1935 Movie: Litany of the Saints

The Story, Litany of the Saints, starts off with an old immigrant woman coming over to America. She is possessed by a demon but she is viewed as being insane and is instead put into a psych ward. When she dies, a nurse, Marion, is in the room with her and the demon passes from the old woman to the nurse. The nurse is the love interest of a man named James who was taken in by a priest when he was little. Realizing that she is possessed, the man has to use the help of his foster father into trying to save the girl and ridding the demon from further destruction. We chose to go with this plot due to the times. In the midst of the Depression, many people were trying to find a scapegoat. The easiest solution was the immigrants. Therefore, prejudice against immigrants rose. This prejudice is supported in the movie because it plays to people’s feelings. Portraying an immigrant as the good guy and an American as the possessed would not bode over well with audiences. Also, the emphasis on religion as a pure and righteous thing in the movie evolved from the resurgence of religion during the Great Depression. This message helps support the popular view of how religion is a good thing and should be supported. We chose a horror movie because many of the famous horror movies came out during the 1930s. For example, there were Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and many more. With these successes coming out around 1935, the possibility of our movie to succeed greatly increases.

We decided to go with Universal Studios because in the 1930s, it was known for its horror movies. Since we are going for a lower budget film, a smaller studio was a good fit. The sets that will be used will either be a harbor or done on an inside studio. This will allow for a more realistic feel to the movie because it will feel less like a production, like a musical, and more like real life. Also, the scale will be smaller since the topic of the film, demonic possession, is new to the film world and we do not know how it will be reciprocated by audiences and critics. Also, we will only have an American release due to the controversial subject and the anti-immigration undertones in the film.

James Whales will be the director of the film. He directed Frankenstein and The Invisible Man, two famous horror movies in the 1930s. He would be able to take a new approach to the horror of demonic possession yet in a way that he knows will appease audiences.

Helen Vinson will be playing Marion as the lead actress. She has worked for Universal and has a distinguished look to her. She fits the part as the strong female character that has an unfortunate situation. Una O’Connor will be the supporting actress as the old immigrant woman. An immigrant herself from Ireland, she fits the look and has also had experience in horror films such as Frankenstein.

David Joseph Manners will be the lead actor by playing James. He played Jonathon Harker in Dracula in 1931, a character that is very similar to our protagonist since both are trying to save the woman they love. The priest will be played by Boris Karloff as the supporting actor. He is one of the pinnacle actors in horror films by playing the infamous Frankenstein. Having him in the film will naturally draw fans. Our cinematographer is Arthur Edeson who was the cinematographer for Frankenstein. Having worked on a horror film, he will be able to bring a dark look on the movie. This will be portrayed through extensive lighting, mainly dark on the possessed and light on the religious figures, and odd shots on the possessed. This cinematography will make up for the smaller scale set by adding a sinister look to the film.

The Hays Code heavily influences our movie. Religion cannot be ridiculed, nor a religious figure, making our movie be very serious about the contents of exorcism and Catholicism. The priest cannot be a comical character and evil, the demon, has to be portrayed as evil, not good. There will be no taking the Lord’s name in vain and no images too scary or disturbing. We will be shooting in black and white to give a classic, yet ominous, feel to the movie.

If I were to have sole control over the movie, I would have made the movie further away from horror and more a mainstream, blockbuster film.