Phantom of the Rue Morgue Phantom of the Rue Morgue Phantom of the Rue Morgue is a 1954 feature film directed by Roy Del Ruth (known for directing "The Terror") and starring Karl Malden and Claude Dauphin. The film is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". Warner Bros. released 3D productions during the 1950s, including the big-budget "The Charge at Feather River" (1953). Following another western, "The Moonlighter" (1953), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, the studio attempted to repeat the success they had with "House of Wax" the previous year. This movie was based on the
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971 film) hired to direct the film. Hessler says he felt the story was so familiar it needed to be changed, so he and writer Christopher Wicking decided to do it as a play-within-a-play, with a mystery happening around a theatre that was putting on a production of "Murder in the Rue Morgue". The new storyline owned a lot to "Phantom of the Opera". Hessler said Vincent Price "was very upset that he wasn't in" the film "but I had nothing to with that." He thought Price was having contractual fights with AIP at the time. Hessler says AIP hired Jason Robard