", Typical of the Genre, a Few Surprises, and a "Cameo" by Boris Karloff (pre Frankenstein).

A bit Over-Long, but a Not-Bad Artifact Experience during a Period of Historical Significance, when Movies were Learning to Talk.

"The Code" was Fermenting, and Despite 'Prohibition" in America...Drinking was Celebrated, Embraced, and Promoted, Glorified, and Considered Good-Natured-Fun by "The People".

There is a Lot of That Here along with Other Ingredients that Make this...

Worth a Watch.

As in have patience AND determination with this one. Lord Montague (Roland Young) is walking through the London fog when someone comes up behind him and attempts to kill him by strangulation. He is found by a cop and brought to Scotland Yard where he learns that five of the members of his old WWI regiment have died by strangulation in the foggy streets of London that very day.

A plan is made by the Yard by which all of the living members of the regiment gather at Montague's estate - in uniform - under the guise of a reunion, in hope of smoking out a killer. Later that night a motive arrives. First, another member of the regiment, Mallory, is found dead in Montague's home. Next a mysterious woman bursts in on the gathering and passes out. Finally, Boris Karloff, as a lawyer, comes to tell the surviving member of the regiment that one member that they sentenced to death for cowardice, but escaped and made a fortune in Asia, has died and plans to punish them all by his will. Half his money he leaves to his daughter - the mysterious woman who burst in (Dorothy Sebastian). The other half is divided among those members of the regiment who survive to the next day when the will is probated. Thus they will have a motive to kill each other in hopes of getting the entire fortune available - one million pounds. That would be like thirty million dollars today. Creepy complications ensue.

The actual story, as it completely plays out, is very clever and morbid. The problem is in the execution. Everybody talks in that early talkie halting speech, sometimes launching into monologues that have nothing to do with what is going on and aren't that interesting to begin with. With some expert editing of dialogue and presentation this thing could have been cut down by at least 20 minutes without losing anything. Dorothy Sebastian surprised me as the exotic girl. For somebody with an almost insurmountable southern accent, she acquitted herself marvelously.

This film with its seances, and people all wondering which one was the murderer somewhat reminded me of "The 13th Chair" made the same year. Strangely enough, the most mysterious character in that film was Bela Lugosi where here it was Boris Karloff, a couple of years before their professional fates intertwine. Recommended for the film history buff.