Scared to Death (1947) Directed by Christy Cabanne
Horror / Thriller / Mystery / Comedy
Film Review
Scared to Death may not be the
worst of Bela Lugosi's films but it comes pretty damn close, a muddled
intrigue in which the great icon of film horror is reduced to playing a
redundant character that was presumably slotted in just so that its
producers could include a 'big name' in the film poster. Lugosi
is not the only wasted asset here, the distinguished English character
actor George Zucco is also pretty well squandered, buried in an
ensemble that consists of mostly talentless actors who soon become
tiresome. A verbose, lumbering, tediously stagey mess of a film that can't decide
whether it is a comedy or straight murder mystery, Scared to Death has nothing
whatsoever to commend it, other than the fact that this is the only
time Lugosi appeared on film in colour in a leading role.
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Film Synopsis
As she lies dead and about to be subjected to an autopsy to establish
the cause of her death, Laura Van Ee recalls the series of events that
led to her tragic demise. She remembers being unhappily married
to a man named Ward Van Ee, the son of Dr Joseph Van Ee, an eminent
psychiatric doctor. Laura was convinced that she was being held
against her will, but she refused to give her husband the divorce he
wanted. When a mysterious doctor, an acquaintance of Dr Van Ee
showed up with a midget, Ward sought his help in exposing his wife's
sordid past...
Cast:Bela Lugosi (Prof. Leonide),
George Zucco (Dr. Joseph Van Ee),
Nat Pendleton (Bill Raymond),
Molly Lamont (Laura Van Ee),
Joyce Compton (Jane Cornell),
Gladys Blake (Lilybeth),
Roland Varno (Ward Van Ee),
Douglas Fowley (Terry Lee),
Stanley Andrews (Pathologist),
Angelo Rossitto (Indigo),
Lee Bennett (Rene the Killer),
Stanley Price (Autopsy Surgeon),
Dorothy Christy (Mrs. Williams)
Country: USA
Language: English / Hungarian
Support: Color
Runtime: 65 min
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