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 Masque of the Red Death (1964 film) Red Death" back, because of the similarities, but it was really an artificial reason in my mind," he later said. Eventually he decided to go ahead and do it anyway. Another fact in the delay was that Corman had a great deal of trouble coming up with a screenplay he was happy with. Drafts were written by John Carter, Robert Towne and Barboura Morris, but Corman was not happy with any of them. There were also a number of rival adaptations of "Masque" being mooted around this time. The Woolner Brothers announced a film based on the story as did