Obama Hollywood Connection

Black Friday (1940) Trailer

Black Friday is a great film starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff together in this crime drama from 1940. The most interesting thing about this movie is that for one SMALL scene, Bela is hypnotized by the famous hypnotist Manly P. Hall to play a scene where his character is stuck in a closet. The trailer shows more of Bela in the closet than the film does.

I had never heard about Bela being hypnotized until I saw this film. Apparently, according to the trailer, it was big news at the time. I wonder if being hypnotized to play a scene actually did harm to Bela's psyche. In 2009 it is known that Manly P. Hall worked for the CIA and the US gov't in top secret brainwashing experiments. I happen to think that hypnotizing someone is very dangerous and should only be used in certain circumstances.

This film is available on DVD in the Bela Lugosi collection which also includes The Raven, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Black Cat and The Invisible Ray. Some of Bela's and Boris's best horror films are included in this collection. It should of been called The Bela and Boris collection since they star together in 4 of the 5 films in the set. I highly recommend it for any fans of old horror and classic film in general.