Horrors of the Black Museum ** (1959, Michael Gough, June Cunningham, Graham Curnow, Shirley Anne Field, Geoffrey Keen) – Classic Movie Review 8,144

‘No woman can hold her tongue. They’re a vicious, unreliable breed!’ – Edmond Bancroft.

Director Arthur Crabtree’s 1959 British horror movie Horrors of the Black Museum stars Michael Gough as crime writer Edmond Bancroft, who provides his own material by getting his meek protégé assistant Rick (Graham Curnow) to stage a series of killings under hypnosis.

Director Crabtree uses colour and widescreen to advantage, and takes enjoyment in some of the genre’s stock situations. The odd and unreal-looking Eastmancolor is imaginatively handled by cinematographer Desmond Dickinson.

On the other hand, look at this, proving how difficult the widescreen is to use. The important or interesting part of the image is this:

And the actual image on screen is this:

This chiller is gory for its time and shocked audiences back in its day, with a body count of seven, but of course it is pretty tame now. However, the original UK cinema version was cut heavily by the BBFC to edit scenes of gore. It ran 78 minutes instead of the 93 minutes in the U S theatrical print released by American International Pictures as its first release both in colour and CinemaScope.

Also in the cast are Shirley Anne Field, Geoffrey Keen, June Cunningham, Beatrice Varley, Austin Trevor, Hilda Barry, Nora Gordon, Vanda Godsell, Gerald Case, Richard Caldicot. Geoffrey Denton, Carole Ann Ford, Frank Forsyth, and Sydney Bromley. Second-billed June Cunningham has only a few scenes.

The movie has a special feature of the gimmick of Hypnovista. But the Hypnovista segment was removed from American International’s television release prints. Before the story starts, an Introductory Lecturer (Emile Franchel), supposedly a psychologist specialising in hypnotism, leads the audience through hypnotic suggestions.

Demonstrating yawning is contagious, the Lecturer then hypnotises the audience with the power of suggestion that they are feeling cold (cue blue-tinted screen and sound of an icy storm) and feeling hot (orange-tinted screen and sound of flames burning). He concludes the audience is now hypnotised and will experience the movie as though actually there.

Graham Curnow (1930–1997) was the longtime partner of actor Victor Spinetti (1929–2012). He used his pay from this film to buy a flat on Manchester Street, Marylebone, Central London, W1U, where they set up home.

Horrors of the Black Museum is directed by Arthur Crabtree, runs 93 minutes or 78 minutes (UK cut version), is made by Carmel Productions and Merton Park Studios, is released by Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors (UK) and American International Pictures (US), is written by Aben Kandel and Herman Cohen, is shot in Eastmancolor and widescreen by Desmond Dickinson, is produced by Herman Cohen (executive producer) and Jack Greenwood (producer), is scored by Gerard Schurmann and is designed by C Wilfred Arnold.

It is the final film of director Arthur Crabtree, maker of Fiend without a Face (1958).

A new restoration on Blu-ray and DVD makes its UK digital debut on 15 January 2024.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,144

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