Sci-fi before World War II

Before the Second World War ushered in the atomic age, and all the attendant nuclear angst, science fiction films found many other things to feel angsty about. There was less of rocket and aliens -- although there were some of those too -- but more of the mad scientist trope. There were dystopic visions of the future, but amusing ones too. Electricity, rather than atomic radiation, was the genie in the bottle that could do all manner of wonders (and horrors).

Below, is a collection of pre-WWII films already reviewed on this blog. There are more to add, but this is a good start.  The sci-fi films of the 40s will come under a separate post. Enjoy!

Edison's Frankenstein -- This 1910 silent film was the first film made of Shelley's story. It was a loose adaptation, geared for a fixed camera. The film was "lost" for a long time.

Homunculus -- Originally, a six part German film about an artificial human, tormented by his lack of understanding what true love is. While not a direct spin-off of the Frankenstein genre, it is definitely in the family.

Aelita: Queen of Mars -- an obscure 1924 Soviet film about a Russian engineer shortly after the revolution, who creates a ship to travel to Mars. There, he finds a monarchy which oppresses its workers. They spark a proletariat revolution on Mars. The sets and costumes for "Mars" are dramatically Constructivist.

Metropolis -- Fritz Lang's 1927 epic about the world of the future in which the elite's party in penthouse gardens while the workers toil in a grim underworld. The sets, lighting and directing are good examples of the German Expressionist style.

Just Imagine -- 1930 looks into the magical future year of 1980. People have numbers instead of names and everyone has a personal airplane. This is an upbeat, Hollywood, view of the future.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -- Paramount's 1931 adaptation of Robert Lewis Stevenson's dark tale is a classic. It became the inspiration for many other sci-fi films with its exploration of the good and evil within mankind.

Frankenstein -- James Whale's 1931 adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel became a cultural icon. The film itself spawned several sequels and numerous (usually cheap) spin-offs and copies. The undercurrent theme of science-gone-wrong would thrive in the atomic age too.

F.P.1 Doesn't Answer -- Originally a German film of 1932, remade with an English-speaking cast. It is the tale of a mid-Atlantic floating landing strip to facilitate transatlantic flights. However, sinister forces do not want to see the project succeed. Sabotage and treachery await.

The Invisible Man -- 1933 screen adaptation of H.G.Wells' novel. Yet another pre-atomic variation on the dangers of science in the hands of fault-prone human beings.

The Vanishing Shadow -- A Universal serial, running in 1934 that feature's a scientist's invisibility machine as the primary sci-fi gimmick. The heroes use it to thwart crime. But, look for ray guns and a robot too!

The Transatlantic Tunnel -- A 1935 remake (in English) of a 1933 German film (Der Tunnel) which tells of the ambitious project to dig a tunnel to link England and America. The sci-fi element -- a "Radium Drill" gets little screen time compared to a convoluted love triangle and sinister "Syndicate" dealings.

Bride of Frankenstein -- Universal's 1935 sequel to James' Whale's classic. The monster insists that the doctor create a mate for him. The reluctant doctor agrees. This is a rare case of a sequel rivaling the original for classic-ness.

Things To Come -- 1936 British film tracing the history of "Everytown" (London) from the 1930s to 2061. Based on HG Wells book, "The Shape of Things to Come," but actually better than the book. Traces the destruction of old world civilization by a devastating World War and the rebirth of a new world order -- and the launch of a moon mission!

The Man Who Lived Again -- One of four Columbia films (this one, 1936) starring Boris Karloff and dealing with attempts at immortality. In this case, the ability to transfer consciousness from one brain to another. A sinister love triangle goes wrong, killing the mad scientist, but reuniting the young lovers.

Bombs Over London -- A British spy thriller of 1937 ('39 for American release) in which a consortium of arms producers conspire to start a world war (for their profit) by the invention of robot airplanes. These are sent to bomb London and spark a war.

Fighting Devil Dogs -- A 1939 Republic serial about a group of Marines (the Devil Dogs) who try to stop the nefarious villain "The Lightning" and his many techno-gadgets. Lightning is a precursor to Darth Vader.

The Man They Could Not Hang -- The second of Columbia's Karloff-immortality films, this one of 1939. Karloff invents an artificial heart machine that can revive the dead. He uses it to thwart his one execution.

The Phantom Creeps -- Universal's remake of it's prior serial: The Vanishing Shadow. This time, Bela Lugosi is the sinister scientist who uses the invisibility belt for dark deeds.

The Son of Frankenstein -- 1939, and Universal's third in the series. This time the son of Dr. Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) thinks he can revive and fix the monster (played by Boris Karloff) and repair the family name. Watch for Bela Lugosi as "Ygor."

Buck Rogers -- serials ran the late 1930s, remade into a feature film in 1953.

The Flying Serpent

The success or failure of B movies produced by Poverty Row studios was not all that closely tracked. One sure sign of a B movie’s success was that it was copied. Producers Releasing Corporation’s 1940 Devil Bat, starring Bela Lugosi, must have been a hit (so far as B movies ever were “hits”) because PRC put out a copy of it in 1946 entitled The Flying Serpent (TFS). This was not a sequel, but a remake. Instead of Bela Lugosi, George Zucco plays the vengeful scientist. Instead of a ‘scientifically’ enlarged bat, there’s a mythical beast — the titular flying serpent. The remake had really no sci- to its -fi, but is included in this study as a follow-up to Devil Bat, a reader request, and a tangental connection to a later sci-fi B movie classic.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Professor Andrew Forbes (Zucco) was an archeologist studying some ancient Aztec ruins near San Juan, New Mexico. The ruins are handily named Azteca. He discovered a vast treasure, hidden there by the wily Montezuma, so the conquistadors would not find it. The treasure is guarded by a winged serpent beast (about the size of a large dog) which was said to be guarding the treasure. The beast is often referred to is Quetzalcoatl (Q, for short). Q is very jealous of it’s fine plumage and will kill anyone who has one of its feathers. Through back story, leaked out in dribs and drabs, viewers learn that Forbes discovered that fact when he gave his wife a feather he found, and the beast killed her. Forbes is angry that a local ornithologist published a story about Forbes’ work because it might bring treasure hunters. He leaves a feather, then opens the roof of the caged cave, releasing the beast. Q kills the man. A big city radio personality, with a fame for solving mysteries, decides to solve the case of the murdered ornithologist. Richard Thorpe and team arrive in San Juan. Forbes conspires to plant a feather on Thorpe, but the local Sheriff gets the feather and is killed. At a coroner’s inquest over the two deaths, the ornithologist Thorpe brought in is killed because he held the feather. Thorpe suspects Forbes and sets up a trap with a fake treasure hunter. Thorpe follows Forbes into the treasure chamber with Q and learns all. When Forbes’ lovely blonde step-daughter, Mary begins to suspect him of being behind the murders, Forbes takes Mary to the cave. Thorpe intervenes just in time to save Mary. Forbes runs outside holding a feather, so naturally, Q swoops down and kills Forbes. Thorpe shoots Q with his pocket .38, so the danger is gone. Thorpe and Mary profess marriage plans. Thorpe’s boss punches a coworker because he did not get a cut of the treasure. Fade to black, The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Seeing a remake of Devil Bat’s story line has some amusement. George Zucco delivers an excellently evil villain role. The matte art for Azteca is actually pretty well done for a Poverty Row film. The foreshadowing of some sci-fi yet-to-come is fun too.

Cultural Connection
TFS lies more in the “lite” horror genre than sci-fi, but in some ways, it foreshadows a couple of Golden Era sci-fi B movies. The “special effect” scenes of Q flying are prescient visuals for the flying rocket man (model) in 1949’s King of the Rocketmen and all the subsequent rocket man serials. The Q model and puppet themselves seem like a foretaste of the much-maligned, yet also much-loved space vulture in 1957’s The Giant Claw. TFS was the inspiration for 1980’s Q which borrowed the notion of a quezalcoatl who took up residence in the Chrysler building and went about killing people.

Notes
Compare and Contrast — John T. Neville was the screenwriter for Devil Bat, which was based on “an original story by” George Bricker. For TFS, Neville was both writer and screenwriter. He clearly took the first script and reworked it to make a “new” story. Neville kept many elements, but tweaked others. The most obvious is swapping electronically enlarged bats for a fanciful legendary beast. Handily, though, the new beast was about the same size as the enlarged bats. In TFS, the ‘scientist’ (now an archeologist) does not have to resort to sparky equipment to create a monster. Q simply exists. The villain scientist still plants markers on his victims, which the beast then kills. The hero is still a journalist, but in TFS he’s a radio personality instead of a newspaper reporter. Said journalist still has a comic-relief sidekick. “Jonesy” instead of “One Shot”. The evil scientist still has a beautiful blonde adult daughter, who for some bizarre reason is still not married yet. How handy. Of course, the journalist (also handily unattached) and the daughter find romance at the fade-to-black. In TDB, Lugosi parted ways with his victims uttering a solemn “Goodbye”. Neville kept one of of these lines in TFS when Forbes drops off Thorpe to look around the crime scene (with a feather), he says gravely, “Goodbye, Mr. Thorpe.” As in TDB, the villain is killed by his own creature. In TFS, it is a bit more contrived in that Forbes runs out of the cavern, always hanging onto the feather he plucked. Even when Q is swooping down to attack, he keeps holding the feather. At least in TDB, the sprayed-on aftershave was not so easily cast aside.

Automotive Anachronism — A slightly curious feature to TFS is that the cars used in the film were rather old for a 1946 film. Forbes drove a big ’39 Lincoln Zephyr. The Sheriff drove a ’39 Plymouth coupe. Even with the dormancy of war era automotive ‘advancement’, styles looked quite different by 1945 and ’46, such that the pre-war cars look noticeably older. Since they’re older, but in very good shape, one might wonder if TFS was actually filmed much sooner, but released later in 1946.

Pocket .38 — Like the hero journalist in TDB, the hero journalist in TFS apparently had a .38 snub nose revolver in his suit jacket pocket as standard male journalist fashion equipment. As in TDB, there is no foreshadowing like “I’d better take this along, just in case.” When the hero journalist sees the killer beast, he simply pulls out his gun and starts shooting — as if guns in pockets were quite routine. The hero is still a remarkably good shot with such a low-accuracy weapon. He can fire several stabbing shots from the hip and bring down a flying beast dozens of yards away.

Not Much Hope — The actress who plays Mary was Hope Kramer. Aside from her role in TFS, she played in one other film, a lesser role in I Was a Communist for the FBI (’51). Unquestionably pretty enough for films, Hope may not have had a wide enough range as an actress. The script in TFS did not give her a chance to do much beside look pretty, a bit naive and vulnerable. As such, viewers did not see much of Hope.

Bottom line? TFS is far from cinematic high art. There really is no science in the fiction. As a ‘horror’ film, there is little horror. It is a low-budget B film by a low-budget B studio. Watch it with that in mind and TFS can be entertaining — just not go-out-of-your-way entertaining.

The Invisible Man

Before exploring further, it seems like a good time to look back at a classic and some of its sequels. In 1933, Carl Laemmle jr.'s Universal Pictures further solidified their dominance of the sci-fi / horror market with this adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel. James Whale, who directed two of the Frankenstein films, directs The Invisible Man (TIM) with similar skill. Claude Rains stars as the "Invisible One" -- this being his big break into stardom, even though his real face is seen only briefly at the end. Universal would go on to make several sequels, though with other stars.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A man trudges along a snowy country road to the town of Iping. At the Lion's Head Inn, he orders a room. Everyone in the pub is silent at the man, his whole head bandaged. His brusque manner and odd appearance set the rumor mill in motion. Elsewhere, Flora frets to her father, Dr. Cranley, about her fiancee, Jack, who has disappeared for a month. An assistant of Cranley's, Dr. Kemp, makes overtures to Flora, but she's too distraught for wooing. Back at the inn, Jack is working on an antidote to his invisibility formula, but is regularly interrupted by the meddlesome Jenny. Jack throws her and her husband out. The call the constable. Jack flaunts his invisibility to the constable and crowd, causing a stir in the media. Kemp hears this on the radio, but Jack snuck in his room. Jack tries to enlist Kemp to be his partner for a "Reign of Terror." He has Kemp drive him back to Iping to retrieve his notebooks. While there, Jack kills a police chief conducting an inquest on the rumors of an invisible man. Kemp, fearful, plays along, but that night, calls Dr. Cranley, then the police. Flora tries to coax Jack into letting her father find a cure, but the arrival of the police set Jack to running again. He promises to kill Kemp at 10:00 tomorrow, as revenge. The police hatch a plan to catch Jack using Kemp as bait, but plan to sneak Kemp out of the police station disguised as a bobby. The plan fails, as the cordon is imperfectly kept. Kemp is dropped off at his house. He then drives away to the mountains, but invisible Jack is in his car. He chokes and ties up Kemp, then pushes him and his car off a cliff. On his way back from that mischief, Jack hides in the hay inside a farmer's barn to get some rest. Early in the morning, the farmer hears the hay snoring. He rushes to tell the police. As they arrive in force, a light snow falls. They light a fire on the barn to smoke out Jack. They can see his footprints in the snow as he rushes to the line of policemen. The chief inspector shoots where Jack's body must be. A body-shaped print appears in the snow. In the hospital, the doctor says there's no hope. Flora goes to have a few last words. Jack laments at meddling in things man shouldn't meddle with, then dies. He becomes visible again, in death. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Wells' story is great, Sherriff's screenplay does it justice. The special effects hold up reasonably well for their age. The pace is brisk and there is enough action that the screenplay does not devolve into talky scenes.

Cultural Connection
Universal launched another great story franchise (even if not as famous as their Frankenstein or Dracula series) Not only would Universal capitalize on the popularity of invisible people stories, others would create their own. The trope "had legs" enough to spawn remades and television seres, even into the 21st century.

Notes
Based on the Book -- H.G. Wells' novel was published in 1897. Unlike Shelley's Frankenstein, there were no movie versions until Universal produced this film in 1933. They had R.C. Sherriff adapt Wells' story into a screenplay. Hollywood being Hollywood, Sherriff added a lovely lady as love interest. (Wells seldom wrote in romantic "others") He adapted the Kemp character to be a would-be rival. Wells went into much more explanation about how the invisible formula worked, dwelling on indexes of refraction and such. Sherriff's version cited a fictional drug named Monocaine, said to drain all color from objects -- but also cause madness. Well's Griffin went mad with power-lust. Sherriff's version blamed drugs -- a functional enough subtext. All in all, though, Sherriff stayed fairly faithful to the original.

Cautionary Tale -- Like many (if not most) pre-Cold War films, the moral of the story is a cautionary tale on the dangers of science -- chemistry in this case. Kemp tells Flora that Jack was meddling in things man shouldn't meddle with. On his death bed, Jack confesses to Flora, ""I wanted to come back to you. I meddled in things that man must leave alone." Pre-war audiences were both excited by the advances of science, but still had a healthy concern over what might go wrong.

Cold War Prelude -- Wells' original and Sherriff's version make a good prelude to the nuclear problem to come after the war. Mere men, when given an enormous advantage (whether it be invisibility or nuclear bombs) tend to let the power go to their heads. What starts out as a boon for mankind, becomes a means to world domination.

Star Gazing -- Claude Rains stars in what was his big break in movies. This, even though it was primarily his voice that anyone experiences. It was for his voice that James Whale wanted Rains to have the role. Collin Clive (who played Dr. Frankenstein in Whale's 1931 film) was suggested for the role, but Whale preferred Rains' voice. Another notable star is Henry Travers. He plays the kindly Dr. Cranley. Travers played in many films, but his legacy is Clarence the misfit angel in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). From how he plays the role, Cranley could believably be what Clarence was in life. Una O'Conner plays the innkeeper's wife. She was cast as comic relief. Her annoying shriek-screams must have been more amusing in the 30s. To modern ears, they're just annoying. Watch for a brief scene with John Carridine, who would become a mainstay of 50s B-movies. He plays a cockney villager who calls the police with a plan to catch the invisible man by squirting ink around until you hit him with some. Carridine's role is uncredited, which is mostly what he had at that early stage in his career.

Bottom line? TIM is a must-see for movie buffs, even if sci-fi is not their favorite. This film is the ancestor of many and well worth the effort to find it and watch it.
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

There are two odd movies of the early 1970s which feature a two-headed man. Neither are especially serious films, but both are the spawn of a 1959 japanese-american film, The Manster. That film was serious and featured a two headed man-monster. Before looking at Manster, it will be valuable to look at a kindred source: Paramount's 1931 sci-fi/horror hybrid, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (DJMH). Just look at the poster (left). Jekyll and Hyde are portrayed as if a two headed man. The 1931 film dealt with the dual nature of man, good and evil. Manster would explore this same ground but with two heads, and finally, two separate beings -- one good, the other evil. The 70s films would pick up this polar-opposites trope with their two heads. Paramounts' 1931 film is often considered the best of many adaptations of Robert Lewis Stevenson's novel.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Jekyll delivers a lecture in which he posits the ability to separate the "bad" within a man's soul, from the "good," so that mankind might advance further. Some scoff. Jekyll works in a poor ward, which makes him late for dinner with his fiancee, Muriel and her father. They dance. He wants to move up their wedding date. Her father refuses. While Jekyll and his friend Dr. Lanyon walk, Jekyll interrupts a man abusing a woman. He carries her up to her flat. Ivy, a prostitute, sensing a sugar daddy, turns on the flirts. Later, in his lab, Jekyll works on a formula. He drinks it and after much convulsion, turns into the simian-like Hyde. He turns himself back into Jekyll. Muriel won't marry without her father's consent (and about to go on a long vacation). Frustrated (and a pot metaphorically boiling over in his lab), Jekyll decides to vent his demons as Hyde. He looks up Ivy, but she's not home. He finds her at the bar as a singer. He has her brought to his table. Thus begins his dominance of her. "You belong to me." Upon finding out that Muriel and her father return soon, Jekyll resumes his mild persona. Muriel persuades her father to let them marry in a month. Jekyll, happy at 'getting some' soon, has no more need for Hyde. He sends Ivy 50 pounds to compensate for his abuses as Hyde. Ivy shows up later, saying she can't accept the money because if Hyde found out, he'd kill her. Jekyll promises that Hyde is gone for good. But, Jekyll turns into Hyde without drinking the formula. Hyde goes to Ivy's flat and kills her for her insubordination. Once again as Jekyll, he decides, as a murderer, he cannot marry Muriel. He "sets her free." Many tears. Jekyll leaves, but turns into Hyde outside. He returns to ravage Muriel. Her father and butler fight him off, but Hyde beats the father to death with his cane. Lanyon tells the police who the killer is (Jekyll). A man hunt and chase ensues. Hyde eludes them and returns to Jekyll's lab. He mixes up the antidote and almost fools the police, but Lanyon knows the truth. Jekyll turns into Hyde before their eyes. After an indoor chase and fight, a policeman shoots Hyde dead. In death, he returns to Jekyll form. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Fredric Marsh gives an amazing performance as both Jekyll and Hyde. The pacing is great. The camera work is a joy to watch all by itself. Director Rouben Mamoulian uses so many camera effects that DJMH is almost always visually rich.

Cultural Connection
Stevenson's novel had been adapted into many stage plays before the advent of movies. Even those early plays deviated from the novel, adding the fiancee character, etc. The early silent film adaptations were themselves adaptations of the plays more than the book. Paramount's version in 1931 was yet another variation on the themes of the prior plays. MGM bought the rights to film and remade it in 1941 with Spencer Tracy. It lacked the power of Paramount's film. Many other variations and spin-offs would follow in the 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll is story with very long "legs."

Notes
Based on the Book -- Robert Lewis Stevenson's 1886 novel contained many of the same elements, but told in a different order. At the outset of the story, Hyde is already afoot. HIs connection to Jekyll comes known later. There was no fiancee or love interest. Those came from the Sullivan stage adaptation of 1887. Some elements persisted, such as Lanyon watching Hyde metamorphose and the paying reparations for Hyde's harm to a child (in the 1931 film, the 50 pounds to Ivy) and the beating death (with a cane, which breaks) of a man named Carew. The bar girl character was not in the book, but in the earlier movie versions.

Noble Man vs. Simian Savage -- The exaggeratedly "good" Jekyll did not change much from version to version -- the proper gentleman and charitable altruist. Hyde had always been the ugly, brutish "bad" counterpart. But in Mamoulian's 1931 version, he was given a decidedly ape-like appearance. This is an early example of the populist trope that pre-civilized man was an ape. The trope would underpin the two-headed man story, Manster ('62). Recall, too, the Governor's apologia to Caesar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes ('72), that inside every man there lurked his inner beast, an ape. The various ape-man movies of the 40s took up this trope.

Skin of Evil -- Early in the film, Jekyll posits in his lecture about the possibility of mankind separating his good from his evil and thereby freeing his "good" half from his "bad" so that he might attain great things. As an example of the long reach that Stevenson's novel has, consider the Star Trek (Next Generation) episode entitled, "Skin of Evil." A race of beings manages to do just as Jekyll theorized. They distilled out all their badness, then left it behind on their planet. The badness then coalesced into a single tar-like being named Armus -- a more sci-fi manifestation of Hyde.

Sexual Powder keg -- DJMH plays up the post-Victorians notion that "sexual repression" was the root of much evil. Jekyll acts almost frantic about having to wait even a few months for his marriage to Muriel -- as if desperately hot to trot. Marriage as, essentially, a "proper" venue for sex. When frustrated at the lack of quick fulfillment, Poole suggests that Jekyll "amuse himself" in London. (ahem) Jekyll meets Ivy, a hooker, who coyly tempts him with a private striptease while she gets ready for bed. He did not avert his eyes. Hyde quips that "proper" gentlemen are hypocrites. "who like your legs, but talk about your garters." Hyde boasts that he "is the very flower of a man." Hyde goes on to possess Ivy in an almost hostage sex-slave relationship. Much of his abuse is physical or verbal, but usually takes place on or around her bed. Rape is often suggested. DJMH portray's man as a sexual powder keg about to explode, as if a bit more free sex would make mankind better. (A few decades of the "free love" era have not show mankind improved. Perhaps a shortage of sex was not really our problem.)
Good Girl / Bad Girl -- A common morality trope is to have a "good" girl contrasted by a "bad" girl: Muriel is the good. Chaste, devoted, modest. Ivy is her opposite: a prostitute, manipulative and "easy." As per usual for the trope, Muriel suffers, but survives. Ivy suffers and is killed by the immorality she lived by.

Bottom line? DJMH is a classic that's not to be missed. There is a lot to like in this film. The camera work and directing are almost a parallel plane to enjoy. It is stronger on the horror half of the hybrid, but about the same as Frankenstein did. Watching DJMH is a good foundation for later good-and-evil duality movies to come.

Man Made Monster

Before leaving this digression through the "mad doctors" of the 1940s, it's worth going back a bit and taking a look at Universal's Man Made Monster (MMM). It was released in March 1941, just a month after the fourth of Columbia's Karloff "mad doctor" films. Universal Pictures wasn't going to cede the "mad doctor" market without a peep. After all, they built that market with Frankenstein. MMM was Lon Chaney Jr's first "horror" film with Universal. He would go on to greater fame as Universal's Wolfman, but he started here. The director, George Waggner would also direct The Wolfman. MMM is, at it's heart, a Frankenstein story. It co-stars Lionel Atwill, who also played in several of Universal's Frankenstein films.

Quick Plot Synopsis
On a dark and stormy night, a bus skids off the road, crashing into a high-voltage powerline. Everyone is electrocuted except for Dan McCormick. His job as Dynamo Dan in a carnival midway had somehow provided some immunity to electricity. Dr. Lawrence wants to study Dan to find out how that works, so Dan comes to Lawrence's mansion (complete with mega-high-voltage lab!) Dan is big lovable oaf of a man, who endears himself to Lawrence's niece June and their dog Corky. Lawrence's associate, Dr. Rigas (Atwill) has some theories about electricity as a life force. He begins secretly experimenting on Dan, giving him higher and higher voltages. Dan begins to change. He doesn't eat, but draws strength from the voltage. Lawrence walks in on Rigas giving extreme voltage. Dan glows and is under Rigas' power. Lawrence and Rigas argue ethics and supermen. When Lawrence tries to call the police, Rigas orders Dan to kill Lawrence. He does. Rigas orders him to repeat. "I killed him." Dan is arrested, deemed sane, and tried for murder. They try to execute him in the electric chair (naturally). Dan doesn't die, but absorbs three times the usual voltage. Now very strong, Dan breaks out of prison and is loose in the foggy woods. Each step drains off a bit of his power, so he steals a pair of rubber boots. He trudges to Lawrence's lab. Meanwhile, in that lab, Rigas has caught June looking for evidence to incriminate Rigas. He straps her to his tilting table and is about to zap her, when Dan bursts in. He electrocutes Rigas with a touch. Dan puts on the full-body rubber suit so he can carry the fainted June off to safety, back out into the foggy woods. (?) The police pursue, but only watch for fear of harming June. Dan puts her down when gets tangled in a barbed wire fence. The barbs cut through the rubber, grounding him. The electric life-force drains from his body. He falls down dead. Corky comes up and lays his head on dead Dan's chest. June's fiance, Mark (a reporter) thinks Rigas' notebook would make a Pulitzer story, but June thinks it would only create another Dan. Mark tosses it in the fire. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Seeing the basics of the Frankenstein story retold with variations has appeal to Frankenstein fans. Lon Chaney does a credible enough job as Lunk turned Monster. Atwill does a better job as the maniacal "mad doctor." The many sparky things that buzz and spark in the lab are SO Frankenstein that they're fun.

Cultural Connection
The Frankenstein formula had more audience appeal than Frankenstein franchise could satisfy. Universal tried a variation on the theme. They didn't think quite enough of the story to build in a sequel, though. Both the "monster" and the evil doctor die, and his notebook is destroyed. The trope of a scientifically-created invincible (or very powerful) man would show up many more times in the ranks of B-movies.

Notes
Pre-Nuclear Power -- Atomic radiation became the magic pixie dust of 50s sci-fi .It could do almost anything -- shrink something, grow something, give power, take power, make invisible, make liquid, etc. Before nuclear pixie-dust, there was electricity. In the 30s and 40s, electricity was the pixie-dust. It could do all the magical things a writer might desire. Curiously, when radiation took over as the new Olympian, electricity stayed on as a Titan. It took on the role, typically, as that of savior. So often, the monsters were electrocuted to stop them.

Evil Science -- Lionel Atwill does a great job of playing the flagrantly "mad" doctor with out admixture of kindness or qualms, as Karloff's "mad" doctors usually did. Atwill would continue this character in his Dr. Bohmer in Ghost of Frankenstein ('42)

Pre-Talbot -- One can see in the Dan McCormick character a preview of the Lawrence Talbot of the Wolfman movies to come. Lon Chaney as the affable/sympathetic joe with his powerful, impersonal alter ego.

Hint o' Nazi -- Of course, being shot in 1941, the specter of Hitler's Nazi dogma was never far from the writers' minds, nor their audiences. Rigas justifies his work on Dan by saying, "I have conquered destiny. Think of an army of such creatures, doing the work of the world. Fighting its battles. Look at him, the worker of the future, controlled by a superior intelligence." Viewers had no doubts that Rigas' army of glowing minions would be conquering, not cooking and cleaning.

The Tyranny of Utility -- Rigas also sounds like a frustrated socialist. His electronic men would less of a burden for a central (superior) agency to manage than mankind has been proving. " You know as well as I do that more than half the people of the world are doomed to a life of mediocrity - born to be nonentities, millstones around the neck of progress, men who have to be fed, watched, looked over, and taken care of by a superior intelligence. My theory is to make these people of more use to the world." In that nazi dogma of utility, a person must be useful to those "superior intelligences" to justify existing.

Bottom line? MMM is a well paced film that doesn't bog down in talky exposition. The formula may not be especially new, but the performances are clean. It's not a great movie, but it's entertaining and well shot. Well worth an hour of your life.

Island of Lost Souls

To continue, and round out this recent look at ape-men, we digress to 1932 to pick up one of the classics of the mad-scientist-making-beast-man films: Island of Lost Souls (ILS). Paramount produced an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel, "The Island of Dr. Moreau," that followed the book reasonably well, though not exactly. Charles Laughton starred as the "mad doctor." The film is famous for its "Panther Woman", Lota (played by Kathleen Burke). She is a good reference point for the ape-woman films that followed ten years later. As a point of interest to Monogram's "Ape Man" films, Bela Lugosi plays the Sayer of the Law, wearing much beast-man makeup -- a nice tie-in to later ape-man movies starring Lugosi.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Edward Parker, shipwrecked, is picked up by the freighter Covena. He is nursed back to health by Montgomery. When healthy, he has a wire sent to his fiancee, Ruth, in Apia, saying that he's okay and will join her in six days. Afterward, however, Parker runs afoul of the Covena's drunkard captain. Upon completing transfer of Montgomery's shipment of animals to Moreau's schooner, the captain has Parker tossed onto the schooner and steams off. Parker, now the uninvited guest of Dr. Moreau is shown cold hospitality. The natives of the island look odd, and shuffle about rather than simply walk. Moreau thaws some to Parker, as he has a new plan in mind. He wants to introduce him to Lota, his "finest creation". She's the only female on the island. She fears the only real men she knows, Moreau and Montgomery. He hopes Parker will reveal/awaken real human woman traits in Lota. Parker is enticed by Lota's innocent and obvious affections. He and Lota flee, fearing Moreau, but are captured by beast men and taken to their village. He is rescued by Moreau and learns that the natives are Moreau's work. He uses surgery (vivisection) to shape them like humans. Parker, horrified, demands to leave, but the schooner has been mysteriously scuttled in the night. Lota seeks out Parker again. During a hug, he finds that she has claws. She is reverting to her panther origins. Meanwhile, in Apia, the Covena docks without Parker. Ruth arranges for a ship to take her to the coordinates grudgingly shared by captain Davies. Ruth and Capt. Donahue arrive on Moreau's island. Moreau plays the cordial host, but has dark schemes in mind. Ouran, Moreau's lead beast-man, breaks into Ruth's room. Scream. Chase. Captain Donahue sets off to go get some of his crew as reinforcements. Moreau sends Ouran after him. Ouran kills Donahue and takes him to the Beast Man village. You spilled man's blood. You broke the law. Ouran says, The law is no more. HE told me to kill. The beast men realize that if Donahue could be killed, so could Moreau. They mass to revolt. Moreau tries to cow them into subservience again, but to no avail. Parker, Montgomery, Ruth and Lota flee for Donahue's skiff. Lota drops back, sensing a pursuer. She attacks Ouran. Parker, realizing Lota's absence, goes back. With her last breath, Lota says, "you go." The beast men take Moreau up to his House of Pain surgery and each have at him with scalpels. Much screaming. Ruth, Parker and Montgomery row away as the island burns. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
An H.G. Wells story is just bound to be entertaining -- even when put through a Hollywood filter. The story moves right along, and is filled with thought-provoking elements to spawn dozens of conversations.

Cultural Connection
Playing God. This is a very common trait among classic old sci-fi's "mad doctors." At one point, Moreau asked Parker, "Do you know what it means, to feel like God?" Certainly, Moreau had presumed to shape animals into his own image by brute use of medical science. He had also instilled in his creations, The Law, which tried to legislate what the scalpel could not create, and to deify himself. "His is the hand that makes! His is the hand that heals." Most of the mad doctors that were to come to films, would in some way or another presume this same role of smarter-than-the-rest, and wiser-than-all, such that whatever they planned was automatically "good" (in their own minds).

Notes
Based on the Book -- ILS follows Wells' 1896 novel fairly well, with some of the usual condensing and Hollywood tampering. In Wells' novel, there was no seductive Lota character trying to charm the protagonist. There was no fiancee, Ruth, coming looking for him. Indeed, Wells' story had none of the romantic angles that Hollywood insists upon. Later remakes, such as 1977's Island of Dr. Moreau and 1996's remake with Marlon Brando, would harken back to the novel for source material in their own ways, but would also build off of the story line of ILS, such as having an animal-woman. Actually, Wells' novel featured an ape-man, just to cement the tie-in to our recent topic thread.

Imperial Footprint -- Woven throughout Wells' story, and still evident in Paramount's movie, is an indictment of old-world imperialism. (As was War of the Worlds) Surgical "science" was the tool, but the goal was the same -- make the "natives" look and sound "just like us," no matter how painful. Moreau's methods were physical rather than cultural, but the analogy fits. Having Laughton dressed in colonial white (vs. his creatures' drab grubbiness) with whips and pith helmets, fit that model. The revolt of the Beast Men was a startlingly accurate prediction of the uprisings that ended colonialism.

Misread Blasphemy -- Censors in the UK banned ILS several times. Partially for the implied cruelty to animals, partially for the presumed blasphemy. It's a pity those religious objectors did not see the analogies supportive of biblical views. Consider how Moreau's imposed order was all that kept his creations from reverting to pure animal. When that order was removed, their primal, uncivilized beast nature took over. This was even paralleled within Moreau himself. When he cast aside God (as a youth), he became a cruel "beast" himself -- completely selfish and insensitive. This all paralleling the biblical view -- man, when he's cast away God's standards, has nothing left but his own "fallen" self-centeredness as his guide. No good comes of that. "Modern" man, who becomes is own god, is capable of great evil. This was theme common to many of the mad-doctor genre. It's actually more biblical than blasphemous.

Dark Science -- Mary Shelley gave the notion a voice in her novel, "Frankenstein." Science was just as capable of going "bad" as doing good. Most of the mad-doctor genre echoed this theme.  Moreau, like many a mad scientist of films, could be seen as a parallel to Satan. Cast out of heaven (civilized London) for his transgressions. He looks like a heavenly being (dressed in British colonial whites), just as Satan can appear as an angel of light, but inflicts a reign of torment on the earth (represented by the island). Moreau did, en masse, what Frankenstein did only once.

Short-Lived Animal Women -- It seems that Hollywood (and audiences) liked the character of animal-women, but playing one on-screen was not the path to stardom. Kathleen Burke was hyped as the panther woman, but went on to only a few more films, mostly with small parts. Later animal-women (such as Acquanetta, the ape-woman of the 40s) would find similar career arcs. As much as execs and audiences liked them, they didn't seem to want to bring them home to meet mother.

Bottom line? ILS is a classic that should be seen by all sci-fi fans -- that is, those who appreciate more than slobbery-toothed monsters, laser battles and explosions. ILS is one of those foundational movies, like Frankenstein ('31) which later film makers would reference, adapt and remake. On its own, ILS has enough of Wells' complexity in it to provide hours of conversation (with the right people). ---

Jungle Captive

Universal's final installment in their ape-woman trilogy was, Jungle Captive (JC). It was released, just a year later, in June of '45. It is a sequel to a sequel in that it picks up the story where the second film stopped. Prior film characters are mentioned in the script, but JC has an all new cast. Vicky Lane plays the ape woman, Paula Dupree, instead of Acquanetta. Otto Kruger plays the mad doctor, Stendahl. The young love interest pair are Amelita Ward, as Stendahl's nurse, Ann, and Phil Brown as Stendahl's assistant, Don. Rondo Hatton plays the classic Ygor role of mad doctor's brutish henchman. There is a trace more science in the fiction, but it is still essentially a "lite" horror tale.

Quick Plot Synopsis
At a busy downtown medical center, Dr. Stendahl has long been experimenting on animals, trying to revive them from being dead. He finally succeeds on a rabbit, with a combination of blood transfusion and electric shock (like a pacemaker) to restart the heart. Congrats all around. Don asks Ann to marry him. He can't afford a ring yet, so gives her his fraternity pin. All seems happy. Meanwhile at the city morgue, a large, disfigured man, Moloch, steals the ape-woman's body from the morgue. He transfers her to a '41 Woodie panel van, then pushes the ambulance off a handy cliff. Driving on, he comes to a gated house and carries her in. The police investigate the missing ape-woman. A torn lab coat was found at the cliff, with Don's laundry mark. Detective Harrigan's questions get Ann nervous. Where was Don last night?. Dr. Stendahl asks Ann to accompany him to meet a colleague. This turns out to be a rouse, as he drives her to the remote gated house. He needs a blood transfusion to revive the ape-woman. Ann will be the donor. Scream. The transfusion and shock therapy work and the ape-woman lives again. Moloch takes a shine to pretty (unconscious) Ann. He notices her pretty pin. Stendahl wants to complete the work, so sends Moloch to get Dr.Walters' notes from Dr. Fletcher's office. Meanwhile, Don is worried about Ann's disappearance. Newspaper headlines tell of Dr. Fletcher's murder and missing files. Stendahl, now knowing the hormone trick, drains yet more blood from Ann. Moloch frets for her. The ape-woman becomes Paula again, but with a blank mind. While Stendahl is in town, Paula escapes and wanders off. Moloch rushes to town to find Stendahl and tell him she's missing. Don notices Moloch wearing his fraternity pin, so follows Moloch back to the gated house. Don is knocked out and tied up. Ann will be the brain donor needed to perk up the blank Paula (who they did find in the woods). After a few twists and turns, Moloch objects to hurting Ann. Stendahl shoots Moloch. Unseen, Paula has morphed back to ape-woman. She rises up and kills Stendahl. Just as ape-woman was going for helpless Ann, Harrigan shows up and shoots ape-woman. Don and Ann are free and cleared. They marry and Harrigan buys them a honeymoon at Niagara Falls. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
If one has accepted the ape-woman / Paula Dupree character, there is curiosity over what will happen to her next. Overall, JC is "lite" entertainment that keeps moving along.

Cultural Connection
One feature that stands out about JC is that the villain defied the usual villain stereotypes -- those clues which signal that he's "mad." No outbursts of emotion, no angry eyes, no maniacal laugh, not even the customary moment of uplighting to make him look creepy. Throughout it all, Stendahl remains calm, almost affable. His evil was virtually invisible. In this way, he presages the coming über-villain -- nuclear radiation -- that would drive so many 50s sci-fi stories. Whether this was intentional, or a lack of artistic flair by director Harold Young, is hard to say.

Notes
New Paula -- Acquanetta does not return for this third film. Instead, a 19-year old actress named Vicky Lane gets the ape-woman role. Vicky doesn't resemble Acquanetta all that much, other than being tall, thin-to-shapely, and brunette. But, this isn't disruptive. JC's Paula is a fairly small role with little screen time, and no spoken lines. All she does is stare blankly, not respond and shamble about like a zombie. Understandably, such roles did nothing to boost Vicky's career. She only did a few movies, mostly with bit parts. JC was one of her "big" one, after which she pretty much retired.

The Brute -- Rondo Hattan plays Moloch, "The Brute", and Stendahl's henchman. Hattan gained fame as "The Brute" and as a serial murderer of "The Creeper" idiom, in several films. Hattan suffered from a form of giantism which gave him his disfigured face and large hands. He was born average and grew up an otherwise average man, but exposure to poison gas during World War One affected his pituitary gland. This led to slow irregular growth of some bones (such as the face and hands). Universal "discovered" him in the early 30s and quickly exploited his looks for various brutish killer roles. This typecasting is said to have displeased Hattan, but a job is a job. Hattan died of a heart attack less than a year after making JC.

Face of Evil -- An interesting study in compare-and-contrast in JC are the two characters: Moloch and Stendahl. Moloch looked evil. He killed, yes, but had a sensitive side. He got all sentimental and protective over Ann. Stendahl, on the other hand, looked kind and friendly. Yet, he ordered the killings and couldn't have cared less. "A true scientist understands the unimportance of a mere life, when it might impede progress." Which was actually the worse evil?

Prop Watch -- Note the movable electro-control console used by Stendahl. This is the same prop as used in Universal's House of Frankenstein ('44) by Boris Karloff as Dr. Niemann. The other equipment, too, keeps up the Universal style for random sparky things being part of a mad doctor's lab.

Bottom line? JC is thin fare for the average sci-fi fan. It's even a bit thin if it's ape women you're after. Young's visual imagery is a bit flat, but the acting is okay (aside from Vicky, of course). There are enough plot twists to keep the story interesting, and enough suspense developed to keep you watching. A triple feature of all three ape-woman films might be fun, but on their own, each would be best watched by yourself.

Captive Wild Woman

Yes, mad scientists and apes were having a run of popularity in the 40s. Only a few months after Monogram Pictures released their "Ape Man" (March of '43), Universal Pictures had their "Ape Woman" in theaters. Captive Wild Woman (CWW) was the story of a mad scientist who turns a gorilla into a sultry young woman. John Carradine stars as the mad scientist. Once again, bodily fluids was the key. It seems unlikely that Universal was copying Monogram, so mad scientists with apes just must have be "the thing to do" at the time. The poster is misleading, by the way. The woman shown in the arms of the ape is wearing "Paula's" circus costume, but Paula was the ape. The only person carried by the ape (Paula/Cheela) was Fred, but that wouldn't have made as good of a poster.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Fred Mason, circus animal trainer, returns from Africa with many lions and tigers, and one big female gorilla named Cheela. He taught her some tricks on the long voyage. Fred's girlfriend Beth, as a sick sister, Dorothy. She takes her to a renowned scientist, Dr. Walters (Carradine). Through Beth, and Fred, Walters gets a tour of the circus. He covets Cheela for his experiments. He arranges with a fired animal trainer to steal Cheela. Walters also discovers that Dorothy has exceptional levels of "sex hormones" (??) He sets about transfusing Dorothy's abundant hormones into Cheela. Eventually, Cheela loses ape-likeness and starts looking more like a human woman. Walters' nurse objects to it all, so Walters decides she will be the brain donor so Cheela will have a human brain. Meanwhile, Fred and circus owner, Mr. Whipple, discuss the big cat act. The hoped for star trainer won't do it, so Fred decides to do it himself. Walters has renamed Cheela as Paula Dupree and made sure she obeys his commands. (she never speaks). He takes her to the circus (for some reason). Fred has his mixed cats in training. A lion and tiger fight and must be broken up with a fire hose. During training, Fred is knocked over by a toppled pedestal. The lions and tigers circle around fallen Fred. Paula, rushes into the cage and stares down the cats who back away in fear. Fred is amazed at her power over the cats and insists that she be part of the act. This goes well. She watches, the cats behave. She smiles at Fred. After the big dress rehearsal, Fred kisses Beth. Paula stomps off in a rage. Her rage starts her turning back into an ape. Ape-Paula climbs into Beth's bedroom to kill her, but a landlady interrupts, screams and gets killed. Fred worries that Paula is nowhere, but show opens that night. He opens without her. Things go well enough, until a storm brews up. Meanwhile, back in the lab, Beth demands to see her sister. Walters thinks he's found a new brain donor for Cheela. Beth releases Cheela from her cage. She kills Walters and runs off. Beth fetches Dorothy off the table. Cheela runs through the dark and stormy night to the circus. The thunder has the cats upset and a lion has Fred down. Cheela roars away the lion and carries hurt Fred out. A policeman mistakes the act as an attack and shoots Cheela dead. A narrator says how Walters was tampering where mortal men shouldn't. The End.

Why is this movie fun
Even MORE mad scientists and apes. Who would have thought? John Carradine does a terrific job as the evil scientist. He's both suave and ruthless. Acquanetta (who plays Paula, the ape woman) is excellent eye candy. The pace is quick, most of the time. The animal act footage makes for a visually active low-budget film.

Cultural Connection
Who knew that mad scientists and gorillas were such a hot item? From the viewing vantage point of late 20th century, sci-fi seems so automatically the realm of flying saucers, big-headed little aliens, rocket ships and mutant monsters. Such a different world it was before The Bomb. After The Bomb, there with an inescapable mood of doom that infused nuclear-angst sci-fi. Those "mad doctors" of the 40s were bad, sure, but they were manageable. In fact, they usually died in the end. Compared to the gloom of post-apocalyptic films, the mad scientist problem was almost cozy.

Notes
Dang Nazis -- Produced during the height of World War Two, audiences had no doubt what "evil" looked like. Mad scientists only had to sound vaguely nazi-like to be assured of an evil aura. At one point, Dr. Walters monologues to his poor doomed nurse about his "dream of creating a race of super men." There ya go. Walters is a nazi. There is no doubt about his evil.

Mixed Monsters -- Universal's ape-woman is a hybrid of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (though sort of in reverse) and like a reverse version of The Incredible Hulk. There is a dash of Frankenstein, in that Walters is the mad scientist tampering with poor lives. There is a bit of Dr. Moreau and his Panther Woman.

Repeated Animal Act -- Modern viewers might not spot it as quickly, but audiences in 1943 were more likely to. Most of the animal/circus footage in CWW was reused from Universal's 1933 film The Big Cage, starring Clyde Beatty (who really was a lion tamer in circuses). CWW's Milburn Stone resembled Beatty well enough, that with some costume matching and careful editing one can easily imagine it is Stone in all the animal shots. But no. The Big Cage was a popular film that got a few re-releases after its initial run. Odds are, the audience of 1943 would recognize that lion-tiger fight that had to be hosed down, etc. as coming from The Big Cage.

Acquanetta -- The film was also Universal's attempt to launch the career of sultry starlet, "Acquanetta". (stars with just one name are not new). Said to have been born Burnu Acquanetta, an Arapaho indian orphan in Ozone, Wyoming, or Mildred Davenport. Her origins were kept mysterious, but mystery can help a career only so much. There's no denying her physical attractiveness, but that can only take an actress so far too. Her film roles never rose above B-films, such as CWW and Tarzan the the Leopard Woman ('46) She dropped out of the film industry in 1951. Perhaps this is partly Universal's own fault. Her role in CWW amounts to little more than standing there, looking pretty. With no lines whatever, and only some close up eyes shots, Acquanetta got no opportunity to project a personality to like. (such as needed for a leading lady role).

Sequel Worthy -- Unlike Monogram, who let their Wolfman alternative  -- Ape Man -- just fade away, Universal pushed Ape Woman into two sequels. The first, Jungle Woman also featured Acquanetta and filled out more back story. The second was Jungle Captive. This also featured the Ape Woman, but played by someone else. Just for the sake of completeness, those two should be up next.

Bottom line? CWW is a low-budget marginally sci-fi film. It's not the bottom of the barrel for the "mad doctor" genre. Director Ed Dmytyk does keep the pace brisk and the many animal shots keep a sense of action, even if they're recycled footage. CWW isn't a high point in Universal's B movie roster, but it's not bad.

The Ape Man

There was just something about apes -- killer apes. Killer apes who are men too. Monogram Pictures put out yet another very low-budget "mad doctor" story with a killer ape and the spinal fluid trope, reminiscent of the 1940 Monogram film, The Ape. As sci-fi goes, The Ape Man (TAM) is as thin on anything approaching serious science as were most of the 40s' mad doctor films. Bela Lugosi stars as the unfortunate mad doctor who has turned himself half-way into an ape and needs human spinal fluid to cure him. Wallace Ford and Louise Currie co-star as the bickering reporters and eventual romantic subplot.

Quick Plot Synopsis
An ocean liner docks amid mystery. Dr. James Brewster has mysteriously disappeared. His associate, Dr. George Randall has little to offer the press. Brewster's sister, Agatha, has come from Europe to help (somehow). Reporter Jeff Carter smells a story in all the mystery. He gets assigned a beautiful lady photographer, Billie. They bicker like siblings throughout most of the film. Carter's instincts were correct, but he doesn't know it yet. Brewster is alive and living in the basement lab of his mansion. One of his experiments had gone horribly wrong. He injected himself with spinal fluid of an ape, but instead just improving physical strength, it turned him into a half-man / half-ape. Nothing else he has tried will reverse the process. Brewster is convinced that injections of human spinal fluid will reverse the process, but Dr. Randall refuses. To take the fluid is to fatal the donor. Brewster, "mad" at the prospect of being doomed to be an ape-man, takes the real gorilla to Randall's home/office and has it kill the butler. Brewster extracts the spinal fluid from the dead butler. Brewster and Agatha force Randall to give Brewster the serum injection. It works, somewhat. Brewster is able to stand erect, but will need more spinal fluid to lose the facial hair, etc. Again, Randall refuses. Brewster and his gorilla go on a killing spree. Brewster eventually has enough spinal fluid for many injections. Randall not only refuses to help, but smashes the jar. In a rage, Brewster breaks Randall's neck. What with all the recent murders, the police are on his tail. He returns to his mansion, where the two reporters are snooping around. Brewster carries off Billie to his lab, apparently to extract some spinal fluid. Carter can't get the secret passage open. Brewster chases Billie around the lab. The caged gorilla is upset by all the chasing. Billie accidentally opens the cage. The gorilla and Brewster fight to the death -- Brewster's. Agatha arrives with the police. She opens the secret passage just in time. Billie escapes. The police shoot the gorilla dead. Billie and Carter decide they should date instead of bicker. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Mostly, it's Bela Lugosi. He brings more class to the film than it would otherwise deserve. Director William Beaudine, famous for "one take" productions, puts out a fairly fast paced (if shallow) story. It's also fun to see someone else's zeitgeist. Apes and spinal fluid. Such a curious combination to be fascinated with.

Cultural Connection
Cheap films had their place. No one feels gypped if they pay a buck for a burger and don't get filet mignon. The same "value" reality worked for movies. TAM was a product of Monogram Pictures, one of the better known of the "Poverty Row" studios. They filled a market need for simple, inexpensive B film entertainment. They weren't making Citizen Kane or Gone With The Wind and everyone knew that. Knowing that you're selling hamburgers, not fancy steaks, means not having to take yourself (or your products) too seriously. Like a Burlesque / Vaudeville show, a Poverty Row film was, often enough, a medley of romance, comedy, horror, action and a bit of exploitation, if they could sneak it in. Audiences didn't mind. They were looking for budget entertainment, not story-telling purity.

Notes
Sequel Worthy -- As shallow and odd as TAM might seem to modern viewers (accustomed to finer fare), it must have been enough of a success at the box office that Monogram decided to ride its coat tails. Their follow up "sequel" the next year ('44) was Return of the Ape Man, also starring Bela Lugosi. In truth, "Return" is not a sequel in any way. The "ape man" is a thawed cave man. Lugosi is all human -- but still ends up getting killed by the "ape" of the story.

Poor Man's Wolfman -- Middle-tier studio Universal Pictures made a splash with their Wolfman film in 1941. Lower-tier studio Monogram seems to have tried to create their own man-beast hybrid with TAM. While it could have had some potential, Monogram didn't steer the writers to leave the sequel door open. A half-man/half-ape resurfacing now and then, killing to obtain spinal fluid to perhaps cure him, might have been a formula for multiple sequels. Sadly, Monogram let it fade.

Unintentional Metaphor? -- In the mid and late 40s, Bela Lugosi's career was in decline. His drug addiction (pain killers for a war wound) and alcoholism required income, so he could not be fussy about acting jobs. The drugs were also taking a toll on his 60-year-old body. Lugosi was unable to rise above his addiction, just as Dr. Brewster continued to hope, but was never able to stand erect for long. In the end, the "monkey on his back" (the Ape) finally beat him.

Why Zippo? -- One of the more curious things about TAM is the Zippo character. He's dressed as a bumpkin, but doesn't function as the usual bumpkin-esque comic relief. Instead, he's omnipresent and apparently all-knowing. He tells the gathered reporters who's on the ocean liner and why they should press for a story. He's peeking the lab window as Brewster experiments. He jumps out of a doorway to tell a hapless woman not to go further -- because Brewster and his ape lie in wait for another victim. at the end of the film, Carter asks Zippo who he is and why he's everywhere. "I'm the author," says Zippo with a wink and a smile. It makes sense, in hindsight, but it is a strange thing to write into a screenplay.

Bottom line? TAM is low-rent entertainment, aimed at a low-rent audience, so expectations of high art are best avoided. Lugosi, as usual, saves the film from being utter dreck. The science fiction is very thin. It's primary interest will likely be fans of the old-school "mad doctor" genre, or Lugosi fans. Viewers seeking a thoughtful script or impressive effects, should probably skip TAM.

The Ape

Boris Karloff did another "mad doctor" film outside of the more famous set of four he did for Columbia between 1939 and '41. In 1940, he made The Ape with low-budget Monogram Pictures. William Nigh directs. Curt Siodmak deserves most of the writing credit. For some reason, killer apes were all the rage (so to speak) for awhile in the 30s and 40s. King Kong ('33) is, of course, the most famous of them. But the killer ape trope was around before Kong and obvious after. The Ape is yet another sci-fi hybrid that is notably weak on the sci-fi part. Spinal fluid plays a pivotal role, and would again in a followup film by Monogram, The Ape Man.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A circus comes to the small town of Red Creek. Dr. Adrian (Karloff) is eyed with fear and suspicion in Red Creek, but he is the only doctor around. So, when a circus ape escapes and injures a trainer who had been taunting him, they bring the wounded man to Dr. Adrian. The trainer dies. Adrian, recognizing an opportunity, extracts some spinal fluid from the dying man for a serum he's working on to help pretty young Francis (paralyzed from the waist down). The ape is loose in the countryside. He killed a farmer named Wilcox. The serum begins to work on Francis. She has feeling in her legs. Adrian accidentally drops the vial, breaking it. He needs more spinal fluid. The ape breaks into Adiran's house (seeing the trainers coat on a chair). Adrian kills the ape, then has an idea. Later, he leaves his house, dressed in the ape's skin. Henry Mason, a disrespected town banker and philanderer, leaves to visit his mistress, but never arrives. His body is found. A coroner notes a similar puncture at the spine. Adrian pretends not to have noticed. The coroner recognizes Adrian as a shunned, but brilliant researcher from 25 years go. After additional serum treatments, Francis can move her legs a little. The coroner sees that Adrian was right after all. The sheriff, his men and dogs have concentrated their search around Doc Adrian's house, where most of the sightings place the ape. Adrian, encouraged at Francis's progress goes out one more time for more spinal fluid. He attacks one of the guards, but is chased off by another guard. On the way back to his house, he is seen and shot. A crowd gathers around the ape body on the porch. The sheriff lifts off the head to reveal Adrian. Francis wheels up in her wheelchair to show the dying Adrian that his serum's worked. She stands and takes some wobbly steps. Adrian dies, but vindicated. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
As usual, it is Boris Karloff who pulls an otherwise drab B movie higher than it would have on its own. The premise is a bit strained, but has some interesting roots. It is also interesting to see the "mad doctor" turn out to be right, for a change.

Cultural Connection
In the years before nuclear radiation dominated sci-fi thought, medical science got a lot more screen time. The "mad doctor" trope was a sort of flip-side to cultural optimism about what medical science could do.

Notes
Less Madness -- Karloff plays yet another "mad doctor" with the customary tension between his altruistic desire to help and his ruthlessness as to the methods. In The Ape, Dr. Adrian is almost the most mild-mannered of the mad doctors. He is so driven to help poor beautiful Francis to walk again that he's willing to push the ethical envelope. Unlike most of the mad doctors, it turns out Adrian was right and actually does the good he set out to do.

Just Desserts -- In the spirt of Occupy's "Eat the Rich" mindset, the one man that Adrian does murder is sort of a small moral loss. He is the banker Henry Morgan. No one in town much likes Morgan for the interest rates he charges. Nor does Morgan join any community efforts to find the ape. "Thats your job." Further, Morgan is cheating on his wife. Even worse, he is mean-spirited to his poor mousey wife. She pleads with him not to carry on his affairs so flagrantly near home. "If you don't like it, you can leave," he says. She says she has no relatives, no friends, nowhere else to go. "There's always the river," he sneers. Adrian murdering Morgan is not quite horrible. Poor little Mrs. Morgan may be better off with the insurance money and someone else.

Broadway Roots? -- The credits list the story as coming from a play by Alan Hull Shirk. (Screenplay by Kurt Siodmak) While this play may not have been filmed, an earlier movie is also said to have been based on the play. House of Mystery (1934) credits Shirk's play. Interestingly, HoM was also directed by William Nigh. The '34 film and Siodmak's '40 screenplay are very very different stories. House of Mystery is a more pedestrian murder mystery with many people in a spooky mansion, seeking an inherited fortune, dying off one by one. The murderer turns out to be a gorilla, trained to stand stiff like a stuffed ape, but kill on command. There is one small scene where one of the lesser characters has dressed up in an ape suit in order to sneak around the house looking for the treasure. He gets shot by nervous policemen. The setting and camera work in House of Mystery suggest stage roots, so may be closer to Shirk's play. Siodmak's story is almost completely unrelated -- except for the man dressed in an ape suit getting shot and an actualy killer ape.

Rapid Taxidermy -- Dr. Adrian is supposed to have stripped the entire skin off of dead Nabu, including hands, feet and face. And, tanned them all sufficient to be worn. And, he did it in a day or less. Granted, Adrian is supposed to have been a brilliant doctor, but this bit of the plot strains credulity beyond what movies like this usually do, if one knows even a little bit about taxidermy.

Bottom line? The Ape has very little science in its fiction. It does have some of the classic elements: a shunned brilliant doctor who secretly works on some boon for mankind, and it even has an angry mob. It is low on production values, but par for poverty row studio Monogram Pictures. Karloff fans will enjoy it. Those with expectations not too high, can be entertained. Modern tastes may only be annoyed.

The Devil Commands

The fourth of Columbia's "mad doctor" films with Boris Karloff is The Devil Commands. (TDC) There are many similarities with the prior three, yet just as many differences. Like the others, TDC is a horror/sci-fi hybrid with the science part in a secondary role. Nick Grinde did not direct this one. Instead, Edward Dmytryk directed. (he would later gain fame with The Caine Mutiny ('54)) One of the screenwriters, Robert Andrews, worked on the third film, Before I Hang.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Julian Blair is a well respected scientist at Midland University. His work regards the power of thought being captured, recorded or transmitted. His machine records "brain waves" of his assistant, then of his wife Helen. All is happy and congratulatory. On the way home, Helen is killed when a truck hits her car. Distraught, Blair seeks distraction in his lab. When he turns on his sparking machines, the needle moves again, repeating Helen's pattern. He is convinced that Helen's consciousness survives beyond the grave and is trying to speak to him. His scientist cohorts think he's lost his mind. His simple-minded helper, Karl, takes him to a "spirit medium," Mrs. Walters, to contact the dead. Blair sees through her parlor tricks, but senses Walters has a receptive brain. Walters senses great fortune if Blair is successful. Ann suggests he get away to some remote New England town and work in private. He does, but the townsfolk don't like it. Bodies go missing from graves. Blair's housekeeper, Mrs. Marcy dies when she accidentally turns on the sparky machines. Walters fakes her death as having fallen off the cliff between the house and town, but her husband is convinced that Blair killed her. The missing bodies are in Blair's lab, all seated at a techno-seance table, wearing metal hazmat suits with neon tubes and wires sticking out of them. The added brain-receiver power works. With full sparky power on, a tornado appears in the center of the table. The needle plots Helen's pattern. Blair hears a raspy "Julian…" He turns up the power to get a better connection, but it kills Walters. Ann and Richard arrive at the Sheriff's behest. Blair is convinced that Helen communicates when Ann is around. Richard won't allow her to be hooked up, so Blair has Karl lock him away. Blair does hook up Ann. The sparky things spark. "Julian….Julian…." The last time, it was clearly Helen's normal voice. Blair cranks it up more, but it causes the house to start breaking up. His own safety strap breaks loose and he's swept into the tornado. The angry mob storms the house with clubs and torches, but flee when the house starts to break up. Ann narrates that they never found her father. Some say his spirit still lives in that house. Human beings are not supposed to know what lies beyond the grave. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
As always, Karloff's acting is the major plus of the film. Even though it is a low-budget affair, he brings a sincerity to the role that lifts the film from the dross of typical B-movies. For one's inner 12-year-old, all the sparky machines and Man-In-The-Iron-Mask helmets with neon ear cones, have gadget appeal.

Cultural Connection
Each of the four films dealt with death. As war raged in Europe (Pearl Harbor had not happened yet when TDC was in theaters), death was more of a front-and-center issue. Nor was death as neatly pasteurized as it has since become. Back then, there was more of a personal connection.

Notes
Sad Scientist -- Karloff's Dr. Blair is more of a tragic figure than his prior "mad doctor" roles. Dr. Laurience in The Man Who Lived Again ('36) was obsessed, cold-hearted and a little bit lustful. Dr. Savaard in The Man They Could Not Hang ('40) started out altruistic, but turns to deadly vengeance. Dr. Garth in Before I Hang is a well-meaning man, but the blood of a killer in his serum turns him into an unwitting murderer. Dr. Blair is driven by hope (and grief) over his lost wife. Deaths happen, but more by accident than malice. The more palpable evil in TDC comes from Mrs. Walters.

Mrs. Mephisto -- The Mrs. Walters character is Blair's Mephistopholes. Blair (like Faust) seeks knowledge beyond the mortal world. Walters, coldly driven by the prospect of immense power and wealth, helps Blair and pushes him on when he has qualms. She withheld Ann's letters from Blain so he thought she didn't care about him anymore. She had a cold enough heart to rob graves, though it is never stated how the bodies came to the lab. She rather coldly deals with the accidental death of Mrs. Marcy, and chastises Blair for fretting over lying to the Sheriff. Mrs. Walters may well be the "Devil" cited in the title. She gets her just desserts, though.

A Hint of Occult -- While still a horror/sci-fi pictures, TDC suggests that something of Helen's consciousness did continue after her death. She becomes an almost literal Ghost in the Machine, though little conjecture is made over just what's going on. Beyond the graph plots, there was little corroboration that Helen was trying to communicate with Julian. In fact, he may have imagined the voices. His dangerous electric devices managed to damage Karl's brain, kill Mrs. Marcy and Mrs. Walters -- maybe even himself, but TDC treads lightly on the ghosts aspect.

Based on the Book -- The kernel of the story comes from a novel written by William Sloane in 1937, "The Edge of Running Water." Reviews of the book give it middling marks. While the movie follows the basics of the novel, the movie is apparently more cohesive and better paced. Sloane only wrote two novels. The other was "To Walk the Night" which was also made into a movie in 1963 called "Unearthly Stranger."

Bottom line? TDC is a watchable enough film, even if one isn't a Karloff fan. It moves along, avoiding slow talky parts . The characters all read quickly enough without laggy development. The sparky machines and metal helmets are steampunk cool. As sci-fi, it's a bit thin, but it's still fun to watch.

Return of the Ape Man

Before continuing with Columbia's four Karloff movies, this seems like a good time to chase the Frozen Alive trope itself. which seems to have gotten its start in, The Man With Nine Lives ('40). Two Frankenstein movies after that, in 1943 and '44 used the Frozen trope. Return of the Ape Man (RAM) was also released in '44. It is another Frozen movie, but is also intertwined with the Frankenstein series. (more on that below). RAM starred Bela Lugosi as the mad scientist, and John Carridine as his ethical assistant. Lugosi was in the downslope of his career, doing films like RAM for Poverty Row studios like Monogram.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A tramp named Willie the Weasel has been missing for over a month. Professor Dexter (Lugosi) and Professor Gilmore (Carridine) abducted Willie and put him in their deep freeze chamber. They were experimenting with suspended animation for the usual supposed benefits to medical science. They revive Willie after three months, proving their process a success. Dexter, however, wants a bigger test to prove it. He mounts an arctic expedition to find a Neanderthal man frozen for tens of thousands of years. Reviving him would be the ultimate career coup. Handily enough, they find an "Ape Man" frozen in glacial ice. They haul him back to Dexter's basement lab. Once thawed, Dexter administers his drug and electric treatments. The Ape Man awakens, but is violent. Dexter keeps him at bay with an acetylene torch and locks him in a handy jail cell. Dexter wants to give the Ape Man half a brain transplant. A modern half-brain would allow him to speak and understand (obey), while the original half would still contain all his caveman memories. Dexter wants to know what life was like as a caveman. Gilmore objects, as brain transplant equals murder. At a dinner party at the Gilmore home, Dexter lures Gilmore's nephew-in-law, Steven to his lab and drugs him. He would have been the brain donor, had not Gilmore arrived in the nick of time. Gilmore says they're through as a team. Fine. Meanwhile, the Ape Man bends his jail door bars and escapes. He accosts a woman and kills a policeman. Ape Man returns to the lab and is reconvened. Gilmore knows the "monster" is Dexter's Ape Man. Dexter asks Gilmore to come to his lab to "help destroy the monster." Gilmore agrees, but it's a trap. Gilmore becomes the brain donor. Now with half a modern brain, the Ape Man can speak. He says his name is Gilmore. Dexter thinks another operation is needed to access the Ape Man's identity. This news makes Ape Man run away. He runs to the Gilmore home. He climbs the trellis, plays Moonlight Sonata on the piano, then kills Mrs. Gilmore (for no good reason). Steve and Gilmore's niece Ann call the police. While searching Dexter's lab, Ape Man breaks free of the cell (again), mortally injuring Dexter, who says with his last breath that the Ape Man will go to the Gilmore home.. He does, and abducts Ann. With her limp, fainted form draped over his shoulder, he climbs buildings and eludes the police. Eventually, he takes her to Dexter's lab and locks her in the freeze chamber. The sparking wires upset him, which creates more sparks and eventually a fire. Steve and the police arrive. Steve rescues Ann, but the Ape Man dies in the flames. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Mostly, it is Bela Lugosi who gives RAM any appeal. In fact, he is the primary redeeming feature. The film's interconnections to the Frankenstein franchise add interest, for those aware of such details.

Cultural Connection
In the vein of Lost World, RAM continues the notion that things ancient were brutish, destructive and deadly. By extension, is the backhanded conceit that modern man is rational, constructive and kind. The Savage, is an old cultural trope, always looking for a new face by which we may contrast ourselves.

Notes
FrankenThreads -- RAM has several interwoven connections to Universal's Frankenstein movie collection (which was almost done by 1944). Aside from the by-now-familiar mad scientist character, Lugosi played Ygor in Son of Frankenstein ('38) and Ghost of Frankenstein ('42). He played the monster himself in the next film, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman ('43), which also had the Frozen Alive trope. John Carridine also acted in House of Frankenstein done in the same year as RAM, 1944. Carridine would go on to play the mad scientist in the Frankenstein idiom, in later films. Then is the scene when the Ape Man first stirs post-thaw. "It's Alive!" exclaims Dexter.

Ape Threads -- An interesting alternate rabbit trail is Caveman thread. There are many movies in this sub-genre. Some are purely set in cave man times, such as One Million B.C., but most are, like RAM, built around the resulting mayhem when a caveman is put into "modern" society. While in RAM the Frozen and Caveman threads intersect, following the cavemen will be a later project.

Threadbare -- Monogram productions were never slick. The writing was more prone to pulp than poetry. A couple of examples: Tiny Haystack : To test his process Dexter needs a prehistoric man who happened to be frozen alive thousands of years ago. Gilmore calls the search a needle in a haystack, but sure enough, they find one in a few minutes. How handy. The Healing Door: The Ape Man bends the bars of the jail cell door to escape. When Dexter recaptures him, he puts him in the same cell with the bars restored. He must have had a spare jail cell door. Very Handy! Instant Powerless Pad: Dexter reads in his How To electronics book, how to make a paralyzer pad that will immobilize a person. Handy for stopping a brutish Ape Man, AND your victims with little exertion. Cheap Freeze: Dexter's freezer room is a simple booth with some pipes visible through the window. It has one knife-switch and one big dial which goes from 60 to zero in seconds. No time is wasted on freeze effects. Simple Surgery: Dexter performs brain surgery on two men, by himself, in about a minute. No shaved head, no bandages, no big dramatic stitches or franken-scars. Dexter had some serious surgical skills. Very very handy.

Where's Zucco? -- The posters give George Zucco third billing. Even the credits cite Zucco and Frank Moran as playing the Ape Man. What's the deal? Apparently, Zucco was hired as the Ape Man. (He played in several prior cheap horror films, so had some marquee power.) He was was fitted with the Ape Man makeup and costume, posed for some publicity stills and even started some of the shooting. But, he fell ill. Movies like RAM had very tight schedules and were typically shot over just a couple weeks, No time for recoveries. Frank Moran was hired as a replacement. Some fans contend that Zucco does not appear on film at all. Others say that shots of the just-thawed Ape Man are Zucco, but that when he sits up, it's Moran (and thereafter). They call attention to the changes in makeup as their guide.

They're After Our Women! -- In true "Kong" form, the Ape Man performs the required abduction scene. Making this easier, she faints a lot and doesn't fight too hard while being carried over his shoulder. Still, the ancient visceral imagery is there. The Outsider, the Stranger, is out to steal OUR pretty young women -- who are enticingly dressed in clingy fabrics and high heels!

Returns? -- The neanderthal "returns" to life is the rationale, perhaps, but the title seems like a marketing allusion to a prior Monogram film, The Ape Man, 1943, also starring Bela Lugosi. RAM is not a squeal.

Bottom line? RAM is clearly low-B entertainment with low production values. On its own, it has little to recommend it. But Bela Lugosi gives it life. It has some film-historian value, too, as a dot connecting several threads.

The Man With Nine Lives

Columbia's second of four Karloff death-cheating films was somewhat mis-titled. In The Man With Nine Lives (9L), Boris Karloff has only two "lives", sort of. One before being frozen in 1930, then another when revived in 1940. Once again, a lone scientist has some wonder to prolong human life. In 9L, Karloff gives the by-now-traditional role a bit of a twist. 9L is directed by Nick Grinde, as were the first and third in the set. Karl Brown provided the screenplay, as he had for the previous film in the set, The Man They Could Not Hang. The trope of frozen people as a low-tech version of suspended animation, would be a recurring feature in several later movies.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Dr. Mason impresses a room full of reporters and other doctors with his cold temperature treatment of a cancer patient. Mason explains to his fiance and nurse, Judy, how his ideas came from a book on cold treatment by a Dr. Kravaal who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago. Mason's boss is displeased at the premature publicity, so sends Mason (and Judy) on leave. They take the opportunity to go up to Silver Lake, Kravaal's last known home. The man who rents the rowboats tries to warn them away. Five men went there ten years ago and never returned. Mason goes anyway.The old house has long been vacant. Judy falls through a floor board. This reveals underground tunnels that lead to a lab and a big frozen door. Mason sees a body trapped in the ice. He chops it free with a handy axe. They warm him up with a fire. He revives. It's Dr. Kravaal. He is surprised to be alive at all, let alone after ten years. He tells the flashback story of how he was treating a private patient with his cold therapy, but the nephew brought the authorities, suspecting foul play. Kravaal threatened them with a toxic teargas mixture. He drops it. It vaporizes. The nephew, D.A., sheriff and coroner flee to the rear ice vault. Kravaal locked them in. He passed out in the first ice vault. His patient (Uncle Jasper) dies for lack of care. Now back in 1940, they realize that the vapors are what kept them alive. They revive the other men too. The nephew is upset at not getting Uncle's inheritance, since he's now legally dead. In a rage, Nephew grabs the formula paper and throws it in the fire. Acting on impulse, Kravaal shoots him dead. He locks the rest in the room. Eventually, he lets out Mason and Judy to help him recreate the formula. He tries it on the coroner, but he dies. He tries it again on the DA, but he dies. The sheriff dies too. Kravaal is stumped, but eventually figures out that the others died because they already had the vapor exposure. He needs a fresh body. After a struggle, Mason is tied up. Judy volunteers to be the guinea pig to save her fiance. She doesn't die, but goes into a coma. Kravaal freezes her, but she remains alive. State troopers come and untie Mason. In all the scuffles, Kravaal is shot and mortally wounded. Yet, he shows Mason that the formula worked. Judy is alive, even though her body temp is 30 degrees. He gives Mason is notebook, then dies. Fast forward. Mason is the toast of the medical world with Kravaal's formula and cold treatment advances. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Boris Karloff is always fun to watch. His portrayal of Kravaal is more star-crossed than mad, but still just as entertaining. Director Nick Grinde does a good job of providing rich visuals on a low budget.

Saga Connection
In a rare turnabout, 9L presages to the trope used in the Universal saga and the later Hammer saga.Frankestein Meets the Wolfman ('43) had the monster frozen in an arm of a glacier, in a basement vault. In both films, the frozen man is thawed out with a toasty fire. While Boris Karloff did not star in FMtW, he is forever a member of the saga family.

Notes
Only Mostly Dead -- The story toys with definitions. Just what is "dead"? Existing traditional definitions keep failing. Dr. Bassett, the coroner, represents the stodgy conventional-wisdom voice. Dead is judged by body temperature. Since no one has survived (to his knowledge) a body temperature lower than 80 degrees, Uncle Jasper was, by conventional wisdom, dead. Even the lack of a pulse does not equal death, as frozen men come back to life. A nice literary play on this was the legal definition. Since all the men have been missing for more than seven years, they were legally dead (but clearly not). All four of Columbia's Karloff films tease around the edges of the real definitions of life and death.

First Frozen -- 9L is one of the earliest films featuring a person being frozen and coming back to life when thawed. Others would pick up and use this trope. Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman ('43), Return of the Ape Man ('44), The Thing From Another World ('51), Madmen of Mandoras ('63), The Evil of Frankenstein ('64) Frozen Alive ('64), and The Frozen Dead ('67 -- Frozen Nazis revived to rule the world! Oh my!) to name the older ones. 9L seems to be a trendsetter.

Freudian Face -- In a refreshing change, Karloff is made up to look more Freudian. In the place of wild white hair, he has a tidy, short, salt-n-pepper cut. He also sports a pointed beard and mustache. The round glasses and three-piece pinstripe suit (with watch chain!) give Kravaal much more of an old european charm than the usual lab coat and wild eyes. It's a nice change.

Bottom line? 9L is yet another remix of the trope (man-cheats-death), but it is still an entertaining film. Karloff is his usual quality self, playing a "mad" scientist who is a bit less mad, and maybe not all that bad. It's still worth checking out for Karloff fans, and for a look at sci-fi before everything had to be either atomic radiation or aliens.