THE RAVEN (1963)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological*

THE RAVEN starts out in an undefined medieval era, focusing first on Doctor Craven (Vincent Price), who lives an ascetic existence in near-solitude in his secluded mansion, devoting himself to the practice of thaumaturgy.  His only family consists of his daughter Estelle, whose mother is long gone.  Craven never speaks of her, but only has eyes for the picture of his “lost Lenore,” who was “stepmother” to Estelle but who vanished from Craven’s mansion two years previous.  So obsessed with Lenore is Craven (much like Price’s character in the “Morella” tale) that he even asks a visiting raven whether or not he’ll ever again see Lenore—to which the bird replies, “How should I know?  Do I look like a fortune-teller?”

After the magician uses his magic to return the raven to a semblance of humanity, the bird is revealed to be another magician, Doctor Bedlo (Peter Lorre), who fell afoul (or a-fowl?) of yet another magician, Doctor Scarabeus (Boris Karloff).  Craven mentions that Scarabeus was once the rival of Craven’s father Roderick back when both men were members of a mystic organization, “the Brotherhood.”  With Roderick dead, his son has retreated from contact with the Brotherhood, allowing Scarabeus to take over.

Just from this bare description it’s plain that like the protagonist of PIT AND THE PENDULUM, Craven is “craven” regarding the overshadowing history of his father’s exploits.  Though he’s willing to help the bad-tempered Bedlo, who seems to have earned his transformation by quarreling with Scarabeus, Craven wants no trouble with his father’s old enemy—or so it seems.  When Bedlo has been only partially restored to humanity (he still has a wing for an arm, a la the “Swan Maiden” folktale), he insists that Craven should raid the local graveyard for one potion-ingredient, “the hair of a dead man.”  Craven is initially horrified at the suggestion of despoiling graves, yet in the next moment, he thinks it’s a good idea to despoil the crypt of his dead father Roderick and take the hair from that source.  This suggests that on some level Craven is aware of the dominating influence of his father’s legacy, and that he wants to throw off that influence.  The results of this bit of grave-robbery are ambiguous: in the comedic film’s one creepy scene, the corpse of Roderick comes to life when Craven clips its hair—but it does so only to tell his living son to “beware,” and then falls back dead.

Though Craven has no interest in helping Bedlo avenge his grievances, Bedlo piques Craven’s interest when he remarks that he’s seen Lenore—whom he recognizes from her portait in the mansion—in Scarebeus’s castle.  Craven disbelieves Bedlo, protesting that Lenore’s only reason for being absent is that she must be dead, but he decides to join Bedlo in questioning the older wizard.  Before they can leave, Craven, Bedlo and Estelle are attacked by one of Craven’s servants.  Craven’s magic subdues the man, who was obviously controlled by hostile magic.  Slightly later, the threesome are joined by Bedlo’s son Rexford (Jack Nicholson), looking to bring his foolish father back home.  Instead all four journey to the castle, though the trip is interrupted briefly when Rexford is also magically possessed, so that he almost overturns their carriage.

At the castle Scarabeus is the genial host, showing no knowledge of the spirit of Lenore.  But Bedlo has told the truth: the flesh-and-blood Lenore has been in the company of Scarabeus since leaving Craven.  Between them, wizard and unfaithful wife plan to imprison Craven and learn his mystical knowledge. To that end, they manage to gain Bedlo’s help, though Bedlo is somewhat less than pleased with his reward: that of getting turned into a raven again.  Bedlo turns against his former allies and gets Craven free.  The conflict climaxes in a magical duel between the two wizards, which Craven wins.  At last aware of Lenore’s duplicity, Craven escapes the castle and leaves Lenore with her lover as the castle comes crashing down in flames.  However, given the jubilant spirit of the comedy here, both villains survive with only each other to increase one another's misery.  With Estelle and Rexford set up to be “the romantic couple,” Craven returns to his mansion and gives the traitorous raven his punishment: to sit upon a “pallid bust of Pallas” and speak “nevermore.”

THE RAVEN is much more fun than COMEDY OF TERRORS, and gives each of the actors more individual moments (even having Rexford show the same paternal deference to Bedlo than Craven does to his late father).  The “daddy issues” don’t run as deep here as in the “straight” horrors, but it’s a testimony to Matheson that he managed to work them into a farcical tale with an admirable attention to detail.