Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
Strangler of the Swamp
(Image) DVD
Generally regarded as the bottom rung of
independent studio production, Producers
Releasing Corporation (PRC) occasionally sired
such unforgettable offerings as Edgar Ulmer’s
Bluebeard (1944) and 1946’s eerie, stylish
Strangler of the Swamp. A 58-minute
programmer, Strangler provided writer/director
Frank Wisbar (1899-1967) with the opportunity
to recreate Fährmann Maria (“Ferryboat Pilot
Maria,” 1934), a romantic fantasy he made in
Germany before emigrating to America in 1939.
Unlike more successful refugees such as Robert
Siodmak and Fritz Lang, Wisbar returned to
filmmaking in Germany after World War II.
A nameless, fog-shrouded hamlet is haunted
by the wrathful ghost of ferryman Douglas,
hanged for a murder he didn’t commit.
Joseph, who testified against him, has taken
the coveted position as ferryman, only to meet
a violent end. Joseph’s granddaughter Maria
(Rosemary La Planche) returns to the village
and inherits the job, which now even the
village idiot won’t take. When Maria falls in
love with Christian Sanders (23 year-old Blake
Edwards), son of the village elder who helped
railroad Douglas, the spectral Strangler sets
his sights on the young Sanders. As in F.W.
Murnau’s Nosferatu and Fritz Lang’s
Der Müde Tod (Destiny, 1921), deliverance		Music Review Index
can only be achieved through sacrifice.
The use of a dark, otherworldly setting to
embody the villagers’ guilt and despair
reflects Wisbar’s background in German		Twisted Cinema
Expressionism. In Wisbar’s hands, the studio-
created swamp becomes a lightless, Stygian
realm; even the daylight scenes are steeped in
forlorn shades of twilight. Glass paintings
and artful framing of foreground elements
create a deep-focus look unique in the
PRC canon.
Strangler of the Swamp breaks with Hollywood
convention by presenting a resourceful female
protagonist who rescues the male lead from
peril. A former Miss America, Rosemary
LaPlanche radiates confidence and
capability as ferrywoman Maria. (Wisbar
employed her again in the unremarkable
Devil Bat’s Daughter.) Future director
Blake Edwards essays a bland, affable
characterization in the mode of Cat People’s
Kent Smith, whom he resembled at the time.
Charles Middleton (Ming the Merciless in
Universal’s Flash Gordon serials)
projects a glowering, if corporeal,
presence as the Strangler.
The full-frame transfer unmasks image area
cropped in the ‘80s Sony VHS, and a lost
scene involving Chris and Maria’s first
meeting has been restored. While reasonably
free of scratches, the print is soft, with
some shots severely out of focus. Sprocket
hole tears occasionally causes the picture to
jerk, and the soundtrack suffers from
motorboating and speed variations. The
absence of supplementary features is
unfortunate, as little has been written about
the film or its director.
published in Scarlet Street #36, Jan. 2000