The Old Dark House (1932) on Netflix
NR19321h 10mDramaHorrorThriller
Philip Waverton, his wife Margaret and Roger Penderel lose their way in a storm in the Welsh countryside. The Femm family gives them shelter and warns that the butler Morgan is dangerous.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.0/1014,955 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes97%
Trailer
Plot summary
Driving through the Welsh countryside at night, Philip Waverton, his wife Margaret and Roger Penderel are caught in a heavy storm. They find an old house and are taken in by Horace Femm and his sister Rebecca, who say the weather may keep them there and that Morgan, the mute butler, is a dangerous drinker. Rebecca takes Margaret to a bedroom and speaks of the Femms, a family she calls sinful and godless, and of her father, Sir Roderick Femm, 102 years old and still living in the house. Two more travelers seek refuge: Sir William Porterhouse and a chorus girl using the stage name Gladys DuCane. Roger and Gladys go out to fetch whiskey from his car.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Old Dark House (1932)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Gloria Stuart won the role of Margaret Waverton in The Old Dark House after Universal and Paramount both wanted her; the studios reportedly settled the tug-of-war with a coin toss that Stuart herself conducted, and she signed with Universal.
- The Old Dark House was long considered a lost film until director Curtis Harrington, a friend of James Whale, repeatedly asked Universal Studios to locate the negative, found a print in its vaults in 1968 and persuaded the George Eastman House archive to finance a duplicate negative and restore the film.
- Walter Byron was offered the part of Philip Waverton in The Old Dark House but declined it because of scheduling conflicts with the Alan Mowbray production Dinner Is Served; the role was instead given to Raymond Massey.
- James Whale's The Old Dark House later served as an inspiration for two cult films, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Thundercrack!
