Universal Pictures released Murders in the Rue Morgue on 21 February 1932. It premiered at the RKO-Mayfair Theatre a week and a half earlier.

The title of this film is a reference to the Edgar Allan Poe short story. But it isn’t the same story at all. The “corpse in the chimney” is about the only thing they share. The reason is simple. This film was produced right after Dracula. But it wasn’t released until Frankenstein had its run.

Bela Lugosi was riding high and Universal had high hopes for Rue Morgue. But it was not to be. It did well at the RKO-Mayfair but wider audiences weren’t especially eager. And why would they be? The title isn’t especially exciting. It referenced a 90-year-old short story. More importantly, people were probably a bit bored with horror at that point. The Mummy, released later that year, also underperformed. But it is likely that Universal was responsible. United Artists released White Zombie the same year and it did pretty well. And then it went on to do great over the following years.

Murders in the Rue Morgue is a good film, though. It is what would become common for Lugosi: a mad scientist film. In fact, it’s quite a lot like White Zombie. But the production values are so much better here. The production started with about double the budget. But after the success of Dracula, the budget was doubled.

And Archive has an absolutely fantastic print of Murders in the Rue Morgue. So let’s give a watch now!

---

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) poster via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.