Bluebeard

Paris ,France , a tormented painter and puppeteer called Gaston Morrell (one of John Carradine's best vehicles) has a psychopatic urge to strangle gorgeous women . As he contacts Parisian women through his paintings posing as models he seduces and eventually kills them in order to carry out his dark purports . Among those getting the ending curtain call from "bluebeard" (is a type of serial killer ; specifically, it is a man who murders his wives or lovers , this type is named after the fictional "Bluebeard") are Francine Lutien , Lucille Lutien and Renee Claremont .

This chiller is based on lady killer Henry-Denise Landru who seduced and murdered several women . The flick realized Noir style packs thrills , chills , drama , suspense and a lot of murders . Good acting by John Carradine as an artist hires portrait models, and after he finishes their portraits, he strangles them . It features John Carradine's own favorite performance . Furthermore , there appears Jean Parker as Lucille Lutien and Nils Asther and Inspector Jacques . And film debut of actress Sonia Sorel -Mrs. John Carradine- , who went on to do several more titles for director Edgar G. Ulmer.

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely and usually badly edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duplicated from second- or third-generation or more copies of the film . Eugen Schüfftan was actually the director of photography but could not be credited on screen because he was not yet a member of the cinematographer's union . So he was credited as production designer, the job actually done by director Edgar G. Ulmer, while the camera operator Jockey Arthur Feindel was credited as director of photography . This Noir film was professionally directed by Edgar G Ulmer , being filmed in six days . Edgar was born on September 17, 1904 in Olmütz, Moravia, Czech Republic as Edgar George Ulmer. He was a director and writer, known for Satanás (1934), Detour (1945) and People on Sunday (1930) , Aníbal (1959) , The Amazing Transparent Man (1960) , Beyond the Time Barrier (1960) , among others .

Other films dealing with this known character , Henry ¨Bluebeard¨ Landru , -who was really father of various children, disposed and married 11 wives and killed them in order to feed his little family , being subsequently beheaded- , are the followings : ¨Bluebeard¨ (1901) by George Melies ; ¨Monsieur Verdoux¨ (1947) with Charles Chaplin and Martha Ryer ; ¨Bluebeard's 10 honeymoon¨ by W.L. Wilder with George Sanders , Patricia Roc and Corinne Calvet ; ¨Bluebeard¨(1963) by Claude Chabrol with Charles Denner , Stephane Audran , Danielle Darrieux , Michele Morgan and Hildegarde Neff ; soporific remake titled ¨Bluebeard¨(1972) by Edward Dmytryck with Richard Burton, Joey Heatherton , Rachel Welch , Sybil Danning , Natahalie Delon , Virna Lisi ; and ¨¨Bluebeard¨(2009) by Catherine Breillat with Dominique Thomas and Lola Creton .

John Carradine had always considered his role as Gaston Morrell in Bluebeard as his favorite and since it's one of his few starring ones it's easy to see why. Director Edgar G. Ulmer makes the most of the low budget he had working for poverty row studio PRC in making one of the most atmospheric horror films of the '40s. Most of the supporting cast also do well here especially Jean Parker as Lucille who Gaston falls head over heels for and Ludwig Stossel as Jean Lamarte. The woman who played Renee, Sonia Sorel, would later marry Carradine and bear kids Keith and Robert with him. Iris Adrian lends some humor in a brief court sequence. Well worth seeking for old movie horror fans.

I saw this on a cheap DVD copy, and the film may have lost a bit in translation, but time has not been kind to the soundtrack, the dialogue muffled, and the background music overbearing. Even so, this is clearly a very uneven production saved mainly by the two leads and the high notes of artistry within an overall muddy piece.

Carradine is fantastic. This is a great role for him, displaying diverse talents. He is unfortunately not directed with any subtlety, and it is clear that he is the villain from the beginning, so this becomes more a story of "will the villain be redeemed by love?" That makes this film more interesting than a standard thriller.

Jean Parker is really luminous and lovely, and is the only young female in the cast that captures the feeling of the time period. The actress playing her sister is arch and tart enough to be playing a film noir gun moll, and the other young actresses are just horrible, and horribly directed, and completely out of place in a period film... they must all have come from the local bar.

The movie has elements that make it interesting and artistic, the focus on painting style, the accomplished and beautiful puppet show. It becomes fairly clear that this movie should have been called The Puppetmaster... that kind of "just missed the mark" moment mars many elements of this film. It starts with the title BLUEBEARD, which is bandied about, but never followed up on, and continues. THE PUPPETMASTER would have been a great premise and title for this film that could have unified it.

Others have mentioned this being a poverty row film, and that does endear it to me... but being from 1944, this is not that early a film, and it is simply a grade B shocker - a precursor to Vincent Price's wonderful performances in many B thriller shockers. If this was an attempt to make a period film in film noir style, it was a mismarriage.

Still, I give it a 4 - slightly below average, because in the overview of film history, we have much higher budget films that are infinitely worse on all levels. A similar, earlier film, but much better on all levels, is John Barrymore's SVENGALI. If you liked this, you will LOVE that.

This telling of French serial killer Bluebeard (why was he called Bluebeard?) is notable for two reasons - one is John Carradine's haunting yet believable portrayal of a madman's psyche, and the other is for Edgar G. Ulmer's ability to create mood and even grandeur on a tiny budget. While Carradine's acting skills have never been in question, his over-the-top scene stealing in many small roles would make one approach him with caution in a leading role. However, Carradine manages to restrain himself enough to never grow old or cumbersome in the role, while simultaneously delivering his lines memorably - leading to the excellent final crescendo. The plot never tires, the direction is masterful, the ensemble acting (especially the devious art dealer Lamarte) far better than expected, and the final feeling one of satisfaction. While all of this is unadulterated praise, the movie does appear a tad bit stagey (via budgetary concerns) at times, and also moves slowly at certain points. Despite this, Bluebeard is not merely an excellent time-waster, but a movie worthy of any viewer going out, renting, and popping in.

This is a decent little film but more importantly it's a chance for the star (John Carradine) to show he COULD be a leading man and not just a cheesy supporting actor. In fact, I was THRILLED to see this film because only a couple weeks ago, I saw Carradine's worst film (BILLY THE KID VERSUS Dracula). This film helped to wash away the foul stench of failure from my mind--at least temporarily.

The film is, not surprisingly, a low-budget movie. Carradine played in many of these type of films but this one is different because it is actually well written, acted and engaging. And while it is NOT going to change your life by watching it, it does deliver excellent B-movie thrills.