White Zombie is a 1932 American pre-Code horror film independently produced by Edward Halperin and directed by Victor Halperin. The screenplay by Garnett Weston, based on The Magic Island by William Seabrook, is about a young woman's transformation into a zombie at the hands of an evil voodoo master. Bela Lugosi stars as the zombie master "Murder" Legendre, with Madge Bellamy appearing as his victim. Other cast members include Joseph Cawthorn, Robert W. Frazer, John Harron, Brandon Hurst and George Burr MacAnnan.
White Zombie | |
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theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Victor Halperin |
Produced by | Edward Halperin |
Written by | Garnett Weston (story and dialogue) |
Based on | Inspired by The Magic Island (1929 novel) by William Seabrook |
Starring | Bela Lugosi |
Music by |
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Cinematography | Arthur Martinelli |
Edited by | Harold McLernon |
Production company | Halperin Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 67 minutes; or 68 or 70 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $50,000 (approx) |
Large portions of White Zombie were shot on the Universal Studios lot, borrowing many props and scenery from other horror films of the era. The film opened in New York to negative reception, with reviewers criticizing the film's over-the-top story and weak acting. While the film made a substantial financial profit as an independent feature, it proved less popular than other horror films of the time.
White Zombie is considered the first feature length zombie film. A sequel, Revolt of the Zombies, opened in 1936. Modern reception to White Zombie has been more positive. Some critics have praised the film's atmosphere and compared it to the 1940s horror films of Val Lewton, while others still have unfavorable opinions on the quality of the acting.
Screenplay
On arrival in Haiti, Madeleine Short reunites with her fiancé Neil Parker, with imminent plans to be married. On the way to their lodging, the couple's coach passes Murder Legendre, an evil voodoo master, who observes them with interest. Neil and Madeleine arrive at the home of the wealthy plantation owner, Charles Beaumont. Charles' love of Madeleine prompts him to meet Murder secretly in Murder's sugar cane mill, operated entirely by zombies. Charles wants to convince Madeleine to marry him and solicits Murder's supernatural assistance. Murder states that the only way to help Charles is to transform Madeleine into a zombie with a potion. Beaumont agrees, takes the potion, and surreptitiously gives it to Madeleine. Shortly after Madeleine and Neil's wedding ceremony, the potion takes effect on Madeleine, who soon dies and is buried. Murder and Charles enter Madeleine's tomb at night and bring her back to life as a zombie. In a drunken state, a depressed Neil sees ghostly apparitions of Madeleine and goes to her tomb. On finding it empty, Neil seeks out the assistance of the local missionary, Dr. Bruner, who recounts how Murder turned many of his rivals into zombies, who now act as Murder's closest guardians. The two men journey to Murder's cliffside castle to rescue Madeleine.
At the castle, Charles has begun to regret Madeleine's transformation and begs Murder to return her to life, but Murder refuses. Charles discovers he has been tainted by Murder's voodoo and is also transforming into a zombie. As Neil enters the fortress, Murder senses his presence and silently orders Madeleine to kill Neil. She approaches Neil with a knife, but Bruner grabs her hand from behind a curtain, making her drop the knife and walk away. Neil follows Madeleine to an escarpment, where Murder commands his zombie guardians to kill Neil. Bruner approaches Murder and knocks him out, breaking Murder's mental control over his zombies. Undirected, the zombies topple off the cliff. Murder awakens and eludes Neil and Bruner, but Charles pushes Murder off the cliff. Charles loses his balance and also falls to his death. Murder's death releases Madeleine from her zombie trance, and she awakens to embrace Neil.
- Bela Lugosi as "Murder" Legendre, a white Haitian voodoo master who commands a crew of zombies
- Madge Bellamy as Madeleine Short, Neil Parker's fiancée, who is turned into a zombie by Legendre
- Joseph Cawthorn as Dr. Bruner: a missionary preacher
- Robert W. Frazer as Charles Beaumont, a plantation owner who is in love with Madeleine
- John Harron as Neil Parker, a bank employee, the fiancé of Madeleine
- Brandon Hurst as Silver, Beaumont's butler
- George Burr Macannan as Von Gelder, a formerly rich man who has fallen under Legendre's spell to become a zombie
- Clarence Muse as a coach driver
- Frederick Peters as Chauvin, a zombie, the former high executioner
- Annette Stone as a maid
- John Printz as Ledot, a zombie, a former witch doctor who was once Legendre's master
- Dan Crimmins as Pierre, an old witch doctor
- Claude Morgan as a zombie
- John Fergusson as a zombie
- Velma Gresham as the tall maid
The zombie theme of White Zombie was inspired by – but the screenplay not based on – the Broadway play by Kenneth Webb titled Zombie. Webb sued the Halperins for copyright infringement, but did not win his case. Hoping to cash in on the country's interest in voodoo, which began with William B. Seabrook's 1929 book on Haitian voodou, The Magic Island, the film, then titled Zombie, went into development in early 1932. The Halperins leased office space from Universal Studios. Garnett Weston's story focuses more on action than dialogue. To aid the Halperins, producer Phil Goldstone helped secure funds for White Zombie as he had for other independent films at the time. Much of the funding came from Amusement Securities Corp.
White Zombie was filmed in eleven days in March 1932 and was shot at the Universal Studios lot, at RKO-Pathé, and in Bronson Canyon on such a small budget – approximately $50,000 – that it had to filmed at night. Other than Béla Lugosi and Joseph Cawthorn, the majority of the cast in White Zombie were actors whose fame had diminished since the silent film era.
By the time Bela Lugosi appeared in White Zombie, he was already popular with contemporary audiences after his starring role in the hit 1931 film, Dracula and 1932's Murders in the Rue Morgue, and film historians have found it surprising that he would sign on to a low-budget film by producers (the Halperin brothers) with no track record in Hollywood. Sources vary about Lugosi's salary for his week of work on White Zombie. Claims range between US$500 to $900. Richard Sheffield, who was his close friend in the 1950s, reported a payment of $5,000 for White Zombie on Lugosi's tax returns.
The cast and crew's reaction to Lugosi on the set was mixed. Madge Bellamy recalled her collaboration with Lugosi positively, stating that he was very pleasant and that he used to kiss her hand in the morning when they would come on to the set. In contrast, assistant cameraman Enzo Martinelli remarked that "Lugosi wasn't really a friendly type" on set. Actor Clarence Muse, who played the coach driver, claimed that some scenes were partly re-written or re-staged by Lugosi, who also helped to direct some re-takes.
Lugosi's model for his portrayal of "Murder" Legendre in White Zombie may have been the character he played in 1919's Slave of a Foreign Will (Sklaven Fremdes Willens), his first German film, in which he played a Svengali-like hypnotist with mesmerizing eyes.
Phil Goldstone had previously worked with Bellamy and offered her the role of Madeleine Short for a salary of $5,000. For the role of Dr. Bruner, the Halperins looked for an actor with name value and decided to cast Joseph Cawthorn, who was then known to audiences only as comic relief in stage and film roles.
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