Basil Rathbone: Master of Stage and Screen

Tales of Terror is a collection of three tales based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe: "Morella," "The Black Cat," and "The Case of M. Valdemar." Vincent Price stars in all three tales. Basil Rathbone appears in the third tale as Mr. Carmichael, an evil mesmerist who hypnotizes Valdemar (Vincent Price) at the moment of death, and thus holds him in his control in a tortured state between life and death. Valdemar's wife and doctor object strenuously, but can do nothing because only Carmichael can release Valdemar and let him die in peace. That of course is not villainous enough — Carmichael also lusts after Valdemar's young wife. When Carmichael tries to force himself on her ("I take what I want!"), Valdemar (looking ghastly since he's been "sort of" dead for months) rises from his bed, kills Carmichael and then dissolves into a putrid liquid goo on top of Carmichael. Rathbone acts well in this piece, not overdoing it, yet looking suitably horrified at the sight of Valdemar, and screaming as he's being killed.

"... there lay a nearly liquid mass of loathsome — of detestable putridity." —Edgar Allan Poe

Just as the Sherlock Holmes films bear little resemblance to Conan Doyle's stories, these tales also bear little resemblance to the tales written by Poe. "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar," as written by Poe, tells the story of a dying man, M. Valdemar, who willingly agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of his death as part of an experiment to see if death can be delayed. This much corresponds with the film tale. But Poe's hypnotist is not evil, and there is no young wife. Valdemar's doctors do not object to the experiment, but together with two nurses and a medical student, observe and scientifically record their observations. Yes, Valdemar is held in a state between life and death for several months, but he does not appear tortured. Of course there is horror involved — that's what Poe is known for. When the mesmerist releases Valdemar, Valdemar's body instantly dissolves into a liquid. While Poe's hypnotist may be a mad scientist, he's not the type of villain that Rathbone portrays in the film.

Still, we love to see Rathbone portray evil villains, even if it is a distortion of the original tale! The chemistry between Rathbone and Price makes watching the film enjoyable. Tales of Terror reunited long-time friends Price and Rathbone for the first time since Tower of London. Since Rathbone was staying in a hotel during the time that he was working on Tales of Terror, Vincent Price invited Rathbone to dinner at his home. On the DVD audio commentary, film historian David Del Valle recalled that Vincent Price had told him that the quality of his acting depended on how he related to his co-stars. One reason that the Valdemar segment of Tales of Terror is so well-acted is that Vincent felt compelled to keep up with Basil Rathbone.

Regarding the Valdemar segment, Price said, "I play an old man who is killed physically but kept alive in his mind. The question was, What would a man look like in this state? We settled for an old-fashioned mud pack — it dries and draws the skin up and then cracks open. It worked beautifully. But the hardest job was the part where the dead man actually comes back to life. They decided on a mixture of glue, glycerin, cornstarch, and make-up paint, which was boiled and poured all over my head. Hot, mind you. I could stand it for only one shot, then I'd have to run. It came out beautifully. It gave the impression of the old man's face melting away" (from Vincent Price Unmasked by James Robert Parish & Steven Whitney).

A scene was filmed that imagined what poor Valdemar was seeing during those months that his soul was suspended between life and death. Producer/Director Roger Corman later decided to cut that scene.

"Tales of Terror"

POOR. Edgar Allan Poe has left quite a heritage of horror behind. The macabre story mill seems to be inexhaustible. —and, from American-International, the enterprising, growing indie (if only because it continues to keep its studios grinding away so that the exhibitor can have ever more releases, even if most may have to take their lower position on the program) has taken to the horror type tale in goodly number. In this one you have a trio of evilish "masters of the macabre" in a Poe-etic trilogy that is conceived to give off shaft of shock, heavy handed horror and otherwise frighten the bejabbers our of you if that kind of stuff is your dish of cinematic hash. But this fails to deliver its promise of spine-tingling entertainment. In fact, it's on the dullish side of movie-making. Oh yes, that trio of bogey-men! Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone. They all do the best they can with a badly conceived story structure which encompasses the Poe trilogy, "The Case of M. Valdemar," "Morella," and "The Black Cat."

To be sure, the producers tried to give this the smooth polish of the eerie, weirdy tale that has its audience. Panavision and color were used. But, Poe, prolific as he was at turning out his tales of horror, as if he were a one-man sausage (literary) factory, is not easy to deal with when taking his stuff and trying to transmit it to the screen. It can come out on the corny side of absurdity. That's what happens here. You just can't take any of the offering seriously. Our lunch with Vincent Price was a little prophetic in its timing. It was on the day before his film premiered. This kind of review is hardly the way to say "thank you," for few actors are so sincerely gracious. The same actor-rating go to Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone and lovely Debra Paget. They tried hard, but the material was quite feeble.

Produced and directed by Roger Corman; screenplay by Richard Matheson.

Adults.

—Harrison's Reports, July 14, 1962

In an interview, Roger Corman said, "Basil Rathbone was very good to work with. He came in completely prepared. He was somewhat elderly and sometimes he had difficulty remembering his lines. But he was really a great gentleman, and I tried to work with him as gently as I could, and I think he appreciated that. He gave an excellent performance. Sometimes we had to take it point by point because of the difficulty of the lines. The net result, what you see on screen, I think is excellent."

Debra Paget recalled that Basil Rathbone and Vincent Price were cracking jokes all the time. "They had a natural sense of humor that was so wonderful."

Tales of Terror went into production November 28, 1961. The actors spent five days on each of the three stories, so the filming was done in three weeks. According to David Frankham (Dr. James in the "Valdemar" segment) on the DVD commentary, rather than rehearsing the scenes, the actors did a reading over lunch. Frankham added that they didn't get much direction from Roger Corman.

Basil Rathbone, who was paid $5000 for playing a hypnotist, received some hypnotism lessons by Dr. William J. Bryan Jr., one of the founders of modern hypnotherapy.

Filmed in color and a widescreen format, Tales of Terror was released in Los Angeles on June 11, 1962, and in New York City on July 4, 1962. The film did very well at the box office in spite of mixed reviews. Thanks primarily to the success of Tales of Terror, which grossed 1.5 million dollars, AIP had a great year in 1962.

A word about the other two tales: "The Black Cat" is very entertaining and more of a psychological thriller than pure horror. The script starts with the basic Poe tale of an alcoholic who murders his wife in a drunken rage and hides the body in a wall in the basement (and accidentally walls the cat in with her). The tale is embellished (and in my opinion improved) by the addition of the character played by Vincent Price and the scenes with Price and the alcoholic (Peter Lorre), and Price and the alcoholic's wife (Joyce Jameson). Vincent Price's character falls in love with the wife, which thus gives the alcoholic a motive for killing them (something which I felt was lacking in Poe's tale). There is an amusing scene in which Peter Lorre (the alcoholic) challenges Price (a wine-tasting expert) to a wine-tasting contest. Price uses the proper method of sniffing the aroma and swishing a small amount of wine in his mouth to identify the wine. Even though Lorre's method is to guzzle a full glass, he proves equally adept at identifying the wine! Richard Matheson, the writer of "The Black Cat" segment, was also inspired by Poe's story "The Cask of Amontillado," which involves two men, Montresor and Fortunato, who share a fondness for wine. Montresor lures Fortunato to a crypt/winecellar with the promise of tasting a rare wine, and then walls him up alive. (Must be one of Poe's favorite methods of murder/hiding a body.) The characters played by Peter Lorre and Vincent Price are also named Montresor and Fortunato.

In 1961, an audition for the black cat role attracted 152 black cats and their owners. The cats were tested for their docility, ability to take directions, and compatibility with the actors. Read all about the cat auditions here: https://www.life.com/animals/black-cats/

Three different black cats were used to play the role of the one black cat in the story. But these were professionally trained cats, not ones selected from the cat auditions. That event was a publicity stunt.

"Morella" is not especially terrifying and rather uninteresting. It's the story of Lenora, a young woman whose mother died while giving birth to her. Her father couldn't bear to have her around; he blamed her for the death of her mother. As a result, Lenora hasn't seen her father for 26 years. Having learned that she has a terminal disease, Lenora arrives at her father's home, hoping to reconcile with him before she dies. In the spooky house Lenora finds the mummified body of her mother, Morella, lying on a bed. The ghost of Morella took revenge on her daughter by killing her and possessing her body. Morella proceeds to wreak vengeance on her husband as well.

Tales of Terror

Two of Edgar Allan Poe's most fascinating and terrifying tales, "The Black Cat" and "The Case of M. Valdemar," are the shuddery highlights of this three-episode Roger Corman production which will delight and excite the horror devotees who flocked to AIP's "Pit and the Pendulum" and "House of Usher." With the suave master of Poe characterizations, Vincent Price, aided and abetted by Basil Rathbone and Peter Lorre, both experts of period shocker fare, and a lavish Panavision and color production, this cannot fail to be a blockbuster in almost any situation. Price and Lorre have a field day with their tongue-in-cheek delineations of wine-tasters in the macabre masterpiece in which a cat proves to be a murderer's undoing, while Price and Rathbone impart the required eerie dramatics to the shuddery story of a mesmerized corpse rising from the dead—a climax which may even be too frightening for nonsqueamish patrons. The brief opening sequence, based on Poe's "Morella," is moderately effective as a buildup to the classic terror episodes that follow. Only Price stars in all three episodes and proves he has no peer in this type.

—Boxoffice, June 4, 1962

"A group of grotesque and ghoulish Poe stories, directed in a literal-minded way by Roger Corman, and featuring Peter Lorre as a macabre madcap. Vincent Price leers his way through all of them, and in one turns into an oozing liquid. With Basil Rathbone and Debra Paget. Some of the horror effects are rather repellent." —The New Yorker, July 9, 1962

"Rathbone gave an effective performance in this above-average horror picture, as did the rest of the cast." —Michael B. Druxman, Basil Rathbone: His Life and His Films

"Basil was an intelligent person and a brilliant actor." —Vincent Price, quoted in Victoria Price, Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography

See Page Two for the trailer for Tales of Terror as well as more photos and reviews. See Page Three for pictures of posters, lobby cards and promo photos.

Images on this page and pages 2 and 3 are from the film Tales of Terror, copyright AIP

Tales of Terror (1962), 88 min., color

Tales of Terror
(1962), 88 min., color