209) The Raven (1963)

"If I would have been sober, which I admit doesn't happen very often, but, it would have been an entirely different story! Entirely different."

Director

Roger Corman

Cast
Vincent Price - Dr. Erasmus Craven
Peter Lorre - Dr. Adolphus Bedlo
Boris Karloff - Dr. Scarabus
Hazel Court - Lenore Craven
Olive Sturgess - Estelle Craven
Jack Nicholson - Rexford Bedlo
Connie Wallace - Maid
William Baskin - Grimes
Aaron Saxon - Gort

If I walked up to any random person on the street and asked them what the first thing is that comes to their mind when I mention the macabre poet and storyteller, Edgar Allan Poe, chances are his 1845 poem "The Raven" is what they'd say. 

It's probably his most iconic and notable work. I mean, there's even an NFL football in Baltimore named after Poe's famous poem. What other writer has a sports team named after their work?

For me, it brings to mind my high school English class in which every month for all four years of high school, I and everyone else in my class had to memorize an assigned poem or sonnet, and then recite it in front of the class. One of those poems I had to memorize was, "The Raven." Too bad I don't remember the entire poem. 

Roger Corman's fifth Poe film happens to be (finally) "The Raven" - not to be confused with the 1935 movie, also called "The Raven," directed by Lew Landers. I happen to have that original movie in my film library and I'll get to it eventually.  

While Corman's previous Poe movie "Tales of Terror" felt the most Poe-like so far as it tells a trio of short stories, and Poe was a writer of short stories and poems, "The Raven" surprisingly feels the most un-Poe like. 

Honestly, I'm torn on this movie. I enjoyed it overall for its own sake. I'm also of the opinion that movies based on books and such don't have to completely follow the book. But I do think they need to respect their source material. They shouldn't convey an opposite message of what the author originally intended. Nor should it stray so far from the original source material were it becomes completely unrecognizable.

Vincent Price returns once again along with some other well-known and well-respected stars - Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and a young Jack Nicholson. Lorre stars in the previous Poe movie, "Tales of Terror."

Nicholson and Karloff also appear in Corman's following movie "The Terror" which was filmed on the back of "The Raven." That's an interesting story for another time.

Nicholson also has a cameo in Corman's popular 1960 flick "Little Shop of Horrors." He's also in the 1958 film "The Baby Killers" produced by Corman. 

Anyways, "The Raven" starts off in a similar way as the poem as Vincent Price recites the opening of the poem before the movie goes in a completely different direction that's miles from Poe's original work. 

Vincent Price as Dr. Craven in "The Raven."

In this movie, matching in the Gothic horror style of the previous Poe movies, the poem's narrator - the one mourning over his lost Lenore - is a magician and sorcerer named Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price). Lenore has been dead for the prior two years. 

His daughter, Estelle (Olive Sturgess) is truly concerned about her father as she watches him exist in his morose state since the death of her mother.

One night, a raven lands on his window sill tapping on his window. He lets the bird fly into his study much to his amusement. 

I'll add here that this is the best dialogue in the entire movie.

Craven asks the bird, "Are you some dark-winged messenger from beyond?"

The bird doesn't respond. 
"Answer me, monster, tell me truly," he says.

But still, nothing.
"Shall I ever hold again that radiant maiden whom the angels call Lenore?"

Finally, the raven responds.

"How the hell should I know?" 

It brings to mind "The Simpsons" take on "The Raven" from the "Treehouse of Horror" episode in season two which aired back back in 1990. 

In their version, more faithful to the poem, Bart takes on the role of the raven, who initially quoths to Homer, mourning his lost Lenore (depicted as Marge), with "Eat my shorts." His sister, Lisa who's reciting the poem, reprimands him to take it seriously. 

Anyways, the raven is actually another sorcerer, Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre). He was transformed into a raven during a duel with Dr. Scarabus (Boris Karloff). 

So, Bedlo asks Craven to help turn him back into his human form. And once he does, the two of them hunt down Scarabus to take revenge. 

Bedlo wants to get back at him for turning him into a raven. And Craven wants to get his hands on Scarabus because Bedlo swears he saw Craven's beloved Lenore inside Scarabus's castle. 

Estelle, along with Bedlo's son, Rexford (Jack Nicholson) join them in their mission to find and battle Scarabus. 

Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson.

There's not really enough content in the source material to make an entertaining movie. If the film's writers just used the scenario as Poe wrote it, the movie would be nothing more that the narrator pondering, weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, brooding over his lost Lenore while arguing with a cheeky raven perched upon a bust of Pallas just above his chamber door. Perched, sitting, and nothing more. In other words, it would probably be painfully boring!

So, to prevent that, the movie takes a sharp right turn as soon as the raven utters his first line and takes a whimsical juvenile tone than previous Poe movies from Corman. 

Clearly, since "The Raven" is a poem, this movie takes some major liberties with it, turning it into something completely different. I both disliked and loved this movie. I'm torn. 

The story concludes with a duel of spells between Price and Karloff that must have been hilarious to watch on set sans the early special effects. 

I get the impression it's not supposed to be funny but the actors wouldn't mind at all if they saw audiences laughing at them through the whole scene. It feels heavier with comedy than the previous Poe movies in this series. 

While the previous movie had a Poe-like style and feel to it, though I don't know how accurate it is compared to the book, "The Raven" takes perhaps the most well known of Poe's works, gives it lip service in the beginning, and then deviates so far from the source material that it's not even recognizable. It's 99 percent Corman and one percent Poe. 

There is something very iconic of seeing Vincent Price with the raven perched on his arm. It's as though his tie in with such an iconic and well-known poem is meant to be. It's kind of like Sherlock Holmes investigating Jack the Ripper's murders. That has been depicted several times. The 1979 movie "Murder by Decree" comes to mind. 

With the final climax resembling something out of a live-action Disney movie, I'm a bit surprised that out of all of Corman's Poe movies, this one, based on Poe's most well known poem, is the most disappointing and laughable. But I like it for its absurdity, cast, performances, and laughs despite it deviating so far from Poe's genius. The story in and of itself is a trip to watch. For what it is, it's cheesiness is entertaining, and the cast is clearly enjoying it.