Horror movie directed by Lew Landers and starring
Bela Lugosi as Dr. Richard Vollin,
Boris Karloff (then credited as just as Karloff) as Edmond Bateman,
Irene Ware as Jean Thatcher,
Samuel Hinds as Judge Thatcher, and
Lester Matthews as
Dr. Jerry Halden.
Spoilers to follow
The Raven was released in 1935 and tells the story of Dr. Richard Vollin, a surgeon with a penchant for Poe and way too much time on his hands. A leader in his field, Vollin is called on by Judge Thatcher to save the life of his daughter Jean when she is involved in a car wreck which put her in a coma and crippled her. Vollin originally refuses until he learns that other doctors have said that only he has the skill to save her, feeding his already enormous ego. Vollin, it seems, believes that he is a god who is prevented from greatness by his human emotions.
In the months following the surgery, Jean and Vollin begin to develope feelings for one another. During Jean's performance of an interpretive dance based upon Vollin's favorite poem The Raven, the burdgeoning love that the two feel becomes apparent to Judge Thatcher, who forbids Jean from seeing Vollin and confronts Vollin, telling him that he must break off the relationship with Jean. Judge Thatcher defends his position by reminding Vollin that Jean is engaged to his fellow doctor Jerry Halden.. Vollin grows angry and vows vengence against all who he feels who have wronged him.
Vollin is soon approached by criminal Edmond Bateman, who wants Vollin to surgically change his appearance. Vollin tells Bateman that he will do so, but only if Bateman will help him get his revenge. Bateman is seeking to reform and wishes to change his appearance for the better, thinking that since he is unattractive, he does bad things, so if he is attractive he will not be as evil. For this reason, Bateman is hesitant, but Vollin convinces him that he will help him by changing his appearance so that the police will not recognize him. Vollin performs surgery, but the results are anything but positive for Bateman. Vollin has disfigured him, causing the right side of his face to droop, looking similar to those who have suffered a paralyzing stroke. Vollin tells Bateman that only if he helps with the doctor's revenge will he return him to normal. So trapped, Bateman accepts, though reluctantly.
Vollin invites the Thatchers, Dr. Halden, and two other couples to his home for a dinner party and to stay the weekend. Bateman frightens Jean, but she later apologizes, showing real compassion for his plight. After everyone retires for the evening, Bateman grabs the judge and takes him through a hidden door into the dungeon that Vollin had constructed under his home. There the judge is strapped to a device similar to that in Poe's poem The Pit and the Pendulum. In a rather contrived plot twist, Vollin also had constructed his home with a number of optional extras, including steel shutters to trap his guests inside, an room that lowered like an elevator, which happens to be the room that our heroine Jean is staying in, and a room that has the wall close in, in which Vollin traps Halden and Jean. Bateman saves Jean and Halden and puts Vollin in the crushing room before succumbing to a gun shot wound. Vollin is crushed by his own device and Jean and Halden are able to save the judge and escape.
The Raven is one of a number of films that Universal Studios put out pairing Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The films did very well and although this is not one of the better of the films, The Raven does have all of the classic elements of those films: Lugosi overacting in a way that is actually menacing, the masterful make-up work of Karloff, and wooden acting bymany of the supporting cast.