The Black Cat (1934) with Hope Cartelli & Jeff Lewonczyk

An American couple, Peter and Joan Allison, are traveling by train through Hungary when they’re told their cabin has been double booked.  Dr. Vitus Werdegast, a psychiatrist just released from eighteen years in a prison camp, soon joins them for the short ride to their destination – the same place Werdegast is going, he claims, to visit an old friend, along with his manservant, Thamal.  On their way into town, the bus that the four are in runs off the road, killing the driver and injuring Joan. They hike to the home of Werdegast’s former military comrade, one Hjalmar Poelzig, a renowned architect.  Poelzig’s home may be a modern masterpiece of construction, but it’s also built on the site of a World War I battlefield where thousands of Hungarians lost their lives, and where Werdegast was captured.  Now, having returned, Werdegast is ready to take revenge on the man he claims stole his life, and perhaps, his wife.  But Poelzig has his own surprises in store.  And by the time the Allisons realize what terrors await in Poelzig’s home, it may truly be too late for all of them.

Intro, Math Club, and Debate Society (spoiler-free) 00:00-28:41
Honor Roll and Detention (spoiler-heavy) 28:42-1:04:12
Superlatives (so. many. spoilers.) 1:04:13-1:27:07

Director Edgar G. Ulmer
Screenplay Peter Ruric, based on a screen story by Ruric and Ulmer, suggested by an 1845 story by Edgar Allan Poe
Featuring Egon Brecher, Harry Cording, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lucille Lund, David Manners, Jacqueline Wells

Hope Cartelli and Jeff Lewonczyk are creative polymaths who’ve been deeply involved with New York’s independent theater scene for 15 years now, having worked as associate directors of Williamsburg's Brick Theater for nearly a decade, producing hundreds of shows and festivals.  They’ve created dozens of shows through their own theater company, Piper McKenzie, including horror-adjacent outings, especially through their "Bizarre Science Fantasy" series of silent, dance-theater works.  More recently, the two have been acting, directing, presenting, and entrepreneuring.  Hope is appearing in the ongoing stage soap opera It's Getting Tired Mildred (now in its eighth year), currently running monthly at the Kraine Theater in NYC’s East Village. She has also acted (alongside Jeff) in America Unanswered, a special video episode of the hit horror podcast Tell Me a Story: The True Life of Jakob Stanley.  Jeff is a writer and illustrator who’s published two short books: the art zine Better Bones, and the first installment of an ongoing serial, The Congress of the Monsters, with Book 2 coming out later this year.  Jeff also directed (and Hope acted in) a musical comedy written by William Peter Blatty, based on his screenplay for the 1965 film John Goldfarb, Please Come Home.

Our theme music is by Sir Cubworth, with embellishments by Edward Elgar.  Music from “The Black Cat” by Heinz Roemheld. For more information on this film, the pod, essays from your hosts, and other assorted bric-a-brac, visit our website, ⁠scareupod.com⁠. Please subscribe to this podcast via Apple or Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

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