Boris Karloff

After the release of 1932's "The Mummy," Boris Karloff discovered that Universal refused to deliver on the promised raise in his contract salary, so he returned to Britain for the first time in 24 years to shoot "The Ghoul," then accepted offers to do "The Lost Patrol" for director John Ford, and "The House of Rothschild," opposite stage and screen legend George Arliss, both completed in late 1933. Co-starring roles in such prestige productions gave the actor more leverage in future contract talks with Universal, who wanted him to star with rival Bela Lugosi in Edgar G. Ulmer's "The Black Cat," but he remained understandably reluctant. Who knows what path his career might have taken had he turned down further terror roles? It was the opportunity to portray the most evil character of his career, plus the luxurious wardrobe he would wear, that allowed him to accept the challenge of continuing in the horror vein, with a higher degree of acceptance in Hollywood than Lugosi, who basically worked on a freelance basis, except when Universal wanted him for a Karloff picture. In "The House of Rothschild," Karloff is permitted to portray a truly despicable character, the anti-Semitic Count Ledrantz, and works for the first time with fellow cricket enthusiast C. Aubrey Smith. Sibling film producers Richard and Alex Gordon were young boys living in England at the time of this film's release, unable to attend screenings of "Frankenstein" and other Universal terrors, but were grateful to see their idol Boris Karloff in this film, and would go on to act as agents for both Karloff and Lugosi years later in Hollywood and Britain.