THE OLD DARK HOUSE (James Whale, 1932)

Act I: They said they were on their way to Shrewsbury. It was a young couple the….eh….the Wavertons and that upstart veteran Pendton…Pen….Penderel! I didn’t like the looks of ‘em, but did Horace listen to me? NO! The old scaredy cat accepted the story of being stuck in the storm and needing a place to stay, even after I made it quite clear they could not possibly stay!

Plot Point 1: The young people demanded our hospitality since there was a landslide got in their way. Just like young people, always wanting, wanting! They have no respect for God or the religious. I told them no beds! “No beds I say!” but they wouldn’t listen, only kept insisting they had no where else to go. The landslides irreversibly ended their travel for the time being.

Act II: I told that beautiful young woman, sinful she was, of my sister Rachel. How she fell from the horse and died…all because of her wild ways. Silly young woman, offer herself up as an appetizer to Morgan she did in that dress. Full of sin and laughter just like the women who filled this house because of my brothers and father, godless all of ‘em. I left her to help prepare for supper and endure Horace’s blasphemy. Let him blaspheme! He will rot in Hell same as Rachel!

New people showed up! I told Horace they could not come in, but our guests and Horace insisted. Who should it be but more young people! A British knight by the name of Porterhouse and a young, half-shoed floozy named Gladys. The young slacker and the brunette trollop fancied each other right away. The fat British sir actually wanted to sing at my table! Disgusting lout he was.

Midpoint: I’m sure their disdainful behavior was what turned Morgan to the bottle! Drunk because one of the guests, or that coward Horace, gave it to him. First the storm and now Morgan! God must be displeased with us (big revelation that is).

Act II (cont.): Horace should have been the one to get the lamp. He let the guests in and therefore it was his fault Morgan was drunk. The frightened little man couldn’t bear to be anywhere near… he could not go upstairs if his life depended on it to retrieve that lamp. I knew he was too scared.

Mrs. Waverton deserved everything she got tempting Morgan that way, wearing the revealing creation of silk as if it wasn’t to lure men to lust and corruption. Wicked thing she was! Didn’t even shut the window she opened. Expects to be waited on hands and knees she does! She and her husband were what angered Morgan. That’s what nearly ruined us all.

Plot Point 2: Morgan released Saul because he was angry. I told him to take him back! Dumb man! He knows to obey me, but he was too drunk, angry, and lustful. Problems seem to abound with these strangers. Their fault! Their fault it all is!

Climax: Saul tried to kill Penderel and we thought he had succeeded. Both bodies laid strewn, broken on the floor. The strumpet Gladys found out Penderel was still alive. Not for Saul though, Morgan carried his dead body off. Pfft! My brother was all evil, but so was that pagan Penderel.

The three act structure throughout The Old Dark House is made apparent by typical act-setup and easy to recognize plot points. Act One opens with the image a car driving down a muddy portion of road on a very stormy night. We are introduced to the characters in the car: Phillip and Margaret Waverton and Roger Penderel. The couple bickers over whether to stop for the night or to continue on through the storm. All the while, Penderel is in the backseat making remarks that show his indifference to the whole situation. The mood for the film is set up during exposition scene with its wet, dirty, dark, and stormy images; which leads the viewer directly into Plot Point #1.

A mudslide soon stops the three person procession from further progress down the muddy road, and it is decided that they should ask to stay the night and the old creepy house nearby. The Wavertons and Penderel go to the door of the house and are invited in, thus marking Plot Point #1, irreversibly changing their lives. Of course they do not realize this yet, but it is made apparent with the introduction of some shady characters throughout Act Two.

A series of mini-crises or events occur throughout the second act, with the introduction of the drunken servant Morgan, the creepy brother-and-sisters Horace and Rebecca, and their grandfather, Sir Roderick; as well as the not so menacing Gladys and William Porterhouse. The characters go through simple ordeals such as having to go upstairs in order to get the electric lights turned back on, or the ongoing affair between Penderel and Gladys; to much larger ones, like the one that occurs at the midpoint of the film, the fight with the drunken Morgan. All of these crises lead up to the revealing of a greater evil, Saul.

So bad that he had to be locked away, Saul’s entry into the film marks Plot Point #2. When we finally meet Saul, we find out that he has been locked away for a reason; he is a twisted demonic old creep. Saul immediately begins to cause trouble after his emergence, attempted murder of Penderel, attempted arson of the house--all leading to the intense final battle between himself and Penderel that goes on through Act Three. The fight ends with both of them falling from the second story stairs; they are both injured and lay lifelessly. Saul is taken back to his room and locked up while Penderel remains with his love interest, Gladys. The dénouement of the film is then put into play as dawn approaches and the sun appears; Penderel awakes. He then asks for Gladys’s hand in marriage, and the movie closes with a kiss.

The Old Dark House epitomizes a classic horror film with a dash of romance, and with a classic plot setup. The first Plot Point occurs shortly after the arrival of the Femms’ inadvertent guests. Philip Waverton, explaining why they have begged asylum, tells Horace “You see, there's a landslide. Half the mountain seems to be crumbling…The road's blocked behind us and I'm pretty sure it's blocked in front as well,” to which Horace responds, “The lake has burst its banks. We're trapped. We're trapped.” This transforms the party’s situation from simply waiting out a storm to being trapped in a house with its eccentric residents. Their situation is changed irrevocably, marking plot point one and the conclusion of Act One. The movie thus ends its exposition and begins the confrontation of the conflict.

The Second Act concludes upon the occurrence of Plot Point #2, when Saul’s hand first appears on the banister. The audience no longer need doubt the release of an insane pyro, for they can see for themselves what is to come. The confrontation has reached its peak, and Saul’s appearance demonstrates that each character’s actions thus far to secure themselves from danger are proven to have been in vain.
Penderel has no choice but to resolve the conflict that lies in Saul’s release, marking Act Three. Penderel attempts in vain to control Saul, leading to the plot’s climax. With each passing minute, the tension multiplies. During Penderel and Saul’s discourse, Saul exclaims “I am a clever man also. That is why we understand each other. That is why you understood so quickly that I wanted to kill you,” thus revealing that a physical confrontation is on the horizon, and preparing for the climax--the fight between the men, which culminates in the two men falling from the second story landing. Their conflict seemingly sends them, and the audience, over the edge, thus marking the plot’s climax and Plot Point #3.

After the climax, and after Penderel is discovered to be alive, the denouement startles the audience back into what can be perceived as normalcy, as the guests prepare to depart. The scene fades in with a scene of the next morning. The only suggestion that anything bad occurred is Penderel’s bandaged head and Horace’s statement that they should be able to get an ambulance. In the ultimate mark of denouement, Penderel turns to Gladys and asks “Will you marry me?” This allows the audience to know that the danger and conflict has dissolved entirely, but be treated to a happy ending, thus concluding Act Three and the movie.

From dramatic conflict to light humor, The Old Dark House’s plot proves to be an excellent example of plot exposition, confrontation, and resolution, with corresponding plot points for the observant viewer to find, analyze, and revel in Hollywood's cinematic conventionality.

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Last update: 8/27/2004