The Last Warning

Adapted from the 1922 Broadway play of the same name and based on the story ‘House of Fear’ by Wadsworth Camp, THE LAST WARNING was director Paul Leni’s final film and – to a certain extend – a follow-up to his hugely successful silent mystery ‘The Cat and the Canary’ which was released the previous year. Both films feature 1920s movie star Laura LaPlante as the ‘damsel in distress’…

THE LAST WARNING starts with a jazzy soundtrack (courtesy of Joseph Cherniavsky) and scenes of a frantic Broadway along which neon-signs and billboards lure prospective punters to come and see their shows. One such venue is the (fictional) Woodford Theatre (in fact it is a recycled set from Universal Studios’ 1925 smash The Phantom of the Opera) where a production titled ‘The Snare’ is about to be performed. The first act isn’t over when one of the actors, John Woodford (who also is in charge of the theatre) dies on stage upon touching a candlestick placed on a mantelpiece behind him… yes, it’s curtains and an inquisitive Inspector (Fred Kelsey) quickly establishes that one of the reasons for Woodford’s tragic demise could have been a possible love triangle between the now dead actor, celebrated leading lady Doris Terry (Laura LaPlante) and fellow actor Richard Quayle (John Boles) – a dashing looking and considerably younger man than Woodford. In fact, endless bouquets of flowers with notes attached leave little doubt that Doris has many male admirers. As the interrogation continues the Inspector grills the remaining cast, including stagehands Tommy (Slim Summerville) and Sammy (Bud Phelps) – an almost comical duo seeing how Tommy is on the tall and lanky side and Sammy is the short one. Then there’s rather nervous Gene (Torben Meyer) and ageing actress Barbara Morgan (Carrie Daumery) who never misses an opportunity to pull exaggerated expressions of surprise, shock, horror, fear…and variations thereof. Miss Barbara (obviously a spinster) swears that she could smell chloroform when Woodward collapsed on stage – something that Doris had noticed as well. Yes, all the coroner (Harry Northrup) has to do is call for an autopsy to establish the exact cause of Woodward’s death but guess what: the body vanishes without a trace – prompting all sorts of supernatural rumours and the closure of the theatre.

Five years have passed and new owner Arthur McHugh (Montagu Love) is adamant to solve the mystery surrounding Woodward’s death by re-staging ‘The Snare’ with the remaining cast re-appearing. Producer/stage manager Mike Brody (Bert Roach) is appointed to convince Doris, Richard, Barbara and our aforementioned stagehands that rehearsals in the abandoned theatre are safe. Also on board is new actor Harvey Carleton (Roy D’Arcy) who will take on the part that Woodford originally played. It goes without saying that rehearsals don’t go according to plan: Brody receives a telegram warning him to drop the play (signed by Woodford’s ‘ghost’) while McHugh receives a visit from the ghost. Then Doris has her purse stolen from her dressing room and a small bottle of chloroform is discovered wrapped in one of her handkerchiefs while poor Barbara doesn’t only see cobwebs and creepy crawlies but ghosts wherever she goes and wherever she looks… Meanwhile, Tommy and Sammy are plagued by weird goings-on what with light switches seemingly having a mind of their own…
Despite the last warning on the mysterious note and much newspaper publicity, Brody and McHugh plan the grand re-opening of ‘The Snare’ – with additional police officers on stand-by to ensure the opening night fares smoothly - of course it does not and the film’s final 15 minutes reveal as many twists and turns as the venues’ secret passages…

Despite some mixed reviews upon the films’ initial theatrical release (main criticism had to do with the part-integration of sound effects in a silent film) THE LAST WARNING is an entertaining and creepy whodunit-mystery competently performed by actors who clearly knew their craft though it should be pointed out that despite receiving top-billing, Laura LaPlante here has considerably less scenes than in The Cat and the Canary. On the plus side, THE LAST WARNING is considerably pacier!
The Last Warning was Paul Leni’s last film – the respected German director who gave us masterpieces like the 1928 costume drama The Man Who Laughs (starring Conrad Veidt in the title role) died in 1929 from blood poisoning following a tooth infection. Once again, THE LAST WARNING was produced by Carl Laemmle who had also been responsible for The Phantom of the Opera and The Cat and the Canary.

THE LAST WARNING is presented in Blu-ray format and a brand-new 4K restoration – the first print run (2000 copies) will feature a Limited Edition O-card slipcase. Bonus material includes audio commentary, stills gallery, video essay by film historian John Soister and Collector’s Booklet.