The Black Raven [DVD] [1943]

The Black Raven is one of a trio of PRC horror-melodramas starring George Zucco. The title refers to a remote country inn, presided over by the sinister Mr. Bradford (Zucco). During a dark and stormy night, the Black Raven becomes the gathering place for an escaped convict (I. Standford Jolley) with a personal vendetta against Bradford, a bank clerk (Byron Foulger) who has embezzled $50,000, and a couple of young elopers (Wanda McKay, Bob Randall). Before the night is over, greed and murder rear their ugly heads. Comedy relief is provided by Charles "Ming the Merciless" Middleton as a county sheriff and Glenn "Frankenstein" Strange as a lumbering lummox.~Hal Erickson