The Terror (1928 film)
| The Terror | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Roy Del Ruth |
| Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Written by |
Harvey Gates Joseph Jackson |
| Based on |
The Terror by Edgar Wallace |
| Starring |
May McAvoy Louise Fazenda Edward Everett Horton Alec B. Francis |
| Cinematography | Chick McGill |
| Edited by |
Thomas Pratt Jack Killifer |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes (Sound version) 85 minutes (Silent version) (7,674 feet) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English (Sound version) |
The Terror is a 1928 early American slasher film written by Harvey Gates and directed by Roy Del Ruth, based on the play of the same name by Edgar Wallace. This was the second "all-talking" motion picture released by Warner Bros. (The first was Lights of New York) This film was also the first all-talking horror film made, using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
"The Terror", a killer whose identity is unknown, occupies an English country house that has been converted into an inn. Guests, including the spiritualist Mrs. Elvery and detective Ferdinand Fane, are frightened by strange noises and mysterious organ music. Connors and Marks, two men just released from jail, have sworn revenge upon "The Terror". Following a night of mayhem that includes murder, the identity of "The Terror" is revealed.
Cast notes
In August 1928, Time said the film is "better than The Lion and the Mouse, [an] all-talk picture of which May McAvoy, Alec Francis, two of the terrorized, are veterans." Three months later, John MacCormac, reporting from London for The New York Times upon the film's UK premiere, wrote:
The universal opinion of London critics is that The Terror is so bad that it is almost suicidal. They claim that it is monotonous, slow, dragging, fatiguing and boring, and I am not sure that I do not in large measure agree with them. What is more important, Edgar Wallace, who wrote the film, seems to agree with them also. "Well," was his comment, "I have never thought the talkies would be a serious rival to the stage."
Two versions of the film were prepared, as most theaters had yet to convert to sound. The "all-talking" sound version, featuring a Vitaphone sound-on-disc soundtrack, was released on September 6, 1928, and a silent version, which used screen-filling printed "titles" (as they were then commonly called) to supply the essential dialog, was released on October 20, 1928. Both versions have been considered lost films since the 1970s, though a complete set of the soundtrack discs still exists and is preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
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