Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Named after the infamous folktale character, a “Bluebeard” refers to any man who has a succession of wives, murdering each in turn. For example, Gaston Morrell, well-known and respected puppeteer in 19th century France and main character of the 1944 movie starring John Carradine. In it, murdered women have been turning up in the river with some regularity--enough for the police to post a notice warning the young women of the town about the Bluebeard on the loose. Assuming safety in numbers, one night a trio of women decide to walk together to wherever they’re going and end up bumping into Gaston who, taken with one of them, Lucille (Jean Parker), promises to put on a show the next night. Afterward, Gaston learns Lucille is a costume designer and they begin a working relationship, she designing costumes for his puppets, and he not painting her--because if he paints her, he’ll have to kill her.
Gaston Morrell, it’s no secret to the audience, is the Bluebeard the authorities have been warning the public about. He has a habit of finding attractive women and basing some of his puppets on their likeness. But first, for reference, he paints their portraits. Gaston is, at heart, a painter, but for reasons not revealed until the end, chooses puppetry over his real passion. Maybe it’s because every woman he paints ends up dead in the river. He is then forced to use his landlord as a go-between, selling his paintings as far outside the city as he can, always anonymously, and never to anyone who might connect the portraits with one of the victims. Until, at the promise of a large commission, the landlord, Lamarte, sells one of them to a Count known for displaying his art collection. The model is recognized as one of Bluebeard’s victims and the police begin a hunt for the identity of the artist.
Gaston, in love with Lucille, gives up painting in an attempt to keep whatever demons are in him at bay and start a new life with her. But Lamarte is contacted by an undercover police officer and promised an even larger commission if he can hire this anonymous painter. Hoping to make enough money to start that new life with Lucille, Gaston takes every precaution he can to insure this painting is only that, that the model survives, and that his identity is kept hidden. Until he gets to the location and discovers the model is Lucille’s sister, Francine, and that she, working undercover, now knows who Gaston really is.
Overall, I didn’t mind this movie. 64 years after its debut, the plot is nothing new, and I can’t honestly say it was anything all that original in the 40s, either. But then, the complicated love story--which is really all this movie is--is truly one of the oldest plots around.
Carradine gave a decent performance (IMDB claims it was his own personal favorite) as the tortured soul with the wounded spirit, the lovelorn with the checkered past who only wants to move forward with his paramour. Jean Parker was a bit square, but I attributed that mostly to this being a period piece when everything was a bit too formal and God forbid anyone leave the house in anything less than 5 layers.
Director Edgar G. Ulmer took the easy out when it came to violence by keeping everything off screen. When Lamarte (who knows all about Gaston’s history) attacks the undercover officer with Francine, we see Lamarte swing a candlestick at some object off camera, then we cut to the cop’s face in close-up reacting to the blow, but we never actually SEE it. Nor do we SEE Gaston choking any of his victims. In fact, if BLUEBEARD were court evidence, Gaston would be a free man.
Another con, in my opinion, was the score. Music was by Leo Erdody (Oscar-nominated for MINSTREL MAN) and during the first half of the movie, the score basically overpowered the movie. It was non-stop and in places so loud and conspicuous I couldn’t make out what the characters were saying.
I don’t know if I would go so far as to call BLUEBEARD a “classic” of the genre. It’s obviously not original, nor can I see where much, if any of it, has survived into this century as an influence on other stories. It was good, but nothing I feel the need to praise above and beyond any others. It simply is. I’m not even sure it qualifies as true horror as much as it does crime drama. BLUEBEARD would make a better LAW AND ORDER episode than it would an X-FILE. Decent enough but nothing to make a big deal over.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.