It’s No Turkey- Karloff and Lugosi Face Off in “Black Cat”!

After Thanksgiving, and having survived "Black Friday"-it's time to pass on more turkey, and enjoy a meaty thriller, as we're pleased to wind up our month of "Boris and Barney" with an eerie film that pits Bela Lugosi against Boris Karloff in a story of war post-war loss,and devil worship- with an innocent young couple caught in the middle- it's "The Black Cat"!

PLEASE NOTE: this is a DIFFERENT "Black Cat" than the one we ran with Basil Rathbone and Broderick Crawford a few months ago. I am already anticipating  e-mails whining " you just showed this movie!" No -this is the 1934 movie, not the 1941 comedy-thriller in which Bela also had a part. As I've stated before- every movie we've shown in 2014 has only run ONCE in this calendar year. We are hoping to do the same in 2015,though, with our Universal contract, we will be bringing back some movies that ran during this year.

Tonight's film brings us a young couple on their honeymoon, visiting Hungary- who end up sharing a train compartment with Dr. Vitus Werdegast, who is returning home after leaving his wife to go to war- and being  held in a prison camp for years. He is on his way to see  an "old friend" that he has business to settle with- a weird architect named Poelzig, who lives in an old fort  amidst the rubble left by the war. When the traveling party  boards a bus to continue their journeys, it crashes- and, with the young woman hurt- they must make their way to the home of Poelzig to seek help.

In this odd Expressionistic setting, Werdegast treats the newlywed, and  finds himself terrified by a black cat wandering the house- the cat being a phobia of his! Things get tense as Poelzig shows an unhealthy interest in the young newlywed- meanwhile, Werdegast confronts Poelzig about his treachery during the war- and, on the personal front- his relationship with Werdegast's wife while he was imprisoned! The truth is painfully exposed- and it soon becomes plain that Poelzig has plans for the young bride- that satanic rituals are being planned-and that our visitors may never leave the premises!

The look of this film is fascinating- and Boris Karloff, as Poelzig, appears to have a "New Wave"  look crossed with "Lost in Space"s Dr. Smith! Regardless of that last statement, this is a chilling  story- showing how Karloff could still portray a monster - as a man. Bela, as Dr. Werdegast, gives a solid performance, showing his passion and pain- and building to  a horrific ending! There's plenty of Sven shtick to offset the tension- and- be looking for the first load of photos of people dressed up as me from this past Halloween season!

"The Black Cat" prowls across your TV screen on MeTV tonight at 10 pm eastern/pacific, 9 pm central, or please check your local listings for the time in your area. In Chicago, Sven viewers can get another look at  the "Barney" half of this month's theme, with an encore performance of "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" starring Don "Barney Fife" Knotts on our sister station, WCIU, the U at 11 am!

Enjoy this extended Thanksgiving weekend with a special helping of Boris and Bela tonight on MeTV!