Ealasaid's Lorre Library of Sound
The B-Wing: The Black Cat

The Black Cat is quite possibly the strangest film I have ever seen. As a horror film, it succeeds in that it resembles nothing so much as a long nightmare - full of general dread and moments of horror, dramatic lighting and overwrought dialogue. It makes very little sense taken as a whole, but is delightfully atmosphereic. Plus, of course, we get to see Bela Lugosi as the hero (Dr. Vitus Werdegast) for once. As an added bonus, Boris Karloff (as villain Hjalmar Poelzig) gets to be wonderfully smooth, quiet, and evil.

Oh, and Bela rips Boris' shirt off near the end.

• intrusion.wav - Vitus: "Do please forgive this intrusion" (21Kb)
• important.wav - Vitus: "It is not necessary to make it so important." (27 Kb)
• intro.wav - Vitus: "Oh, it's a very great pleasure. I am Dr. Vitus Werdigast." (50Kb)
• mayi.wav - Vitus: "May I?" (9Kb)
• indulgence.wav - Vitus: "I beg your indulgence, my friend." (26Kb)
• longtime.wav - Vitus: "It has been a long time, Hjalmar. The years have been kind to you." (85 Kb)
• laugh.wav - VItus: [laughs] (22 Kb)
• prisoner.wav - Vitus: "Those who died were fortunate. I was taken prisoner, to Kulgar, Kulgar where the soul is killed slowly. Fifteen years I've rotted in the darkness, waited. Not to kill you. To kill your soul, slowly." (380 Kb)
• whatmean.wav - Hjalmar: "Why, what do you mean?" (16 Kb)
• mad.wav - Hjalmar: "Vitus, you are mad." (33 Kb)
• atservice.wav - Hjalmar: "At your service, madam." (20 Kb)
• supernatural.wav - Vitus: "Supernatural, perhaps. Baloney, perhaps not. There are many things under the sun." (114 Kb)
• begpardon.wav - Hjalmar: "I beg your pardon." (12 Kb)
• death.wav - Vitus: "I can still sense death in the air." (23 Kb)
• melodramatic.wav - Hjalmar: "Of what use are all these melodramatic gestures?" (47 Kb)
• tomorrow.wav - Hjalmar: "Until tomorrow." (15 Kb)
• meaning.wav - Hjalmar: "You are the very core and meaning of my life. No one shall take you from me, not even Vitus." (113 Kb)
• intrusion.wav - Hjalmar: "You will forgive this intrusion." (23 Kb)
• spiritual.wav - Vitus: "Don't pretend, Hjalmar. There was nothing spiritual in your eyes when you looked at that girl." (61 Kb)
• toofar.wav - Vitus: "I hope you won't carry this too far, Hjalmar." (27 Kb)
• notafraid.wav - Vitus: "Child! I hope you're not afraid of me." (39 Kb)
• bebrave.wav - Vitus: "Dear child. Be brave, no matter how hopeless it all seems." (72 Kb)
• latin.wav - Hjalmar: "Cum gralosalis, fortis cadre, savre non potest. Humarum est terrare..." (127 Kb) [No, I haven't translated it yet.]
• latin2.wav - Hjalmar: "Lupus pirum mutat..." (425 Kb) [Long and lovely, if you're into Latin.]
• dotoyou.wav - Vitus: "Do you know what I am going to do to you now?" "No." "Did you ever see an animal skinned, Hjalmar? That is what I'm going to do to you now, tear the skin from your body, slowly. Bit by bit. (264 Kb)
• poorfool.wav - Vitus: "You poor fool." (21 Kb)
• goodgame.wav - Vitus: "It has been a good game." (19 Kb)