The Devil Commands (1941)

[Mr. Arkadin]

Anyone catch this today? I've got the DVD and I'm always blown away every time I view it.

It was the last in a four film contract between Karloff and Columbia so naturally the budget was depleted. Dymtryk was forced to use really cheap sets, darken the frame, use angled shots and other types of tricks to make it look halfway presentable. With it's highly implausable plot line pushing the idea of dead corpses in a seance position generating energy "like a couple of extra tubes in a radio", the film seems completely absurd on paper. However, when Karloff's voice breaks and he calls his dead wife's name, it all becomes believeable!

Like Detour or other such bargain basement classics, this film has no earthly reason to work--but it does. Proof that a good actor and savvy director can overcome mountainous obstacles and still generate an interesting film. Any other takers on this one?

[Dewey1960]

Mr. Arkadin said: "Like Detour or other such bargain basement classics, this film has no earthly reason to work--but it does."

Such is the sublime beauty of the poverty row mentality when applied to the art of black & white B movie-making. Although technically Columbia was not really a poverty row studio, it did during the 30s and 40s come the closest in replicating the values promoted by such outfits as Monogram and PRC. Only in a creatively viable domain such as that offered by the "no budget" studio environment could a film like DETOUR or DECOY or for that matter THE DEVIL COMMANDS be made without the slightest nod to conventional logic or reason. And still make emotional sense.
Condescended to by highbrow and pretentious film snobs and generally reviled by mainstream critics (yet worshipped and adored by--god help us--the public), poverty row films inhabit an area of our subconscious that is difficult to fathom let alone explain. They employ a dream logic that recoils in the face of production values and movie stars, shrivels at the notion of color and, finally, disappears into the vapors of the half-forgotten at the prospect of immortality. Thank god for them. For without them we would be left in a cinematic void, forced to endure the bland reality imposed upon us by uninspired hacks.

[jdb1]

So true and well put, Dewey.

To my mind, a film is, after all, a vehicle for storytelling, and a good yarn is a good yarn, even without any bells and whistles. If a low-budget film can tell a gripping story and keep me interested, I'm happy. As a matter of fact, some of those lurid horror-type films Karloff, Lugosi and Lorre made in the mid-40s are really quite good. That's why they were restyled by Roger Corman and Hammer Films in the 60s. In many cases, I prefer the older ones - the B&W lends more atmosphere.

[MikeBSG]

Don't forget that "The Devil Commands" is actually based on a fairly decent horror novel, "The Edge of Running Water" by William Sloan. (It was brought out in paperback at the start of the 1980s, which is how I read it.)

I read "Edge of Running Water" first and only caught up with "The Devil Commands" when it came out on DVD. What surprised me about "Devil Commands" is that the movie owes a lot to "Rebecca." It begins with a young woman (who plays practically no part in the actual film) giving a "last night I dreamed I went to Manderly" type narration, and there is one scene in which Karloff shows a sherrif how someone walked over a cliff which strongly reminds me of the scene in which Olivier tells Fontaine how Rebecca died.

[nightwalker]

Interesting connection to REBECCA, Mike. I never noticed that before.

Although made towards the end of Karloff's contractual obligation to Columbia, I've always enjoyed this little chiller more than the other serious films in the mad doctor "series", although THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG, itself a remake of a pretty darn good thriller from 1934 called THE NINTH GUEST, rates pretty high with me, too.

And how about THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU? ALthough obviously a rip-off of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE, on its own terms, it's an enjoyable little bizarre comedy with a hilarious performance from Peter Lorre thrown in. It's too bad that, apart from this and YOU'LL FIND OUT, the two didn't work together more frequently in that period.

[MikeBSG]

"The man They Could Not Hang," the first of the four mad scientist films Karloff made for Columbia, is terrific. It is very dark and avoids all the cliches that "Before I Hang," the second film, falls into.

Let's not forget "The Black room," which karloff made for Columbia around 1935 or 6. He plays twins living under a curse and is terrific.

[nightwalker]

Agreed.

And consider the acting challenge THE BLACK ROOM must have presented to Karloff:

It probably was tough enough playing good and evil twins, but then, notch it up a bit by having the evil twin masquerade as the good one, so that he incorporates elements of both characters, I think, to help the audience keep straight just which brother is which. What an underrated performer he was!

[Mr. Arkadin]

For Karloff fans I would like to add that one of his best British films The Man Who Changed his Mind (1936) is now availible on DVD! Print looks decent too!

[MikeBSG]

"The man Who Changed His Mind," also known as "The man Who Lived Again," is a very good film. There is a lot of intentional comedy in it, and it turns out Stanley Gilliat (or was it Laudner) of the "St. Trinnian's" films was one of the screenwriters.

If you ever get a chance to see Karloff in "The Ghoul," leap at it.

[cinemalover]

It's been awhile since I've seen The Devil Commands, but I love anything with Boris in it (see avatar!). As I recall the subjects of his experiments had to wear metal snap-shut hoods that almost looked like deep sea diving equipment.

[nightwalker]

That's the one, Cinemalover! At the film's climax when trying to contact his wife he has a whole table full of people in those helmets!

Mike: MGM released a beautiful print of THE GHOUL on DVD a few years ago with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. If you haven't picked it up yet, go for it!

[Mr. Arkadin]

I thought I'd bump this thread up, as the film is showing again early tomorrow. Anyone else anxious for this one?

[moira finnie]

I am very interested in seeing this even if it is on TCM at 6am here in the East, since anything Edward Dmytryk directed interests me, I've never seen this one, and any movie that gives Boris Karloff a chance to create a credible character, and act with Ann Revere, I'm there. My fave of this period for Boris remains Michael Curtiz's The Walking Dead (1936), but maybe this will give me a new one to enjoy.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I would consider this movie definitely on similar footing with The Walking Dead and equally as good. I'll be anxious to hear your (or anyone's) thoughts on this little discussed film.

[klondike]

Only in a creatively viable domain such as that offered by the "no budget" studio environment could a film like DETOUR or DECOY or for that matter THE DEVIL COMMANDS be made without the slightest nod to conventional logic or reason.

Great point, Dewey, especially with examples like Decoy, which I saw for the first time this past week.
This thread belongs to The Devil Commands (which I missed, hang the luck!), so I'll not ramble on too long about Decoy, but man alive, that was one quirked out little quickie, even by distaff Noir standards; not only did it slyly subvert several chains of logic simultaneously, it never frayed its own credibilty, and kept shifting plot devices around to maximize the sensation of being repeatedly off-kilter from any typical story development . . Despite the "no-budget" situation of its production scale, somehow every player rendered inspired-seeming performances, especially veteran character actor & all-star ape-chaser, Robert Armstrong.
Sorry Ark, reckon I got a li'l carried away, huh?
Over to you!