utgard14 PRC thriller has a few things going for it. First, John Carradine in one of his rare starring roles. Carradine was proud of his performance and he should have been. He's excellent. Second, the radiant Jean Parker. She always had a sweet gentility about her. Such a beauty. Third, director Edward G. Ulmer, who deservedly has a cult following. He uses quite a few interesting angles and techniques, never letting his limited budget stop him from being creative. There's a great moody atmosphere to this film, due in large part to his use of shadow and music. There's also a good supporting cast, including Nils Asther as the inspector on Bluebeard's trail, Ludwig Stossel as the disreputable accomplice of Bluebeard, and the beautiful Teala Loring as the sister of Jean Parker's character. Speaking of sisters: Loring was the sister of actresses Lisa Gaye and Debra Paget. Talk about good genes!

Robert J. Maxwell PRC wasn't a studio that produced lavish films with expensive stars and sets, "based on a best seller," or musicals with talented performers singing their hearts out in OverwhelmiColor. Like many studios on poverty row it ground out cheap black-and-white B features, mostly mysteries and detective stories, with B list actors and hurried craftsmen behind the camera.This "Bluebeard" is set in Paris in the late 1800s, this is pretty typical except for a few points. As for the title, forget it. It's called "Bluebeard" because the potential audience might have recognized the name, but that's all. It has nothing to do with historical reality. It's a serial killer movie, rather more like a Jack-the-Ripper tale. A painter develops a habit of killing all his models and dumping them in the Seine. He falls in love with the sister of his last victim, is pursued by the police, and falls from a rooftop into the river.John Carradine is the painter, Gaston Morel. (They didn't even bother with the historical name of the real murderer.) Carradine has a face that seems made for the camera. Well, either the camera or the horse track. You have never seen such a drooping splanchnocranium. Carradine was commonly used as a bit or supporting player in Hollywood movies, sometimes fairly good ones like "The Grapes of Wrath," in which he appears prominently. He's less convincing as a passionate ghoul than as a disillusioned preacher.Few people will recognize the rest of the faces in the cast. Ludwig Stossel was busy enough as an actor but he's hidden behind a beard here. (Bluebeard himself has no beard, blue or otherwise.) However, in its last half hour or so the film becomes visually more interesting. Throughout, the director, Edgar G. Ulmer, uses that baby spot on people's eyes that he was so fond of in "Detour." But as the drama intensifies, Ulmer begins to tilt his camera and otherwise disjoint our line of sight, using shadows and pillars. The exteriors borrow heavily from German expressionism. The production design was the work of Ulmer and his photographer, Eugen Schufftan, who's name is famous and who worked on some outstanding productions. Schufftan did "Menschen am Sonntag" before having to flee Germany and he won an Academy Award for "The Hustler." The original music is pedestrian -- generic thriller or romantic -- but Leo Erdody at least had the good sense to graft onto this story of a mad artist a lot of music from Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition." It's not just highbrow or a grinning nod towards Mussorgsky's ghost. It saves a lot of time and trouble for the guy writing the score if he can just rip off someone else, so it's practical too. You want highbrow? There's that bust of Socrates in the artist's garret, the bust with the chipped nose. At least I think it's Socrates. It may be Charles Laughton with the beard that rightly belonged to Landru.Mostly, this is a routine and often boring murder story with some original touches sprinkled through the tale that lift it slightly above average in entertainment value. Of course, for black-and-white movie buffs and Ulmer fans, it's required viewing.

catfish-er I'm working my way through the Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection and BLUEBEARD is one of the movies in the set.The two leads are really the only redeeming qualities about this film, as the print is awful, the sound unbearable; and, the score heavy-handed. John Carradine, as Gaston Morrell (the puppet master) is fantastic. His performance as the tortured painter/perpetrator is great. While not outright evil, nor with guile, he manages to stir up sympathy; and, hope for restoration.With a bit of schizophrenia surrounding his relationship with his models; and, his one great love, Carradine displays his considerable talent. Jean Parker, as Lucille (the seamstress) is charming as well. By the way, she was an absolute delightful in ONE BODY TOO MANY, so you might want to check that one out as well.Teala Loring played her sister; and, is cast as some sort of "tough" called in by the Police Inspector. However, since the film is set in Paris, her brash New York accent throws off what would have been otherwise a very good performance; it strains credulity. The rest of the cast is abysmal.The plot is rather thin; but, there are elements of interest to hold your attention through the whole 70 minutes.

RanchoTuVu Once I found out why John Carradine's character, a Paris portrait artist of young women, strangles them after the paintings are finished, the reason didn't seem to make much sense. But it didn't matter anyway because this picture is full of great scenes and camera angles, and extraordinary acting by everyone, especially Carradine and the beautiful Jean Parker. Parker plays a dressmaker who attends Carradine's operatic outdoor puppet show production one night in one of the film's best scenes. The city is gripped by fear of a Bluebeard, a murderer of women apparently. Nils Asther has a marvelous part as the suave police inspector as does Ludwig Stossel as the murderous artist's agent who knows the truth and blackmails him to paint women because the portraits bring a nice price. And this little movie from poverty row near brilliantly brings out a complexity and subtlety that is in almost every weirdly and creatively shot scene.