The Black Cat (1934) Movie Script
Mr. and Mrs. Alison, car 96,
compartment f, orient express, Budapest.
Darling.
Peter.
Aren't you hungry?
No, darling.
Are you?
No, of course not.
Are you sure?
= I'm starved.
So am I.
= t didn't eat a bite at luncheon.
Well, neither did I.
Whoever eats anything
at a wedding luncheon?
They make the food out of papier mache.
My salad had been used four
or five times this week.
Shall we dine in, Mrs. Alison?
You mean here in the compartment?
Yes.
Elegant.
Excuse me, sir, lady.
A terrible mistake has occurred.
We have sold space in your
compartment to a gentlemen.
It is terrible.
= well?
You are going only to visegrad
which arrives at two o'clock.
Do please forgive this intrusion.
It is not necessary to
make it so important.
You need not disturb these people.
I can make myself quite
comfortable in the passageway.
Oh, we're only going as far as visegrad.
You're entirely welcome
to share this compartment
if you wish.
You're very kind.
Thank you.
Sorry.
That's all right.
Thank you.
Wait.
Sorry I frightened you, darling.
It is after all, better to be frightened
than to be crushed.
Well, I'm Peter Alison.
This is Mrs. Alison.
It is very great pleasure.
I'm Dr. vitus werdegast.
So, you are going to visegrad?
Yes, and to grumbach by bus.
Ah, grumbach is very beautiful.
I too, am going very near there.
For the sport?
Perhaps.
I go to visit an old friend.
May I?
Certainly.
I beg your indulgence, my friend.
18 years ago, I left a girl
so like your lovely wife to go to war.
Kaiser and country, you know.
She was my wife.
Have you ever heard of kurgaal?
It is a prison below.
Many men have gone there.
Few have returned.
T have returned.
After 15 years,
t have returned.
Go ahead, my servant is coming.
= it is too bad about the rain.
It's very unusual.
This road was built by the Austrian army.
All of this country
was one of the greatest
battlefields of the war.
Tens of thousands of men died here.
The ravine down there was piled 12 deep
with dead and wounded men.
The little river below was swollen,
a red, raging torrent of blood.
That high hill yonder where
engineer poelzig now lives
was the site of fort marmaris.
Marmaris, the greatest
graveyard in the world.
= driver is dead.
Engineer poelzig?
Herr poelzig has retired.
Engineer poelzig will be expecting me.
I'm Dr. werdegast.
We've had a bad accident.
Awaken herr poelzig at
once and take us somewhere
where I can dress the lady's injury.
A man was killed.
Telephone the gendarme
in visegrad and inform them.
Dr. werdegast has arrived.
There is no need to worry.
I'm sure after a good night's sleep,
she will be quite all right.
It has been a long time, hjalmar.
The years have been kind to you.
An accident on the road below.
We are all very fortunate to be alive.
Mr. and Mrs. Alison are going to grumbach.
Mrs. Alison is slightly injured.
I took the Liberty of bringing them here.
= of course.
She will sleep now.
You sold marmaris to the Russians.
Scattered away in the
night and left us to die.
Is it to be wondered at
that you should choose
this place to build your house?
A masterpiece of construction
built upon the ruins of the
masterpiece of destruction,
the masterpiece of murder.
The murdererer of 10,000 men
returns to the place of his crime.
Those who died were fortunate.
I was taken prisoner to kurgaal.
Kurgaal, where the soul is killed,
slowly.
15 years I rotted in the darkness.
Wait.
Not to kill you.
To kill your soul, slow.
Where's my wife, Karen, and my daughter?
Karen?
Well, what do you mean?
I mean you told Karen I had been killed.
I found out that much in Budapest.
I mean, you always wanted her.
In the days but before the war,
always, from the first time you saw her.
I mean that after you saved your own hide
and left us all to die in marmaris,
you went to Karen, induced
her to go to America with you.
I trace the two of you there
and to Spain and to south
America and finally here.
Where is she?
Vitus, you are mad.
= where is she?
Sorry if I'm intruding.
= not at all.
Do come in.
We were just going to
have something to drink.
Now, perhaps you'll join us.
And what would you like?
Oh, whiskey.
Whiskey.
This is a very interesting
house you have, herr poelzig.
Has an atmosphere, kind of uh...
= it is indeed hard to describe.
As hard to describe as life or,
or death.
It may well be an atmosphere of death.
This place was built on the ruins
of that same fort marmaris
that our unfortunate friend,
the driver, described so vividly.
Herr poelzig commanded marmaris
during the last years of the war.
He's perhaps sentimental about this spot.
And as for the house being interesting,
architectural,
it could not be otherwise.
Engineer poelzig is one of
Austria's greatest architects.
Dr. werdegast is one of
Hungary's greatest psychiatrists.
Allow me to introduce myself more fully.
I'm Peter Alison, one of
America's greatest writers
of unimportant books.
Oh, you're an author, a novelist?
What kind of things do you do?
Mysteries.
To you, my friend.
To your charming wife.
And to love.
You all right, Joan?
Thought you were asleep.
You are frightened, doctor?
You are our host.
At your service, madame.
You must be indulgent of
Dr. werdegast's weakness.
He is the unfortunate victim
of one of the commoner phobias,
but in an extreme form.
He has an intense and
all-consuming horror of cats.
Come darling, you must go back to bed.
You're not strong enough.
He is quite right.
You had a severe shock.
You must sleep.
Goodnight, gentlemen.
Joan.
I leave my presumption,
but I must emphasize
the extreme importance of Mrs.
Alison having complete quiet.
Sleep.
I gave her a very powerful narcotic
and I'm sure it will be effective soon.
Her condition is not sufficiently serious
to be cause for alarm but,
it is decidedly delicate.
Rest is the important thing.
What curious changes it made in her?
You must have noticed it.
It is perhaps the narcotic.
Hyoscine affects
certain people very oddly.
One cannot be sure.
Sometimes these cases take strange forms.
The victim becomes in a sense, mediumistic.
A vehicle for all the intangible forces
in operation around her.
Sounds like a lot of
supernatural baloney to me.
Supernatural perhaps.
Baloney, perhaps not.
There are many things under the sun.
I shall show you your rooms.
Strange about the cat.
Joan seemed so curiously
affected when you killed it.
That was coincidence, I think.
However, certain Asian books say
that the black cat is the
living embodiment of evil.
And that's that evil interest into
the nearest living thing.
It is...
= the black cat does not die.
Those same books, if I'm not mistaken,
teach that the black cat is deathless.
Deathless is evil.
It is the origin of the
common superstition,
that the cat with nine lives.
You will sleep here, vitus.
Thank you.
Night.
Goodnight, gentlemen.
Goodnight, vitus.
Sleep well.
An extremely interesting and capable man.
Yes.
I hope you will be comfortable.
Thank you.
My room adjoins Mrs. Alison's
if you would like to be near her.
Yes, thank you.
Do you mind if
I keep this door open?
I'd sleep in a cold sweat if you didn't.
You know,
this is a very tricky house.
Kinda place where I like to have company.
So, this guy, poelzig's a great architect?
Yes, one of the greatest.
Well, I suppose we've got
to have architects, too.
If I wanted to build a nice, cozy,
unpretentious insane asylum,
he'd be the man for it.
You think Mrs. Alison will be well enough
to go on to grumbach in the morning?
I think so.
= that'll be swell.
Now, vitus, we have
something to settle, we two.
You were seeking me, hjalmar?
I beg your pardon.
Where is my wife?
Very well, vitus.
I shall take you to her.
Next time, I go to Niagara Falls.
You will come alone, vitus.
= wait here.
And this was the
entrance to the gun turrets.
Don't you recognize it?
I can still
sense death in the air.
There is still death in the air.
It is just as much on
the mind today as ever.
And this is the old chart
room for the long range guns.
The guns are gone, but
the charts are still here.
Now you see vitus, I have cared
for her tenderly and well.
You will find her almost as beautiful
as when you last saw her.
She died two years after the war.
How?
Of pneumonia.
She was never very strong, you know.
= and the child?
Our daughter?
Dead.
And why is she...
Why is she like this?
= is she not beautiful?
I wanted to have her beauty always.
I loved her too, vitus.
= lies.
All lies, hjalmar.
You killed her.
You killed her as I am about to kill you!
Ar!
Come, vitus.
Are we men or are we children?
Of what use are all these
melodramatic gestures?
You say your soul was killed
and that you have been
dead all these years.
And what of me?
Did we not both die here
in marmaris 15 years ago?
Are we any the less victims of the war
than those whose bodies were torn asunder?
Are we not both the living dead
and now you come to me, playing
at being an avenging angel,
childishly thirsting for my blood.
We understand each other too well.
We know too much of life.
We shall play a little game, vitus,
a game of death, if you like,
but under any circumstances,
we shall have to wait
until these people are gone,
until we are alone.
Until tomorrow.
What is it, hjalmar?
Oh, it's nothing.
Only an accident on the road below.
I want you to stay in this
room all day tomorrow, Karen.
You are the very core
and meaning of my life.
No one shall take you
from me, not even vitus.
Not even your father.
Not yet, domo.
Put that away.
We will bide our time.
Other lives are involved.
And this place is so
undermined with dynamite
that the slightest mistake by one of us
would cause the destruction of all.
Until I tell you different,
you are his servant, not mine.
Peter?
Good morning.
Have you slept well?
I must examine the dressing.
Dressing?
Ti don't remember.
The bus.
We were in the bus and we fell...
I don't remember anything after that.
You don't?
Where is Peter?
Is he all right?
= he is not in his room.
He is perhaps at breakfast.
Will you sit down?
What happened, doctor?
What is this place?
This is the home of
my friend, herr poelzig.
You will forgive this intrusion.
I came to inquire after the
health of my charming guest.
This is engineer poelzig, our host.
Where is Peter, uh, Mr. Alison?
I think he is breakfasting.
I'll send for him.
Are you worried, vitus?
About myself, no.
The girl?
Perhaps.
= oh.
You're interested.
Maybe.
I thought so.
Well, I'm not.
Only spiritually.
Spiritually?
Tonight is the dark of the moon.
We shall gather and
you'd better come, vitus.
The ceremony will interest you.
Don't pretend, hjalmar.
There was nothing spiritual in your eyes
when you looked at that girl.
You plan to keep her here.
Perhaps.
I intend to let her go.
Is that a challenge, vitus?
Yes, if you dare to fight it out alone.
Do you dare play chess with me for her?
Yes.
I will even play you chess for her,
provided if I win, they are free to go.
You won't win, vitus.
= hurt?
= not a bit.
What happened last night?
Did I do anything silly?
Silly?
How could you do anything
that wasn't entirely lovely?
Do you feel well enough to leave, darling?
I'd feel well enough to leave
if I didn't feel well enough to leave.
I don't like this place.
= you don't like it?
You haven't had breakfast yet.
I don't like Mr. pigsiow
or whatever his name is.
Poelzigq.
Poelzig.
Hurry up and get dressed, darling.
I'll explain everything to Mr. poelzig.
All right.
Come down when you're ready.
Mmm hmm.
He wants to know our
version of the accident.
= an American!
And will you tell me about
the accident, please?
Well, Mrs. Alison, Dr. werdegast and I
were on our way to grumbach.
Grumbach, it's my home.
What a beautiful place.
What grandeur, what charm.
You have chosen very wisely, sir.
Grumbach is a Pearl of
the carpathian mountains...
I beg your pardon, sir.
Grumbach, it's very nice in its way.
But it cannot compare with pristion.
Pristion is my home.
There is a place.
Sport if you want sport.
Quiet if you want quiet.
Gaiety if you want the gaiety.
Pristion is god's gift to young lover...
Pristion used to be all right.
10, 15 years ago, but now,
grumbach is a place.
Sir, you're carrying
it a little bit too far.
How about the accident, lieutenant.
I think it was due almost
entirely to the rain.
Part of the road gave away,
the bus tipped over and
crashed, that's all.
Very well.
May I have your names?
Werdegast, Dr. vitus werdegast.
Peter Alison.
You gentlemen can be reached here?
Oh, you've been very kind, herr poelzig,
but Mrs. Alison and I must
get back down to visegrad.
You see, Mrs. Alison must communicate
with her parents in Vienna.
May we ride back with you to visegrad?
I should be very happy
to accommodate you,
unfortunately, we of the gendarmerie
go about on bicycles.
It would be very inconvenient for madame.
I'm afraid it is
impossible to get a train
out of visegrad until
the express goes through
at 11 o'clock tonight.
I shall be most happy
to send you down then.
Thank you, gentlemen.
I should be very sorry if
I've inconvenienced you,
and I shall be very sorry too,
if you do not decide to go on to grumbach.
= pristion.
Dr. werdegast, I feel
sure that Mrs. Alison
is well enough to go on...
I beg your pardon,
but do you play chess?
= no.
I used to play a very good hand of poker.
Well, if you don't mind, I think
we'll go on with our game.
Please don't think we don't appreciate
your hospitality, herr poelzig.
Mrs. Alison is still quite shaken up
from the accident, you know
and feels she wants to get back to Vienna.
Now, if you could send
us down to visegrad,
I'm sure we can hire a car there
that will take us on to Budapest,
or at least far enough
to get a decent train.
= but of course.
I shall be very sorry to see you go,
but if you and Mrs.
Alison think best, why...
I want you to take Mr. and
Mrs. Alison down to visegrad.
Now, you realize of course,
that this is against
the advice of Dr. werdegast
and you will have to assume
the full responsibility.
Oh, but I'm quite sure
she'll be all right.
Then we will go on with our game.
I'm sorry sir, the car
is out of commission.
It will take some time to repair it.
Oh, Mr. Alison.
You see, I use the car so seldom myself,
I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient.
Then may I use your telephone?
I'll telephone the hotel in visegrad
and ask them to send a car.
Of course, of course.
Take the gentleman to the telephone.
Did you get the hotel?
= no.
The phone's dead.
You hear that, vitus?
The phone is dead.
Even the phone is dead.
Come along, Joan.
We're getting outta here, fast.
What happened?
Never mind, darling.
Just stay close to me
and don't say anything.
We're leaving if we have
to walk to visegrad.
Oh, never mind about the baggage.
We'll send for that later.
The main thing is to go and go quickly.
Someone's taken my automatic.
= check mate.
You lose, vitus.
We're leaving.
Open the door.
I hope you won't carry
this too far, hjalmar.
Child, I hope you're not afraid of me.
= where's Peter?
What have you done with him?
I?
Surely you don't think I...
It was your servant who struck him down.
Where is he, where is he?
= shhh.
Please, child, listen to me.
We're all in danger.
Poelzig is a mad beast, I know.
I know, I've seen the proof.
He took Karen, my wife.
Murdered her, and murdered my child.
And you let him live?
I wait my time.
It shall be soon, very soon.
Until then, I must do his bidding.
That is why my servant obeys him.
Did you ever hear of satanism,
the worship of the devil, of evil?
Herr poelzig is a great modern
priest of that ancient cult
and tonight, dark of the moon,
the rites of Lucifer are celebrated.
And if I'm not mistaken, he intends you
to play a part of that ritual,
a very important part.
= oh!
= shh.
There, child.
Be brave,
no matter how hopeless it all seems.
Be brave, it is your only chance.
Who are you?
I've never seen you before, have I?
No, I don't think you have.
I'm Karen, madame poelzig.
Karen?
Not Karen werdegast?
Yes.
Yes, how did you know my name?
Well, I,
I know your father.
Oh no, you are mistaken.
My father died in prison.
Herr poelzig married my mother.
She died when I was very young.
And he married you?
You're his wife?
Yes.
Karen, listen to me.
Your father is not dead.
I know, I know.
He's here in this very house.
He's come for you.
Karen, do you understand me?
Your father has come for you.
No, hjalmar!
Pleasel
Dark of the moon is tonight.
We better hurry.
Guests will soon be here for the ceremony.
Peter!
Please let me go!
Pleasel
don't, no, please, don't!
Stop struggling, little fool.
There's the way out.
Come.
This way.
Peter, where is he?
= never mind him.
But you will be dead soon if
you don't come with me quickly.
= and Karen.
Karen is dead.
No, I mean Karen, your daughter.
Madame poelzig.
What do you mean?
= she's alive.
Here in this house.
She's poelzig's wife.
= where is she?
Where is Karen, my daughter?
= Joan.
Joan.
Do you know what I'm
going to do to you now?
No?
Did you ever see an
animal skinned hjalmar?
That's what I'm going to do to you now.
Tear the skin from your body...
Slowly.
Bit by bit.
How does it feel to hang
on your own embalming rack, hjalmar?
Joan, the key!
The key!
Let me help you.
Stand back, werdegast!
Get away, werdegast.
He wanted to help us.
You poor fool.
I only tried to help.
Now go, please, go.
It's the red switch, isn't it, hjalmar?
The red switch ignites the dynamite.
Five minutes.
You and I and your rotten color
will be no more.
It has been a good game.
Please, stop!
Visegrad, Budapest.
Darling, here's a
review of triple murder.
In triple murder, Mr. Alison's
latest mystery thriller,
he fulfills the promise shown by the 69th
prime in the purple spot.
We feel however, that Mr.
Alison has, in a sense,
overstepped the bounds in
the matter of credibility.
These things could never,
by the furthest stretch
of the imagination actually happen.
We could wish that Mr.
Alison would confine himself
to the possible instead of letting
his melodramatic imagination
run away with him.
compartment f, orient express, Budapest.
Darling.
Peter.
Aren't you hungry?
No, darling.
Are you?
No, of course not.
Are you sure?
= I'm starved.
So am I.
= t didn't eat a bite at luncheon.
Well, neither did I.
Whoever eats anything
at a wedding luncheon?
They make the food out of papier mache.
My salad had been used four
or five times this week.
Shall we dine in, Mrs. Alison?
You mean here in the compartment?
Yes.
Elegant.
Excuse me, sir, lady.
A terrible mistake has occurred.
We have sold space in your
compartment to a gentlemen.
It is terrible.
= well?
You are going only to visegrad
which arrives at two o'clock.
Do please forgive this intrusion.
It is not necessary to
make it so important.
You need not disturb these people.
I can make myself quite
comfortable in the passageway.
Oh, we're only going as far as visegrad.
You're entirely welcome
to share this compartment
if you wish.
You're very kind.
Thank you.
Sorry.
That's all right.
Thank you.
Wait.
Sorry I frightened you, darling.
It is after all, better to be frightened
than to be crushed.
Well, I'm Peter Alison.
This is Mrs. Alison.
It is very great pleasure.
I'm Dr. vitus werdegast.
So, you are going to visegrad?
Yes, and to grumbach by bus.
Ah, grumbach is very beautiful.
I too, am going very near there.
For the sport?
Perhaps.
I go to visit an old friend.
May I?
Certainly.
I beg your indulgence, my friend.
18 years ago, I left a girl
so like your lovely wife to go to war.
Kaiser and country, you know.
She was my wife.
Have you ever heard of kurgaal?
It is a prison below.
Many men have gone there.
Few have returned.
T have returned.
After 15 years,
t have returned.
Go ahead, my servant is coming.
= it is too bad about the rain.
It's very unusual.
This road was built by the Austrian army.
All of this country
was one of the greatest
battlefields of the war.
Tens of thousands of men died here.
The ravine down there was piled 12 deep
with dead and wounded men.
The little river below was swollen,
a red, raging torrent of blood.
That high hill yonder where
engineer poelzig now lives
was the site of fort marmaris.
Marmaris, the greatest
graveyard in the world.
= driver is dead.
Engineer poelzig?
Herr poelzig has retired.
Engineer poelzig will be expecting me.
I'm Dr. werdegast.
We've had a bad accident.
Awaken herr poelzig at
once and take us somewhere
where I can dress the lady's injury.
A man was killed.
Telephone the gendarme
in visegrad and inform them.
Dr. werdegast has arrived.
There is no need to worry.
I'm sure after a good night's sleep,
she will be quite all right.
It has been a long time, hjalmar.
The years have been kind to you.
An accident on the road below.
We are all very fortunate to be alive.
Mr. and Mrs. Alison are going to grumbach.
Mrs. Alison is slightly injured.
I took the Liberty of bringing them here.
= of course.
She will sleep now.
You sold marmaris to the Russians.
Scattered away in the
night and left us to die.
Is it to be wondered at
that you should choose
this place to build your house?
A masterpiece of construction
built upon the ruins of the
masterpiece of destruction,
the masterpiece of murder.
The murdererer of 10,000 men
returns to the place of his crime.
Those who died were fortunate.
I was taken prisoner to kurgaal.
Kurgaal, where the soul is killed,
slowly.
15 years I rotted in the darkness.
Wait.
Not to kill you.
To kill your soul, slow.
Where's my wife, Karen, and my daughter?
Karen?
Well, what do you mean?
I mean you told Karen I had been killed.
I found out that much in Budapest.
I mean, you always wanted her.
In the days but before the war,
always, from the first time you saw her.
I mean that after you saved your own hide
and left us all to die in marmaris,
you went to Karen, induced
her to go to America with you.
I trace the two of you there
and to Spain and to south
America and finally here.
Where is she?
Vitus, you are mad.
= where is she?
Sorry if I'm intruding.
= not at all.
Do come in.
We were just going to
have something to drink.
Now, perhaps you'll join us.
And what would you like?
Oh, whiskey.
Whiskey.
This is a very interesting
house you have, herr poelzig.
Has an atmosphere, kind of uh...
= it is indeed hard to describe.
As hard to describe as life or,
or death.
It may well be an atmosphere of death.
This place was built on the ruins
of that same fort marmaris
that our unfortunate friend,
the driver, described so vividly.
Herr poelzig commanded marmaris
during the last years of the war.
He's perhaps sentimental about this spot.
And as for the house being interesting,
architectural,
it could not be otherwise.
Engineer poelzig is one of
Austria's greatest architects.
Dr. werdegast is one of
Hungary's greatest psychiatrists.
Allow me to introduce myself more fully.
I'm Peter Alison, one of
America's greatest writers
of unimportant books.
Oh, you're an author, a novelist?
What kind of things do you do?
Mysteries.
To you, my friend.
To your charming wife.
And to love.
You all right, Joan?
Thought you were asleep.
You are frightened, doctor?
You are our host.
At your service, madame.
You must be indulgent of
Dr. werdegast's weakness.
He is the unfortunate victim
of one of the commoner phobias,
but in an extreme form.
He has an intense and
all-consuming horror of cats.
Come darling, you must go back to bed.
You're not strong enough.
He is quite right.
You had a severe shock.
You must sleep.
Goodnight, gentlemen.
Joan.
I leave my presumption,
but I must emphasize
the extreme importance of Mrs.
Alison having complete quiet.
Sleep.
I gave her a very powerful narcotic
and I'm sure it will be effective soon.
Her condition is not sufficiently serious
to be cause for alarm but,
it is decidedly delicate.
Rest is the important thing.
What curious changes it made in her?
You must have noticed it.
It is perhaps the narcotic.
Hyoscine affects
certain people very oddly.
One cannot be sure.
Sometimes these cases take strange forms.
The victim becomes in a sense, mediumistic.
A vehicle for all the intangible forces
in operation around her.
Sounds like a lot of
supernatural baloney to me.
Supernatural perhaps.
Baloney, perhaps not.
There are many things under the sun.
I shall show you your rooms.
Strange about the cat.
Joan seemed so curiously
affected when you killed it.
That was coincidence, I think.
However, certain Asian books say
that the black cat is the
living embodiment of evil.
And that's that evil interest into
the nearest living thing.
It is...
= the black cat does not die.
Those same books, if I'm not mistaken,
teach that the black cat is deathless.
Deathless is evil.
It is the origin of the
common superstition,
that the cat with nine lives.
You will sleep here, vitus.
Thank you.
Night.
Goodnight, gentlemen.
Goodnight, vitus.
Sleep well.
An extremely interesting and capable man.
Yes.
I hope you will be comfortable.
Thank you.
My room adjoins Mrs. Alison's
if you would like to be near her.
Yes, thank you.
Do you mind if
I keep this door open?
I'd sleep in a cold sweat if you didn't.
You know,
this is a very tricky house.
Kinda place where I like to have company.
So, this guy, poelzig's a great architect?
Yes, one of the greatest.
Well, I suppose we've got
to have architects, too.
If I wanted to build a nice, cozy,
unpretentious insane asylum,
he'd be the man for it.
You think Mrs. Alison will be well enough
to go on to grumbach in the morning?
I think so.
= that'll be swell.
Now, vitus, we have
something to settle, we two.
You were seeking me, hjalmar?
I beg your pardon.
Where is my wife?
Very well, vitus.
I shall take you to her.
Next time, I go to Niagara Falls.
You will come alone, vitus.
= wait here.
And this was the
entrance to the gun turrets.
Don't you recognize it?
I can still
sense death in the air.
There is still death in the air.
It is just as much on
the mind today as ever.
And this is the old chart
room for the long range guns.
The guns are gone, but
the charts are still here.
Now you see vitus, I have cared
for her tenderly and well.
You will find her almost as beautiful
as when you last saw her.
She died two years after the war.
How?
Of pneumonia.
She was never very strong, you know.
= and the child?
Our daughter?
Dead.
And why is she...
Why is she like this?
= is she not beautiful?
I wanted to have her beauty always.
I loved her too, vitus.
= lies.
All lies, hjalmar.
You killed her.
You killed her as I am about to kill you!
Ar!
Come, vitus.
Are we men or are we children?
Of what use are all these
melodramatic gestures?
You say your soul was killed
and that you have been
dead all these years.
And what of me?
Did we not both die here
in marmaris 15 years ago?
Are we any the less victims of the war
than those whose bodies were torn asunder?
Are we not both the living dead
and now you come to me, playing
at being an avenging angel,
childishly thirsting for my blood.
We understand each other too well.
We know too much of life.
We shall play a little game, vitus,
a game of death, if you like,
but under any circumstances,
we shall have to wait
until these people are gone,
until we are alone.
Until tomorrow.
What is it, hjalmar?
Oh, it's nothing.
Only an accident on the road below.
I want you to stay in this
room all day tomorrow, Karen.
You are the very core
and meaning of my life.
No one shall take you
from me, not even vitus.
Not even your father.
Not yet, domo.
Put that away.
We will bide our time.
Other lives are involved.
And this place is so
undermined with dynamite
that the slightest mistake by one of us
would cause the destruction of all.
Until I tell you different,
you are his servant, not mine.
Peter?
Good morning.
Have you slept well?
I must examine the dressing.
Dressing?
Ti don't remember.
The bus.
We were in the bus and we fell...
I don't remember anything after that.
You don't?
Where is Peter?
Is he all right?
= he is not in his room.
He is perhaps at breakfast.
Will you sit down?
What happened, doctor?
What is this place?
This is the home of
my friend, herr poelzig.
You will forgive this intrusion.
I came to inquire after the
health of my charming guest.
This is engineer poelzig, our host.
Where is Peter, uh, Mr. Alison?
I think he is breakfasting.
I'll send for him.
Are you worried, vitus?
About myself, no.
The girl?
Perhaps.
= oh.
You're interested.
Maybe.
I thought so.
Well, I'm not.
Only spiritually.
Spiritually?
Tonight is the dark of the moon.
We shall gather and
you'd better come, vitus.
The ceremony will interest you.
Don't pretend, hjalmar.
There was nothing spiritual in your eyes
when you looked at that girl.
You plan to keep her here.
Perhaps.
I intend to let her go.
Is that a challenge, vitus?
Yes, if you dare to fight it out alone.
Do you dare play chess with me for her?
Yes.
I will even play you chess for her,
provided if I win, they are free to go.
You won't win, vitus.
= hurt?
= not a bit.
What happened last night?
Did I do anything silly?
Silly?
How could you do anything
that wasn't entirely lovely?
Do you feel well enough to leave, darling?
I'd feel well enough to leave
if I didn't feel well enough to leave.
I don't like this place.
= you don't like it?
You haven't had breakfast yet.
I don't like Mr. pigsiow
or whatever his name is.
Poelzigq.
Poelzig.
Hurry up and get dressed, darling.
I'll explain everything to Mr. poelzig.
All right.
Come down when you're ready.
Mmm hmm.
He wants to know our
version of the accident.
= an American!
And will you tell me about
the accident, please?
Well, Mrs. Alison, Dr. werdegast and I
were on our way to grumbach.
Grumbach, it's my home.
What a beautiful place.
What grandeur, what charm.
You have chosen very wisely, sir.
Grumbach is a Pearl of
the carpathian mountains...
I beg your pardon, sir.
Grumbach, it's very nice in its way.
But it cannot compare with pristion.
Pristion is my home.
There is a place.
Sport if you want sport.
Quiet if you want quiet.
Gaiety if you want the gaiety.
Pristion is god's gift to young lover...
Pristion used to be all right.
10, 15 years ago, but now,
grumbach is a place.
Sir, you're carrying
it a little bit too far.
How about the accident, lieutenant.
I think it was due almost
entirely to the rain.
Part of the road gave away,
the bus tipped over and
crashed, that's all.
Very well.
May I have your names?
Werdegast, Dr. vitus werdegast.
Peter Alison.
You gentlemen can be reached here?
Oh, you've been very kind, herr poelzig,
but Mrs. Alison and I must
get back down to visegrad.
You see, Mrs. Alison must communicate
with her parents in Vienna.
May we ride back with you to visegrad?
I should be very happy
to accommodate you,
unfortunately, we of the gendarmerie
go about on bicycles.
It would be very inconvenient for madame.
I'm afraid it is
impossible to get a train
out of visegrad until
the express goes through
at 11 o'clock tonight.
I shall be most happy
to send you down then.
Thank you, gentlemen.
I should be very sorry if
I've inconvenienced you,
and I shall be very sorry too,
if you do not decide to go on to grumbach.
= pristion.
Dr. werdegast, I feel
sure that Mrs. Alison
is well enough to go on...
I beg your pardon,
but do you play chess?
= no.
I used to play a very good hand of poker.
Well, if you don't mind, I think
we'll go on with our game.
Please don't think we don't appreciate
your hospitality, herr poelzig.
Mrs. Alison is still quite shaken up
from the accident, you know
and feels she wants to get back to Vienna.
Now, if you could send
us down to visegrad,
I'm sure we can hire a car there
that will take us on to Budapest,
or at least far enough
to get a decent train.
= but of course.
I shall be very sorry to see you go,
but if you and Mrs.
Alison think best, why...
I want you to take Mr. and
Mrs. Alison down to visegrad.
Now, you realize of course,
that this is against
the advice of Dr. werdegast
and you will have to assume
the full responsibility.
Oh, but I'm quite sure
she'll be all right.
Then we will go on with our game.
I'm sorry sir, the car
is out of commission.
It will take some time to repair it.
Oh, Mr. Alison.
You see, I use the car so seldom myself,
I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient.
Then may I use your telephone?
I'll telephone the hotel in visegrad
and ask them to send a car.
Of course, of course.
Take the gentleman to the telephone.
Did you get the hotel?
= no.
The phone's dead.
You hear that, vitus?
The phone is dead.
Even the phone is dead.
Come along, Joan.
We're getting outta here, fast.
What happened?
Never mind, darling.
Just stay close to me
and don't say anything.
We're leaving if we have
to walk to visegrad.
Oh, never mind about the baggage.
We'll send for that later.
The main thing is to go and go quickly.
Someone's taken my automatic.
= check mate.
You lose, vitus.
We're leaving.
Open the door.
I hope you won't carry
this too far, hjalmar.
Child, I hope you're not afraid of me.
= where's Peter?
What have you done with him?
I?
Surely you don't think I...
It was your servant who struck him down.
Where is he, where is he?
= shhh.
Please, child, listen to me.
We're all in danger.
Poelzig is a mad beast, I know.
I know, I've seen the proof.
He took Karen, my wife.
Murdered her, and murdered my child.
And you let him live?
I wait my time.
It shall be soon, very soon.
Until then, I must do his bidding.
That is why my servant obeys him.
Did you ever hear of satanism,
the worship of the devil, of evil?
Herr poelzig is a great modern
priest of that ancient cult
and tonight, dark of the moon,
the rites of Lucifer are celebrated.
And if I'm not mistaken, he intends you
to play a part of that ritual,
a very important part.
= oh!
= shh.
There, child.
Be brave,
no matter how hopeless it all seems.
Be brave, it is your only chance.
Who are you?
I've never seen you before, have I?
No, I don't think you have.
I'm Karen, madame poelzig.
Karen?
Not Karen werdegast?
Yes.
Yes, how did you know my name?
Well, I,
I know your father.
Oh no, you are mistaken.
My father died in prison.
Herr poelzig married my mother.
She died when I was very young.
And he married you?
You're his wife?
Yes.
Karen, listen to me.
Your father is not dead.
I know, I know.
He's here in this very house.
He's come for you.
Karen, do you understand me?
Your father has come for you.
No, hjalmar!
Pleasel
Dark of the moon is tonight.
We better hurry.
Guests will soon be here for the ceremony.
Peter!
Please let me go!
Pleasel
don't, no, please, don't!
Stop struggling, little fool.
There's the way out.
Come.
This way.
Peter, where is he?
= never mind him.
But you will be dead soon if
you don't come with me quickly.
= and Karen.
Karen is dead.
No, I mean Karen, your daughter.
Madame poelzig.
What do you mean?
= she's alive.
Here in this house.
She's poelzig's wife.
= where is she?
Where is Karen, my daughter?
= Joan.
Joan.
Do you know what I'm
going to do to you now?
No?
Did you ever see an
animal skinned hjalmar?
That's what I'm going to do to you now.
Tear the skin from your body...
Slowly.
Bit by bit.
How does it feel to hang
on your own embalming rack, hjalmar?
Joan, the key!
The key!
Let me help you.
Stand back, werdegast!
Get away, werdegast.
He wanted to help us.
You poor fool.
I only tried to help.
Now go, please, go.
It's the red switch, isn't it, hjalmar?
The red switch ignites the dynamite.
Five minutes.
You and I and your rotten color
will be no more.
It has been a good game.
Please, stop!
Visegrad, Budapest.
Darling, here's a
review of triple murder.
In triple murder, Mr. Alison's
latest mystery thriller,
he fulfills the promise shown by the 69th
prime in the purple spot.
We feel however, that Mr.
Alison has, in a sense,
overstepped the bounds in
the matter of credibility.
These things could never,
by the furthest stretch
of the imagination actually happen.
We could wish that Mr.
Alison would confine himself
to the possible instead of letting
his melodramatic imagination
run away with him.