House Femm.
It’s hard to believe that July is already almost over! We began the month by (rightfully) praising the unfairly maligned 1997 teen slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer, and followed that up with a character study in Lucky McKee’s May before praising Michelle Pfeiffer and her totally not-a-murderer husband Harrison Ford in Robert Zemeckis’ What Lies Beneath. Now, we’re tackling our oldest movie yet in James Whale’s 1932 classic The Old Dark House!
In the film, three travelers (Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart and Melvyn Douglas) take refuge in an eerie house owned by the Femm family. Reluctantly admitted by Horace Femm (Ernest Thesiger), the three sit down to a strange dinner. Horace is neurotic; mute butler Morgan (Boris Karloff) is an alcoholic; and Horace’s sister, Rebecca (Eva Moore), raves about chastity. When the storm brings in an industrialist (Charles Laughton) and chorus girl Gladys DuCane Perkins (Lilian Bond), Morgan’s lust and Rebecca’s ire are ignited.
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Episode 83 – The Old Dark House (1932) feat. Kate Graham
Pack your umbrella because we’re braving bucketfuls of rain in the Welsh countryside as we make our way to James Whale’s 1932 film The Old Dark House! Joining us for a threesome is Kate Graham, the co-host of the Stop! Horror Time! podcast.
Join us as we enter the House Femm and meet all of its kooky queer characters and sit down for a lovely dinner of roast beef and potatoes. Enjoy it while it lasts, though, because it won’t be long before the mute butler Morgan (Boris Karloff) breaks into the liquor cabinet, and that’s never a fun time!
We’ll discuss Whale’s important place in the annals of queer horror, laugh at his spoofing of heterosexuality (a marriage proposal within 12 hours of meeting? C’mon!) and play ‘I Spy’ with all of the secret queer aspects Whale had to sneak into the film.
Plus, Joe lauds the film’s secret third-act villain who is also a pyromaniac (or…flaming?), Trace makes an attempt to scat and Kate educates us all on the reasoning behind the gender-bending patriarch of the Femm family.
Cross out The Old Dark House!
Coming up on Wednesday: You’re so cool, Brewster! We’re heading to the suburbs to check in with Charlie and his new neighbor in Tom Holland’s Fright Night!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Check out this month’s article on 1977’s Mexican supernatural nunsploitation film Alucarda. You can find all of the old articles here.
P.P.S. If you subscribe to our Patreon you can listen to bonus episodes! Since new films are actually getting released again, we’re going back to our regular Patreon format (meaning: no more theme months!). We’ve got an audio commentary on I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, as well as bonus episodes on Dave Franco’s The Rental, Sundance favorite Relic and Shudder’s new release The Beach House.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/podcasts/3623231/horror-queers-podcast-visiting-kooky-queers-house-femm-james-whales-the-old-dark-house/
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