The Black Cat (Universal Pictures, 1941)

The Black Cat PosterOne Sheet

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Production Company: Universal Pictures

Producer: Burt Kelly

Director: Albert S. Rogell

Assistant Director : Howard Christie

Script: Robert Lees, Robert Neville, Frederick I. Rinaldo, Eric Taylor

Based on The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe

Cinematography: Stanley Cortez

Editor: Ted J. Kent

Art Director:Jack Otterson

Associate Art Director: Ralph M. Delacy

Set Decorator: Russell A. Gausman

Musical Directors: Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner

Stock Music Composers: Ralph Freed, Charles Henderson, Charles Previn

Sound Supervisor: Bernard B. Brown

Sound Technicians: Hal Bumbaugh and William Schwartz

Visual Effects: John P. Fulton

Costume Designer: Vera West

Unit Publicity Writer: Jack Rosenstein

Cast:

Basil Rathbone: Montague Hartley

Hugh Herbert: Mr. Penny

Broderick Crawford: Hubert A. Gilmore ‘Gil’ Smith

Bela Lugosi: Eduardo Vigos

Anne Gwynne: Elaine Winslow

Gale Sondergaard: Abigail Doone

Claire Dodd: Margaret Gordon

John Eldredge: Stanley Borden

Gladys Cooper: Myrna Hartley

Alan Ladd: Richard Hartley

Cecilia Loftus: Henrietta Winslow

Erville Alderson: Doctor Williams

Harry C. Bradley: Coroner

Jack Cheatham: 1st Moving Man

Edgar Sherrod: Minister

Evening Star , February 27, 1941

Black Cat, Evening Star , February 27, 1941*

St. Petersburg Times, Mar 4, 1941

The Black Cat, St. Petersburg Times, Mar 4, 1941*

The New York Times, April 26, 1941

At the Rialto

A.W.

The Rialto is following tradition this week in celebrating a quarter of a century of purveying movies to the public with a new screen-and-squeal item. “The Black Cat,” a comedy thriller suggested by a Poe-short story. “The relationship between the two is microscopic. A tale more slow than sinister, it has all the ingredients of conventional horror melodrama. What with four murders, a score of sliding panels and all the other necessary macaber settings, the horror generally fails to chill. Blame it on the stock plot, which is concerned with the machinations of many relatives and retainers to gain control of the estate of an aged ailurophile, who is murdered early in the picture.

Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert, as a friend of the family and a dealer in antiques, respectively, deliver the sparse comedy lines, while Cecilia Loftus (as the cat loving cause of it all), Basil Rathbone, Gale Sondergaard and Bela Lugosi are properly menacing. And, of course, there is a black cat—in fact, there are droves of cats, vari-colored and yowling fit to raise the dead. But they never do.
THE BLACK CAT: original screen play by Robert Lees, Fred Rinaldo, Eric Taylor and Robert Neville; suggested by the story by Edgar Allan Poe; directed by Albert S. Rogell for Universal Pictures.
Hartley . . . . . Basil Rathbone
Mr. Penny . . . . . Hugh Herbert
Hubert Smith . . . . . Broderick Crawford
Eduardo . . . . . Bela Lugosi
Abigail Doone . . . . . Gale Sondergaard
Elaine Winslow . . . . . Anne Gwynne
Myrna Hartley . . . . . Gladys Cooper
Henrietta Winslow . . . . . Cecilia Loftus
Margaret Gordon . . . . . Claire Dodd
Stanley Borden . . . . . John Eldredge
Richard Hartley . . . . . Alan Ladd

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Idaho Statesman, May 14, 1941

Black Cat, Idaho Statesman, May 14, 1941*

The Black Cat, Lawrence Journal-World, May 17, 1941

The Black Cat, Lawrence Journal-World, May 17, 1941*

Lawrence Journal-World, May 22, 1941

The Black Cat, Lawrence Journal-World, May 22, 1941*

St. Petersburg Times, June 8, 1941

The Black Cat, St. Petersburg Times, June 8, 1941

The Black Cat, St. Petersburg Times, June 8, 1941 b*

San Diego Union, June 9, 1941

Black Cat, San Diego Union, June 9, 1941*

 The Evening Independent, June 11, 1941

The Black Cat, The Evening Independent, June 11, 1941

The Black Cat, The Evening Independent, June 11, 1941 a*

The Evening Independent, June 12, 1941

The Black Cat, The Evening Independent, June 12, 1941*

St Petersburgh Times, June 12, 1941

The Black Cat, St Petersburgh Times, June 12, 1941 a

The Black Cat, St Petersburgh Times, June 12, 1941 b*

St Petersburgh Times, June 13, 1941

The Black Cat, St Petersburgh Times, June 13, 1941*

The Sydney Morning Herald, June 19, 1941

The Black Cat, The Sydney Morning Herald, June 19, 1941

The Black Cat, The Sydney Morning Herald, June 19, 1941 c

The Black Cat, The Sydney Morning Herald, June 19, 1941 b*

Spokane Daily Chronicle, June 20, 1941

The Black Cat, Spokane Daily Chronicle, June 20, 1941*

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 25, 1941

The Black Cat, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 25, 1941 a

The Black Cat, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 25, 1941 b*

Reading Eagle, June 29, 1941

The Black Cat, Reading Eagle, June 29, 1941*

The Milwaukee Sentinel, July 12, 1941

The Black Cat, The Milwaukee Sentinel, July 12, 1941*

Prescott Evening Courier, August 1, 1941

The Black Cat, Prescott Evening Courier, Aug 1, 1941 b

The Black Cat, Prescott Evening Courier, Aug 1, 1941 a*

Herald-Journal, August 10, 1941

The Black Cat, Herald-Journal, Aug 10, 1941*

The Afro American, August 23, 1941

The Black Cat, The Afro American, August 23, 1941*

The Kentucky New Era, September 9, 1941

The Black Cat, The Kentucky New Era, September 9, 1941*

The Kentucky New Era, September 10, 1941

The Black Cat, The Kentucky New Era, September 10, 1941*

The Age, September, 20, 1941

The Black Cat, The Age, September, 20, 1941*

Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, October 13, 1947

Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin, October 13, 1947*

Toledo Blade, December 3, 1947

The Black Cat & Black Friday, Toledo Blade, December 3, 1947*

Unknown Newspaper

The Black Cat Black Friday Double Bill, 1947*

Toledo Blade, December 4, 1947

The Black Cat & Black Friday, Toledo Blade - Dec 4, 1947*

Unknown Providence, Rhode Island Newspaper

Black Friday, Unknown Providence, Rhode Island Newspaper.*

Idaho Statesman, April 21, 1948

Black Friday The Black Cat, Idaho Statesman, April 21, 1948*

Posters

The Black Cat InsertInsert

The Black Cat One SheetOne Sheet

The Black Cat Midget Window CardMidget Window Card

The Black Cat Danish PosterDanish Poster

The Black Cat Swedish One SheetSwedish One Sheet

The Black CatDutch Poster

The Black Cat Argentinian 29x23Argentinian 29″x23″ Poster

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Lobby Cards

The Black Cat

The Black Cat 1

The Black Cat 2

The Black Cat Lobby Card 4

The Black Cat Lobby Card 6

The Black Cat Lobby Card 5

1947 Re-Release Lobby Cards

The Black Cat 1947 Re-Release Lobby Card

The Black Cat 1947 Re-Release Lobby Card 4

The Black Cat 1947 Re-Release Lobby Card 3

The Black Cat 1947 Re-Release Lobby Card 2

Stills

The Black Cat 4

（From the collection of Paul Seiler)

The Black Cat 3

（From the collection of Paul Seiler)

The Black Cat 1

（From the collection of Paul Seiler)

The Black Cat 1

The Black Cat 2

The Black Cat 3

The Black Cat 4