The Walking Dead movie released in 1936 starring Boris Karloff
By Renee Hansen
Fans of The Walking Dead series are wholly dedicated to the series, its spinoffs, and the characters introduced throughout the 11 seasons. Generally, most fans of TWD enjoy other zombie and apocalyptic series as well. Many fans may not know that there was a movie titled The Walking Dead that came quite some time before the AMC apocalyptic series.
In 1936, a horror film was directed by Hungarian-American Michael Curtiz, a pioneer during the Golden Age of cinema, who would later win the Academy Award for Best Director for Casablanca. The movie Warner Brothers distributed was titled The Walking Dead, and it follows the story of a down-on-his-luck ex-con and pianist, John Ellman, who was executed and brought back to life by a scientist.
The Walking Dead 1936
The cast for this movie was outstanding, including Boris Karloff as John, who ironically played Frankenstein’s monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein. Other notable actors include Ricardo Cortez, who often portrayed Latin Lover-styled characters in the silent film era portrayed Mr. Nolan.
Edmund Gunn would play Dr. Evan Beaumont, who is well known for his role in the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street as Kris Kringle. Marguerite Churchill, known as John Wayne’s first leading lady in The Big Trail 1930), played Nancy in The Walking Dead movie.
Other actors included Warren Hull, Barton MacLane, Henry O’Neill, Joe King, and Addison Richards.
The Walking Dead would begin filming on November 23, 1935, this was Karloff’s 48th birthday. The film premiered on Feb. 29, 1936, with one reviewer for Variety stating in an article published on March 4, 1936, “The director and the supporting cast try hard to give some semblance of credibility to the trite and pseudo-scientific vaporings of the writers, but the best they can produce is something that moves swiftly enough but contains little of sustained interest.”
The movie only has a 57% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but Letterboxd has some favorable reviews, many praising Karloff’s acting skills. Check it out if you are a fan of classic horror.
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