The Raven (1963 film)

Plot

Set during the 15th century, the sorcerer Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) has been mourning the death of his wife Lenore (Hazel Court) for over two years, much to the chagrin of his daughter Estelle (Olive Sturgess). One night he is visited by a raven, who happens to be a transformed wizard, Dr. Bedlo (Peter Lorre). Together they brew a potion that restores Bedlo to his old self. Bedlo explains he had been transformed by the evil Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff) in an unfair duel, and both decide to see Scarabus, Bedlo to exact revenge and Craven to look for his wife's ghost, which Bedlo reportedly saw at Scarabus' castle. After fighting off the attack of Craven's coachman, who apparently acted under the influence of Scarabus, they set out to the castle, joined by Craven's daughter Estelle and Bedlo's son Rexford (Jack Nicholson).

At the castle, Scarabus greets his guests with false friendship, and Bedlo is apparently killed as he conjures a storm in a last act of defiance against his nemesis. At night, Rexford finds him alive and well, hiding in the castle. Craven, meanwhile, is visited and tormented by Lenore, who is revealed to be alive and well too, having faked her death two years before to move away with Scarabus. As Craven, Estelle, Rexford and Bedlo try to escape the castle, Scarabus stops them, and they are imprisoned. Bedlo panics and begs Scarabus to turn him back into a raven rather than torture him; he flees the dungeon by flying away. Craven is forced to choose between surrendering his magical secrets to Scarabus or watching his daughter be tortured. Bedlo secretly returns, frees Rexford, and together they aid Craven.

Craven and Scarabus sit facing each other and engage in a magic duel. After a lengthy performance of attacks, counterattacks and insults, during which Scarabus sets the castle on fire, Craven defeats Scarabus. Lenore tries to reconcile with him, claiming that she had been bewitched by Scarabus, but Craven rejects her. Craven, Bedlo, Estelle and Rexford escape the burning castle just as it collapses on Scarabus and his mistress. The miscreants survive, but Scarabus has lost his magic forever.

Bedlo tries to convince Craven to restore his human form. Craven tells him to shut his beak, and says, "Quoth the raven - nevermore."

Cast

Script

Roger Corman and Richard Matheson had both enjoyed making the comic "The Black Cat" episode of Tales of Terror and wanted to try an entirely comic Poe feature.

"After I heard they wanted to make a movie out of a poem, I felt that was an utter joke, so comedy was really the only way to go with it," said Matheson.

Shooting

The movie was shot in 15 days.

Roger Corman said that although they kept closely to the structure and story script, "We did more improvisation on that film than any of the others." The improvisation was in terms of dialogue and bits of business from the actors.

During shooting, Peter Lorre ad-libbed a number of famous lines in the film including:

Roger Corman says that Lorre's improvisations confused both Vincent Price and Boris Karloff, but Price adapted to it well while Karloff struggled. Corman:

Overall I would say we had as good a spirit on The Raven as any film I've ever worked on, except for a couple of moments with Boris. There was a slight edge to it, because Boris came in with a carefully worked out preparation, so when Peter started improvising lines, it really threw Boris off from his preparation.

Corman says the hostility between Jack Nicholson and Peter Lorre as father and son came from the actors rather than the script.

Vincent Price later recalled about the final duel:

Boris hated being strung up in the air on those chairs. He was terribly crippled, and we were both floating in the air on these wires. It wasn't a pleasant feeling! And I hated having that snake wrapped around my neck for two hours... I hate snakes.

Boris Karloff later said he was annoyed at having to wear the heavy cape.

Release

The film was popular at the box office.

In France it had admissions of 106,292.

Novelization

A novelization of the film was written by Eunice Sudak adapted from Richard Matheson's screenplay and published by Lancer Books in paperback. This novel was republished by Bear Manor Media in 2012.

Comic book adaption