MovieChat Forums > The Lodger (1944) Discussion > Nice Little Thriller

Nice Little Thriller

posted 16 years ago by Harold_Robbins
7 replies | jump to latest

I finally caught up with this suspense classic today and wasn't disappointed. Its moody London fits right in the mode with GASLIGHT and THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, which were made around the same time (I haven't caught up with HANGOVER SQUARE yet, but hope to soon).

Aside from Cregar, Oberon and Sanders, when I saw that the cast included Cedric Hardwicke, Sara Allgood, Doris Lloyd, and Queenie Leonard I knew I was in safe, familiar hands - and there was even an un-billed appearance by Skelton Knaggs (easily one of the eeriest faces ever to appear in film).

Great cinematography by Lucien Ballard emphasizing Cregar's height. It's a cinch that, had Cregar lived, he and Vincent Price would have been vying for many of the same roles before too long.

Edit 4/10/09: I've just read the original novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, which today would be categorized as "a novel of psychological suspense" rather than a mystery or detective story (it may well have served as the starting point for Ruth Rendell's novel THE ROTTWEILER, as well as a previous novel of hers titled A DEMON IN MY VIEW) - the various film versions of THE LODGER (including the 1944 version) kept the basic plot but added or altered characters and sub-plots - the 1944 film was also the first to plainly attribute the murders to "Jack the Ripper" rather than "The Avenger" as do the novel and earlier films. None of "The Avenger's" crimes is ever actually depicted in the novel - they occur "off-page" and we learn details about them via dialog, newspaper clippings, and an inquest. And we don't learn until the novel's final pages whether or not the lodger was "The Avenger."

"Somewhere along the line the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."

[–] TheManInOil 13 years ago

Cregar actually reminded me a lot of Victor Buono in this.

I agree with the rest of what you say though - the cast is fine and the cinematography excellent.

"I'll book you. I'll book you on something. I'll find something in the book to book you on."

[–] denham 11 years ago

Laird Cregar was excellent, as everyone agrees, and I can see the resemblance to Buono and indeed to Vincent Price (which one supposes would have been more evident after the diet...) It is a good-looking film. The production values were consistently high, the sets and especially the photography and lighting. It was only the script which perhaps didn't entirely gleam. I must try to see some more work of John Brahm. (Lucien Ballard has quite a catalog.) The music was good, too.

"I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken."

[–] FANatic-10 11 years ago

A very well crafted film in every respect. I was only bothered by the fact that it involves Jack the Ripper and yet the facts stray from the real Jack the Ripper case (actresses and performers are his target here, not prostitutes, but I suppose it is forgivable given the time this was made). The studio-manufactured atmosphere of Victorian London is eerie and the murders, especially Jenny's, nerve-wracking though very tastefully done by today's standards. Cregar could hardly be bettered in his portrayal and Oberon is both lovely and sympathetic. I wish Sanders had been given a more rounded character to play, but he's always a welcome presence.

[–] heyteegs (1207) 4 years ago

I thought it was Buono at first.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 4 years ago

Buono and Cregar are similar. It's a pity that Cregar wanted to change his image instead of being the character star he already was at this time.

[–] franzkabuki 9 years ago

"He and Vincent Price would have been vying for many of the same roles before long".

The same could probably be said about Credar and Raymond Burr.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] telegonus (736) 4 months ago

Yes, and re Raymond Burr, he modeled his screen persona on Laird Cregar's, to a degree anyway. At his best, Burr could, like Cregar, draw the viewer in, and make one sympathize or at least empathize with his villainous or evil, as the case my be, characters. Burr was known to have been an admirer of Cregar's, just barely missed knowing or at least meeting him, by a couple of years prior to his arrival in Hollywood after World War II. Yet Cregar truly had no "successors", as such. Victor Buono was probably the nearest to him in this regard, although he had a more genial and lighthearted side. Cregar could play comedy well at times, however when he was playing a truly tragic figure he could own the screen better than any other actor I can think of. The nearest Buono came to play a Cregar-like part was his portrayal of the title role in the 1964 The Strangler, in which he was excellent.