THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1934) Ed Lowry, Verna Hillie & John Sheehan | Mystery | B&W

The House of Mystery is a 1934 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by William Nigh. The film was an adaptation of the play The Ape by Adam Hull Shirk.

SYNOPSIS
An ancient curse and a killer ape are contained inside an old dark mansion.

After plundering and desecrating a temple in India in 1913, drunken archeologist John Prendergast is cursed by the priest, who re-animates a gorilla Prendergast killed and orders it to wreak its revenge on the thief.

Twenty years later, a partially paralyzed Prendergast resurfaces in the United States as the rich philanthropist, John Pren. His backers assemble at his mansion to demand their share of his plunder. Pren warns them that the "spirit of Kali" (the undead gorilla) killed two people he tried to repay. A séance is held to try to contact and appease Kali, but one of the backers is found strangled afterward. Later that night, another backer is found dead, dressed in a gorilla suit. A police investigation goes nowhere, and backer Jack Armstrong is attacked by the gorilla but escapes. Another backer dies, and Pren is found unconscious—the ape's attack on him apparently interrupted. Pren proposes to his nurse, Ella, which enrages Pren's long-time companion, the Hindu girl Chanda.

CAST & CREW
Ed Lowry as Dylan "Jack" Armstrong
Verna Hillie as Ella Browning
John Sheehan as Harry Smith
Brandon Hurst as Hindu Priest
Joyzelle Joyner as Chanda
Fritzi Ridgeway as Stella Walker
Clay Clement as John Prendergast aka John Pren
George 'Gabby' Hayes as David Fells
Dale Fuller as Mrs. Geraldine Carfax
Harry C. Bradley as Prof. Horatio Potter
Irving Bacon as Police Insp. Ned Pickens
Mary Foy as Mrs. Hyacinth Potter

Directed by William Nigh
Screenplay by Albert De Mond
Based on The Ape by Adam Hull Shirk
Cinematography Archie Stout
Edited by Carl Pierson
Production company Monogram Pictures Corp.
Distributed by Monogram Pictures Corp.
Release date May 30, 1934
Running time 61 minutes
Country United States
Language English

NOTES
Prior to being released, The House of Mystery was prepared under the working titles The Ape and Curse of Kali by the studios Monogram Pictures. It was an adaptation of the play The Ape by Adam Hull Shirk. Among the cast was Verna Hillie who was borrowed from Paramount by Monogram for the production. Also among the cast was Laya Joy, an interpretive dancer who changed her name from Joyzelle just prior to the release of the film. The film was shot early in 1934 between January 25 and the 30 at General Service Studios.

The House of Mystery was released on 30 May 1934. The play The Ape was later adapted again by Monogram and directed by Nigh as The Ape (1940) starring Boris Karloff. The two films only follow the plot point of a character disguising themselves as an ape. Siodmak spoke of the adaptation, declaring that "whether it was The Ape, The Climax (1944), or I Walked with a Zombie (1943), I never used the original material. I used my own stories."

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