Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Zucco, with his British accent, was usually a heavy -- a mad scientist or Professor Moriarty. Here, he's a man more or less of probity, although he has a secret past involving cheating his partner and seeing that the partner is convicted and sent up for the embezzlement. Now, however, Zucco runs a legitimate boarding house near the Canadian border.During a terrific thunderstorm that drenches the plastic studio greenery, all the bridges to Canada are washed away and a number of guests pile up at Zucco's Black Raven Inn, mostly escapees from the states. They're a diverse lot.First to show up is Zucco's ex partner, recently escaped from the slams and now ready to take violent revenge on Zucco. Next, a mousy clerk, Bryan Foulger, who has several thousand dollars he stole from the bank where he worked as a teller. A sneering gangster wanted for murder shows up and demands that Zucco arrange his transport across the border. Then an innocent young couple who have just eloped and are headed towards another country where they will be free of the interference of the girl's rich and nasty father. The rich and nasty father shows up last and makes a great pain of himself because, by coincidence, he owns the bank that Foulger, the timid teller, has fleeced and now he wants the money back.The angry, domineering bank owner is the first to go, by unknown hands. The movie's pace is so fast that his daughter isn't given any chance to grieve. Nobody else is particularly upset either. Everyone seems to have a motive to bash him in the head. A determined sheriff, who seems to have the IQ of a parsnip, shows up and recklessly blames the young would-be groom. But another murder takes place, and then another.It's nice to see George Zucco as a reasonable and half-way decent man, miscreant though he may be. But he puts little into the role. He's wooden, machine processed. The others -- all of them -- act like actors being paid to act in a low-budget B movie produced by PRC studios, which is not MGM. I kept thinking of what someone like James Mason would have done with the role.The young girl is Wanda McKay who had been a model and never did develop much of a movie career, probably because she changed her birth name, Quackenbush, which would have been memorable. She's cute as hell though. The groom's haste in getting her across the border is understandable.And the atmosphere is appealing -- a windy downpour beating against the windows and everyone trapped inside the inn. The set dresser, alas, didn't exert himself. The interior of the inn itself isn't very spooky and apart from one or two conspicuous shadows, the lighting is flat and uninspired.Watch it when you can't sleep and are too dopey to care.

A group of strangers are brought together in an old, dark house and must contend with two murders and $50,000 in stolen money.These dark, moody, creepy mysterious movies apparently were the rage back in the early 40s. There are tons of them. Even Abbott & Costello made a couple!This one is no exception. Lots of shadowy things going on. These types of films may have originated from some English live theatre that are still popular to this day in London. Unsure. Even WC Fields has a line in a movie where he turns a picture into a "drawing room drama!" It's a very watchable movie.The down side is that available prints are not so pristine. You can actually see the celluloid warping while you watch!

This is a cheap B-movie made by a very small studio, PRC. It stars George Zucco--the King of low-budget suspense and horror films of the 1940s. While most every film he starred in for PRC and other poverty row studios were terribly written and had cheap sets and actors, he managed good performances. Plus, while often silly, these films really were a lot of fun."Black Raven" is one of his PRC films and once again his performance was pretty good. Apparently old George is a criminal known to the forces of the underworld as "The Raven". You'd think with such a cool name he'd be sort of like Blofeld or Dr. Evil, but this is a kinder, gentler sort of villain (to paraphrase George W.). While a crook, he's a decent sort of crook--with a strong sense of justice.The weather is awful and bridges have washed away, so several travelers seek refuge George's inn (his legitimate cover). Some of them are crooks themselves (such as an embezzler who just happens to come there on his way across the border to Canada), a couple are running off to Canada to marry because her father is a jerk who won't give consent and, finally, the father arrives. Now talk about a coincidence--this father ALSO happens to be a judge AND George (among others) hates the guy. Eventually, there is a murder and the nice man who is running away with the lady is accused. Here's where it gets odd. The Raven KNOWS that the man is innocent and decides to try to help! Like I said, he's a kindler, gentler sort of crook! Overall, this is a very good film despite its poor pedigree. The plot is tight, the acting (in addition to Zucco) is very nice and it's a surprisingly good B-movie. Well worth seeing--even with a very unusual characterization by the Zucc-Meister!

Many people have found that most DVD editions of "The Black Raven" to be too dark in places and of overall poor quality. I've found a nice, bright restored version of it on a triple feature DVD called Black & Blue Collection which is available through the Roan Group.com. It's compiled with "Black Dragons" and the most perfect copy of "Bluebeard" that I've ever seen (other DVD's of "Bluebeard" on the market are too grainy, edited or have bad sound). Anyway, "The Black Raven" focuses on a group of people who are trying to get over the Canadian border for different reasons but are forced by a rainstorm and washed-out bridges to spend the night at the shadowy Black Raven Inn. The film has plenty of old dark house atmosphere plus the effective relentless howling of the wind and the pounding of the rain. George Zucco and Wanda McKay give good performances in this intriguing murder mystery. Enjoy it in its most perfect DVD edition. It really makes a difference!