Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932 film) from December 10, 1931 to December 19, 1931. It was filmed in a studio at Universal Studios in California. Its budget was approximately $190,000. Before the film's production, the director, Robert Florey, and lead actor Bela Lugosi, were set to adapt a film version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. However, with the arrival of young director James Whale, Florey was involuntarily removed from the project. As compensation, Florey was assigned to Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue instead, along with Bela Lugosi, who was originally cast as the Creature. In production, according to the history provided by the American Film Institute,
The Murders in the Rue Morgue brought it back to Paris, but had trouble keeping it under control. When he saw the orangutan attempting to shave its face with his straight razor, imitating his morning grooming, it fled into the streets and reached the Rue Morgue, where it climbed up and into the house. The orangutan seized the mother by the hair and was waving the razor, imitating a barber; when she screamed in fear, it flew into a rage, ripped her hair out, slashed her throat, and strangled the daughter. The sailor climbed up the lightning rod in an attempt to catch the animal, and