After the runaway success of the 1953 3-D HOUSE OF WAX with Vincent Price, Warner Brothers followed it up with another turn-of-the-20th century horror film, THE PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE. Also successful but not as well known, PHANTOM is much harder to view. In fact, as of 2025, it has yet to receive a U.S. digital release although it had come out on VHS over 30 years ago. The only DVDs currently available come from Italy & Spain. According to several websites, WB has procession of the original negative but apparently don’t want to prepare a home edition since Karl Malden doesn’t have the name value of Vincent Price.
Having just re-watched PHANTOM in the less than ideal Italian release, I’ll add my voice to those who desire a Region 1 version release. In fact WAX and PHANTOM would make an ideal double-bill. Each film runs under 90 minutes, use the same sets, the same primary color scheme, and were shot by the same cinematographer, J. Peverell Marley. While Karl Malden isn’t Vincent Price, he is a recognizable performer with a solid presence and PHANTOM shows that he can leave his 1950s Method acting at home and chew scenery in the best old school theatrical tradition. It’s worth noting that following PHANTOM, Malden went straight into ON THE WATERFRONT, a Method acting showcase with Marlon Brando & Rod Steiger.
Several reviewers complain the story deviates too far from Edgar Allan Poe’s original but then, it has to. Today most everyone knows the murders were committed by an ape, which was an orangutan in Poe’s story, but in the movies is always a gorilla. An interesting fact is that in the 2 most famous cinematic versions, this one, and the 1932 film with Bela Lugosi, the gorilla was played by the same actor, Charles Gemora, “The King of the Gorilla Men” who had a prolific career in films. This is the best gorilla suit I have ever seen, and Gemora’s performance the most believable, but then he doesn’t have to compete with chimpanzee inserts as he did in 1932.
This time around the main character Dupin, who was an amateur detective (46 years before Sherlock Holmes) in the original story, is depicted as a professor (Steve Forrest), who works for Dr. Marais (Karl Malden) who manages a zoo. After a series of savage murders are committed, Dupin is suspected and must convince a skeptical police Inspector (Claude Dauphin) that something inhuman is responsible. Meanwhile Marais has fallen in love with Dupin’s girlfriend (Patricia Medina) and has romantic plans for her. It all wraps up neatly and conventionally in under an hour and a half.
PHANTOM makes a great use of 3-D technology just like HOUSE OF WAX. It includes set pieces where the story gets put on hold while they throw stuff at the camera that would look good in 3-D, But a number of 3-D effects are also cleverly integrated into the story and come as a genuine surprise. Of course most people will watch PHANTOM in the normal 2-D aspect but even “flat” you see a film purposely designed to create depth perception. Today the technology exists where you can project PHANTOM in 3-D at home, but before you can, Warner Brothers has to issue it first.
The Capsule Critic 