Dark Eyes Of London (Argyle Films, 1939)

Released in November, 1939, Dark Eyes Of London was Bela Lugosi’s second British film. It featured him in the dual roles of Dr. Feodor Orloff and Rev. John Dearborn, voiced by O.B. Clarence. Adapted from Edgar Wallace’s 1924 novel of the same name, it was the first British film to be certified “H” for HORRIFIC by the British Board Of Film Censors. The film was released in America as The Human Monster by Monogram Studios in March 1940.

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Production Company: Argyle Films

Producer John F. Argyle

Director: Walter Summers

Assistant Director: Jack Martin

Screenplay: Walter Summers, John Argyle and Patrick Kirwan

Additional dialogue: Jay Van Lustil

Based on the novel by Edgar Wallace

Cinematography: Brian Langley

Camera Operator: Ronnie Anscombe

First Assistant Camerman: Jerry Massey-Collier

Clapper Boy: Dustin Dempster (aka Hugo)

Film Editor: E.G. Richards

Art Direction: Duncan Sutherland

Music composer and arranger: Guy Jones

Organ Music: C. King Palmer

Production Manager: Hamilton G. Inglis

Production Assistant: George Collins

Recording supervisor: Harry Benson

Sound Recording: A.E. Rudolph

Makeup: Bob Harris and Bob Clarke

Filmed on Agfa negative film with Vinter cameras at Welwyn Studios, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, over 18 days in March and April, 1939

Processed at Denham Laboratories

Filmed with the co-operation of The National Institute Of The Blind.

Distributed by Pathe Pictures, Ltd.

Released in November, 1939

Running time: 75 minutes 

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Cast:

Bela Lugosi – Dr. Feodor Orloff/Rev. John Dearborn

Hugh Williams – Inspector Holt

Greta Gynt – Diana Stuart

Wilfred Walter – Jake

Edmund Ryan – Lieutenant O’Riley

Alexander Field – Grogan

Arthur E. Owen – Dumb Lew

Gerald Pring – Henry Stuart

Julie Seudo – Secretary

May Haliatt – WPC Gregg

Charles Penrose – Drunk

Brian Herbert – Walsh

O.B. Clarence – Dubbed voice of Rev. John Dearborn

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Variety, March 22, 1939

Bela Lugosi to sail New York to London on Queen Mary March 24. Lugosi went from Los Angeles to New York this week.

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New York Post, March 25, 1939

The Terrifying type

Bela Lugosi was wandering around, probably looking for someone to frighten. He admitted, on shipboard, that little children shriek at the mere sound of his name. He says he likes to scare big girls, too.

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Variety, March 29, 1939

Noel Coward and Bela Lugosi sailed March 25 on Queen Mary to London.

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The Southern Echo, March 30, 1939

ROUND the PORT

Queen Mary Home

Having crossed the Atlantic between the Ambrose Channel Light Vessel and Cherbourg Breakwater in four days, 11 hours at a speed of 29.25 knots, the Cunard White Star Line’s Queen Mary reached Southampton yesterday afternoon.

Passengers who made the voyage numbered 844, of which 302 travelled cabin, 309 tourist, and 233 third-class.

The big ship sails for the States again on Saturday at 9.30 a.m., and the bulk of the passengers will embark to-morrow night. Estimated bookings for the voyage total 1,250 travellers, namely, 350 cabin, 500 tourist, and 400 third-class.

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To-Day’s Cinema News and Property Gazette, March 30, 1939 (front page)

Bela Lugosi in Argyle Film at Welwyn, Friday

Bela Lugosi, star of “Dracula” and many other films, arrives in this country to-day and will start work at the Welwyn studios to-morrow in a John F Argyle production.

The picture is an Edgar Wallace subject entitled “Dark Eyes of London” and is to be directed by Walter Summers who co-operated with Patrick Kirwan on the script.

Supporting Bela Lugosi in the leading roles will be Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt, Wilfred Walter and Alexander Field. Shooting is expected to take four weeks.

“Dark Eyes of London” will be distributed by A.B.P.C.

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To-Day’s Cinema News and Property Gazette, March 30, 1939 (page 2)

For Argyle

INVITED to meet Bela Lugosi this evening at Waldorf Hotel whence he arrives from U.S. en route for Welwyn where he will star in Argyle picture “Dark Eyes of London.” Lugosi famed for “Dracula” and roles of sinister nature undoubtedly suited Edgar Wallace subject,look forward to making acquaintance! Incidentally, “Dracula” currently doing successful re-issue business particularly in line with “Frankenstein.”

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The Daily Film Renter, April 1, 1939

The reception the other evening to Bela Lugosi (writes a colleague) was one of those pleasant and informal affairs which, although yielding comparatively little in the way of news, made a very nice break. Having met the “horror merchant” on a previous visit to these shores some years back, I wasn’t surprised to find Lugosi a mild and charming individual, who in real life looks as much unlike his screen counterpart as one could imagine. In fact, he’s a happy family man, and a proud father; got quite a kick out of showing photographs of his young son to assembled Press boys. Lugosi is here to film in “Dark Eyes of London,” Edgar Wallace thriller , to be made by John Argyle at Welwyn, for Associated British release. Arthur Dent, of course, was there, while a particularly interesting visitor was Hamilton Deane, who is now playing Dracula on the stage. He and Lugosi spent quite a while comparing notes!

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Variety, April 5, 1939

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The Pitsburgh Post Gazette, April 8, 1939

The Movie Lots Beg to Report

Bela Lugosi has gone to London to star in a British picture, “Dark Eyes of London.”

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The Welwyn Times, April 13, 1939

Film Activity

Bela Lugosi, star of Dracula and many other films, started work in Welwyn last week in a John F. Argyle production. The picture is an Edgar Wallace subject, entitled Dark Eyes of London, and is to be directed by Walter Summers, a well-known former resident of Welwyn Garden City. Other players in leading roles are Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt, Wilfred Walter and Alexander Field. Shooting is expected to take four weeks. Lugosi , who usually stars in roles of a sinister nature, in real life is a mild and charming individual, quite unlike his screen counterparts.

Bela Lugosi’s past and future on view at the Pavilion cinema in Welwyn during filming of Dark Eyes of London

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Variety, April 19, 1939

SAILINGS

April 15 (London to New York)

George Sanders, Adolph Zukor, Gladys Cooper, Victor Saville, Bela Lugosi, Voctor Cook (Queen Mary)

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The Vampire

Variety, April 26, 1939

Bela Lugosi, who recently finished ‘Dark Eyes of London’ for Argyle Films, sails for New York April 15, but may come back to star in Alexandar Dumas’ ‘The Vampire’ for the same company.

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The Mail (Adelaide, Australia), June 10, 1939

Hollywood Parade

THAT big werewolf-and-vampire man, Bela Lugosi, is back after completing his chore in Welwyn Studios, England, where he’s been starring in a film version of Ed gar Wallace’s thriller ‘Dark Eyes of London.’ The day after he arrived in Hollywood, he was due to report for work on Universal’s ‘Shadow Creeps.’ Chilly work, but profitable

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Sunday Times (Perth, Australia), July 9, 1939

Argyle Productions, an English concern, has signed Bela Lugosi for “Dark Eyes of London”

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 The Canberra Times, July 18, 1939

FLICKERS FROM THE FILMS

HOLLYWOOD AS I SEE IT

Bela Lugosi is back in Hollywood from London, where he made “Dark Eyes of London.” He reported at once to Universal Studio for his next assignment, “The Phantom Creeps.”

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Trade Advertisement For UK Trade Show

Courtesy of D’Arcy More 

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To-Day’s Cinema, October 20, 1939 & The Cinema News, October 25, 1939

This adaptation of one of Edgar Wallace’s best-known “thrillers” has an “H” certificate and deserves it. The macabre nature of the story – an investigation into a series of murders by drowning – is emphasised by its grisly concomitants. It is to some extent located in a house for the blind, and among its highlights are the murderous assaults of a blind and hideously deformed killer and the deliberate and cold-blooded drowning of a helpless blind deaf-mute in the sight of a bound girl. Juveniles not being able to see the picture, its justification depends on its quality as adult entertainment. And this, fortunately, is very good. Walter Summers has handled his promising material in a way that will prove eminently satisfying to unsqueamish adults. The Edgar Wallace authorship is, of course, an added attraction.

Inspector Holt is aided in his investigation into a drowning-murder case by the victim’s daughter, whom a mysterious and suspicious Dr. Orloff gets employed as secretary to the blind chief of the above-mentioned home. Strange things happen. A blind mute is cruelly rendered deaf by Orloff; the girl, due to benefit by a revision of an insurance policy, is attacked by the monster and saved only just in time; and at last she discovers (what some of the audience may have already “twigged”) that her chief and Orloff are one and the same. Coolly and deliberately he drowns the blind-deaf mute in front of her eyes, while she is bound helpless, and then is about to deal with her when the monster turns on him and hurls him to a muddy death in the Thames.

The fact that the cooperation of the National Institute of the Blind had been sought indicates the care of the presentation. Settings, whether of the home, Scotland Yard, or ordinary interiors, leave nothing to be desired. The performances also, are entirely appropriate. Bela Lugosi does not miss the “sinister” opportunities in the role of Orloff, but is neer freakishly bizarre; he leaves that to Wilfred Walter, whose make-up as the Frankenstein’s monster would have done credit to Lon Chaney. Hugh Williams is a manly young inspector, and Greta Gynt a definitely attractive heroine, who in moments of tension, whether viewing her father’s body or being attacked by the monster, is dramatically convincing. Edmond Ryan, as a visiting American detective, adds some small light relief and heads a competent supporting cast.

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The Daily Film Renter, October 23, 1939

Welwyn here gives us a forceful adaptation of Edgar Wallace’s thriller, which provides an ideal vehicle for Bela Lugosi’s first British film (sic). He is seen as Dr. Orloff, head of a small insurance company, whose speciality is to take out policies on the lives of certain persons, drown them and throw their bodies in the Thames, collecting heavily from the underwriters. His latest victim, however, leads Scotland Yard to suspect murder, and, with the aid of the dead man’s daughter, the police are able to unmask Orloff at a blind home, which he ran as a cover to his activities, although not before he has been killed at the hands of a blind monster who has helped him.

There are definite thrills and chills in the picture, yielded mainly by the deformed monster who puts Orloff’s victims out of the way, although he fails when he tries his hand at the girl, the Scotland Yard inspector arriving just in time. The climax, too, at which the monster turns the table against his master, is timed to yield the right suspense, with the fate of the girl undecided to the last.

Apart from Lugosi, there is a smooth portrayal by Hugh Williams as the inspector, Greta Gynt is very pleasant as the girl, Edmund Ryan provides the lighter touch as an American detective, while Wilfred Walter is brilliantly disguised as the blind monster.

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Kinematograph Weekly, October 26, 1939

Spectacular thriller, suggested by one of Edgar Wallace’s best-sellers, concerning the nefarious activities of a mad doctor who organises and commits wholesale murder in the course of his insurance frauds. Death by drowning is the method most favoured by the killer and his Frankenstein assistant, and the planning and carrying out of the crimes and their reconstruction by the police lead to a breathless succession of hair-raising situations.

Superb grand guignol workmanship is guaranteed by first-rate acting and resourceful and showmanlike direction. Excellent picture of its type, carrying, in addition, watertight box-office insurance in its irresistible author and title values.

Story. – Orloff, a mad doctor, makes a comfortable living by taking over and forging insurance policies and dispatching the original holders in circumstances that allay suspicion. The Dearborn  Home for the Blind is his operating centre, and Jake, a Herculean half-blind half-wit, is his chief assistant. Henry Stuart, an inventor, is Orloff’s latest victim. Inspector Holt of Scotland Yard is put in charge of investigations. His colleague is Lieutenant Riley, a New Yorker, who has come to England to study police methods. Contact is made with Diana, the victim’s daughter, and when Orloff learns of this he marks her down as next on his list. However, he makes the fatal mistake of offending Jake by mutilating one of Jake’s friends, and Jake’s revenge results in Orloff being put on the spot he had made for others. Following the arrival of Nemesis, Diana and Holt discover that they have many things in common.

Acting. – Bela Lugosi is effectively sinister in the Jekyll and Hyde role of Orloff and Dearborn. Hugh Williams is true blue as Inspector Holt and Greta Gynt is a patient yet brave Diana. Wilfred Walter strengthens the sinister aspect with the eeriness of his make-up as Jake, while essential comedy relief is in the competent hands of Edmond Ryan, cast as wise-cracking Riley.

Production. – There are no half-measures with this picture and nothing is left to the imagination. Cold-blooded murder is witnessed in practically every reel, and each crime is a stepping-stone to bigger and more breath-taking thrills. The homicidal and by no means profitless all the picture; there is plenty of authentic police detail, comedy and romance consolidate appeal.

The “H” certificate is certainly not lightly earned, nor should it prove a handicap. There is box-office magic in the author’s name to underwrite full patronage.

Points of Appeal. – Exciting, suspenseful and tremendously thrilling plot, grand guignol atmosphere, first-rate acting, good title and an author who’s box-office.

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The Monthly Film Bulletin, published by The British Film Institute

Volume 6, No.71, November, 1939

Dark Eyes of London, The (1939)

Horrific thriller. Scotland Yard is baffled by a series of mysterious deaths which seem to link up with big insurance money. Inspector Holt begins by questioning Dr.Orloff, head of the Greenwich Insurance, and his suspicions are aroused when another victim, Henry Stuart, is found drowned, and is linked with Orloff and also a Home for the Blind run by a Mr. Dearborn. Diana Stuart, the daughter, is convinced her father has been murdered, but likes and admires Orloff, who finds her a job as secretary at the Home. Then the horrors come fast. Frightened by the blind monster Jake, baffled by strange clues, Diana’s suspicions soon go the same way as the Inspector’s and her life is soon in danger.

A sinister tank; the mud flats of the river at low tide; the dual personality of the “blind” philanthropist Dearborn; the wretched fate of Lou, a blind inmate; all these and more add to the intensity of an excellent melodrama which cleverly does not depend only on gruesome make-up but succeeds by appealing to the nerves and imagination. Not for the timid or over-sensitive, but well constructed and well acted. Bela Lugosi adds much to the eerie atmosphere, and Hugh Williams as a keen young inspector is comfortably reassuring.

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Showman’s Trade Review, March 9, 1940

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The Times-Picayune, March 15, 1940

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The New York Times, March 25, 1940

The Screen

‘The Human Monster,’ Featuring Bela Lugosi, at the Globe, Latest Horror Picture

By B.R. CRISLER

Even connoisseurs of the horror film will doubtless be constrained to admit that nothing quite so consistently horrid as “The Human Monster,” at the Globe, has ever befallen this hapless city. Brooded over by the batlike spirit of Bela Lugosi, it comes like an evil visitation compared to which the hunch-backs of Notre Dame (first and second string); the two Doctors Jekyll and Messrs. Hyde, and both King Kong père and fils are about as intimidating as Ferdinand the Bull. To begin with, all Mr. Lugosi has to do is to look at people and they either get hypnosis or cramps from laughing. Our personal reaction was more hysterical than horrified, but that’s a matter of taste.

Up to now, the most popular screen grotesqueries have had a certain lightness of touch; when Quasimodo, for instance, was beaten by louts in the cathedral square, the camera mercifully averted its lens, or gave the streaming blood the merest glance, purely for verificative purposes. Not so “The Human Monster,” in which not only is Wilfred Walter more unglamorous than even Charles Laughton as the hunchback, but is totally blind in the bargain. Consequently, his homicidal technique is the more deliberative and, so to speak, stately, giving the camera plenty of time to dwell with sadistic relish on the more recherché details of his method of doing his victims in. But Jake, as the Monster is more familiarly known, is just a stooge, a sort of shipping clerk for Bela, who does a wholesale business in select and artistic submersions.

Bela, in fact, covers the waterfront with highly insured clients (he solicits insurance in his spare time) and so annoys Scotland Yard with this marine Blitzkrieg of bodies that even the conservative Yard is compelled to assign its brightest inspector (Hugh Williams) to the case. A pretty, blond daughter of one of the victims, who floats a loan with Bela and then goes floating down the Thames himself, is mixed up very attractively in the matter, and there are numerous incidental people who give a good if sometimes barely intelligible account of themselves, as is sometimes the wont of English actors. In fact, if the British accent gets much worse, they will soon have to provide incidental titles for America.

THE HUMAN MONSTER, directed by John Argyle, screen play by Patrick Kirwin, Walter Summers and J. F. Argyle, based on “The Dark Eyes of London” by Edgar Wallace; produced by Mr. Argyle for Monogram Pictures. At the Globe.
Dr. Orloff . . . . . Bela Lugosi
Inspector Holt . . . . . Hugh Williams
Diana Stuart . . . . . Greta Gynt
Lieut. O’Rielly . . . . . Edmon Ryan
Jake (The Monster) . . . . . Wilfred Walter
Grogan . . . . . Alexander Field
Dumb Lew . . . . . Arthur E. Owen
Secretary . . . . . Julie Suedo
Henry Stuart . . . . . Gerald Pring
Walsh . . . . . Bryan Herbert
Policewoman . . . . . May Haliatt
The Drunk . . . . . Charles Penrose

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The Pitsburgh Press, March 27, 1940

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The Pitsburgh Press, March 28, 1940

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Showman’s Trade Review, March 30, 1940

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 Daily Herald, April 16, 1940

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Hollywood Reporter, April 19, 1940

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Omaha World Herald, April 21, 1940

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Evening Leader, April 27, 1940

The current roles of Bela Lugosi, now appearing in Monogram’s “The Human Monster,” this Sunday at the Palace Theatre, are in direct contrast to those he played when first embarking upon an acting career. Today he is known as one of the outstanding horror masters of the screen. In his native land he was cast as a romantic lead.

Bela Lugosi repeated his success as “Dracula” in the screen version of the Bram Stoker masterpiece. Critics hailed him as a new Lon Chaney, and Lugosi shook his head sadly, for already, he knew he would be forced to submit himself to similar parts, and he would much prefer to play a wide variety of characterizations.

The cast includes besides Lugosi, Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt, Wilfred Walters and Edmond Ryan. The film was produced by John Argyle and directed by Walter Summers. Patrick Kirwin, Walter Summers and J.F. Argyle wrote the adaptation from Edgar Wallace’s well-known story, “The Dark Eyes of London.”

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The Beacon Journal, May 2nd, 1940

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Akron Beacon Journal, May 3, 1940

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Reading Eagle, May 5, 1940

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The Journal and Republican, May 30, 1940

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Unknown American newspaper

Courtesy of James Thompson’s  Vintage Cinema Ads

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Silver Screen, June, 1940

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 Advocate, June 1, 1940

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 Advocate, June 3, 1940

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The Daily Times, June 13, 1940

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Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 14, 1940

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 Kansas City Star, June 29, 1940

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Unknown American Newspaper, 1940

Jake’s the Name; He’s Bela’s Chum in Crime

By EARL N. POMEROY

Photo caption: Jake. Not the sweetheart of Sigma Chi, and not to be regarded a Brooklyn Dodgers baseball fan.

At The ESQUIRE, “The Human Monster”

Chiller Melodrama produced in England and directed by

Walter Summers with the following in cast:

Dr. Orloff………………………….Bela Lugosi

Inspector Holt……………Hugh Williams

Diana Stuart……………………..Greta Gynt

Lieutenant O’Reilly……..Edmond Ryan

Jake…………………………….Wilfred Walter

Grogan……………………..Alexander Field

Henry Stuart……………….. .Gerald Pring

Dumb Lew…………………….Arthur Owen

MAMA, bogey man’s here again!

That would be Bela Lugosi, specialist in monstrous murder, habitually hatching homicidal hooliganism, devilish deviser of dire developments. We’ll hex him, mama, with alliteration and a gypsy charm.

But you should see his charming chum in crime. Name’s Jake, not Jocose Jake nor Japery Jake, just Jake, jowled, jaundiced, jim-jam gem. And, oh mama, his invidious, insidious incisors. He’s a paleolithic, pyorrheic problem. Wants to gouge and garrot.

And the noises he makes! Sometimes grr-ur-un-gwobble. Sometimes goo-ur-un-woth. We like the latter better. It is more sibilant on final upbeat. But there is something to say for the former, especially in the last two syllable. Liquid. Like air, bubbling through bluddd! Yep, we like the gwobble one, too.

Now for the diabolical dynamics: There is a Dr. Orloff, head of an insurance firm and a most charitable man. But soon you say, “Oh, yeah?” when you find him in one of his charities, a home for the blind. He insures the unseeing, he does, and then, one by one, he kills them in the hospital he runs in connection with the place. And he gets the money, see? And this Jake person is his stooge. Well, there is a lot of excitement when Scotland Yard’s bloodhounds take up the trail. There is a rather pretty, young gal mixed up in it all, too, and when Jake starts some stylish strangulation on her, well, you want to yell “Lemme out!”

But, ricker-racker, firecracker, Yard’s detective is a crackerjacker.

He is a personable, smart, young chap with an eye for beauty, too, when he sees it.

Get a rip-saw, get a buck-saw,

Get a buck-saw, rip-saw, boom,

Hippity-hop, clippity-clop,

He saves the girl from doom.

Sam Berg, Esquire manager, says that the undue chill must be ascribed to screen, not air-conditioning unit which properly is performing its function. Selah!

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St. Petersburgh Times, July 10, 1940

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 Greensboro Daily News, July 21, 1940

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Kentucky New Era, September 3, 1940

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Kentucky New Era, September 5, 1940

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Sacremento Bee, September 11, 1940

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Sacremento Bee, September 14, 1940

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Breckenridge American (Breckenridge, Tex.), October 30, 1940

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Stephens County Sun (Breckenridge, Tex.), October 31, 1940

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Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 1941

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Ottawa Citizen, May 17, 1941

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Unknown American newspaper

Courtesy of James Thompson’s  Vintage Cinema Ads

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UnknownAmerican newspaper

Courtesy of James Thompson’s Vintage Cinema Ads

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Trenton Evening Times, October 1, 1947

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The Pitsburgh Post Gazette, October 28, 1948

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Screen Thrills Illustrated Magazine #7, February 1964

Posters

US One Sheet

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US Half Sheet

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US Insert

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US Three Sheet

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US 1950s Re-release One Sheet

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Turkish One Sheet

The Turkish release was titled Monster Doctor. 

Thanks to Poyraz Baklan for the translation.

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Belgium 1950s 14 X 21.5

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German Poster

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American Lobby Cards

Original 1940 Release

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1950s Re-Release

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Italian Lobby Cards

Courtesy of Benito Medela International Movie Poster

Courtesy of Benito Medela International Movie Poster

Courtesy of Benito Medela International Movie Poster

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British 1950s Front of House Cards

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Spanish Herald

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German Cinema Pamphlet

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American Flyer

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American Promotional Mask

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1950s Re-Release Cinema Advertisements

(courtesy of www.doctormacro.com)

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Stills

Bela Lugosi as Dr. Feodor Orloff

Bela Lugosi as Dr. Feodor Orloff

(Courtesy of www.doctormacro.com)

Bela Lugosi as Rev. John Dearborn

Wilfred Walter sans Jake makeup

Hugh Williams and Bela Lugosi

Bela Lugosi and Greta Gynt

(Courtesy of Paul Seiler)

(Courtesy of Paul Seiler)

Gerald Pring and Bela Lugosi

Edmund Ryan and Hugh Williams

Wilfred Walter and Bela Lugosi

(Courtesy of Paul Seiler)

Bela Lugosi, Wilfred Walter and Greta Gynt

Bela Lugosi and Arthur E. Owen

Bela Lugosi and Greta Gynt

Bela Lugosi and Greta Gynt

Bela Lugosi and Greta Gynt

Greta Gynt and Wilfred Walter

Bela Lugosi

Wilfred Walter and Bela Lugosi

(Courtesy of Paul Seiler)

Hugh Williams and Greta Gynt

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UK Double-Bill Pressbook

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US Double-Bill Pressbook

(Courtesy of the-manchester-morgue.blogspot.jp)

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National Telefilm Associates TV pressbook circa 1955

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 Trailer for the American release

Related Post

Cinematographer Bryan Langley Recalls Dark Eyes Of London

Brian shares his memories of working on Dark Eyes of London and his reaction to seeing the film for the first time on video in 1996.