40's American Horror Part Ten

DR. RENAULT'S SECRET
(1942)
Dir - Harry Lachman
Overall: MEH

The last film to be directed by Harry Lachman whose career went back to the silent era and included little if anything in the realm of conventional horror, Dr. Renault's Secret is a brisk yet unimpressive one for 20th Century Fox.  Part bog-standard murder mystery and part kind-of monster movie, its production values are unassuming yet acceptable, with cinematographer Virgil E. Miller actually moving the camera around and getting some expressive shots.  Genre regulars George Zucco and J. Carrol Nash play a mad scientist and his dim-witted assistant respectfully and they are the only two characters with unique personalities, particularly Nash who has a soft-spoken and eccentric charm as one of Zucco's unnerving and now love-smitten, walking experiments.  A tragic character, Nash pulls off an occasionally intense yet mostly sympathetic performances as a less interesting stand-in for Universal's Frankenstein monster or Larry Talbot.  He also does not have any gnarly make-up to wear, which is unfortunate for genre fans yet also what probably allows for actors Shepperd Strudwick and Lynne Roberts to treat him benevolently.

THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST

(1945)

Dir - Lesley Selander

Overall: MEH

Stylistically akin to the Val Lewton productions from RKO, The Vampire's Ghost stems from Republic Pictures and has a couple of tricks up its sleeve to elevate it above what could have been just a forgettable Poverty Row B-movie.  For one, this marks the screenwriting debut of Leigh "The Queen of Space Opera" Brackett, who along with John K. Butler, churned out something that fuses singular vampire motifs with voodoo island films, all in a contemporary setting no less.  Large-eyed, proper Englishman John Abbott's undead nightclub owner is never shown spouting fangs or partaking of human blood, (at least on screen), he can roam freely around in the day time, and he can heal his wounds by laying in the moonlight.  At the same time though, he promises Peggy Stewart's heroine eternal life, can hypnotize people with ease, and has an aversion to crosses, mirrors, and silver.  The plot line is hardly exciting and routinely drags even though the whole thing clocks in at under an hour, plus Brackett and Butler fail to meld much of any tribal mysticism into the proceedings besides some beating drums.  Still, director Lesley Selander manages to stage one or two atmospheric moments and the whole thing is historically important for being one of the earlier Hollywood products to strip the Gothic romanticism out of cinematic vampires.

THE FACE OF MARBLE

(1946)

Dir - William Beaudine

Overall: WOOF

 

One of many genre offerings from Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures, The Face of Marble scores John Carradine in the mad scientist lead as well as everyone's favorite scardey cat black guy Willie Best to provide some embarrassing political incorrectness, except minus the comic relief part this time.  In fact there is nothing funny to the proceedings here either unintentionally or otherwise, which is ultimately the film's downfall.  Yet another lazy tweak on the Frankenstein concept of revitalizing dead tissue, somehow it all ends up with a house servant conducting voodoo rituals and then a dog and another woman being able to walk through walls while getting mind controlled into murdering people.  The film is only seventy-two minutes yet feels twice as long since again as always, it is padded with emotionless banter between stock characters who lack any distinguishing personality traits.  Even Carradine, (who was occasionally hired to ham things up), just comes off as dull as everything else going on.  There is a continuous dramatic score that plays arbitrary over dialog scenes, flat direction from the prolific yet never remarkable William Beaudine, and a plot that is so boring that one can hardly remember it once it all wraps up.

40's American Horror Part Nine

THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL

(1941)

Dir - Stuart Heisler

Overall: MEH

 

Though it is presented in a straight-faced and even stark manner, Paramount's The Monster and the Girl is still a bizarre B-level production on paper.  Featuring some long-forgotten lead and character actors, (Paul Lukas, George Zucco, and Edward Van Sloan being the most recognizable), its lack of genre star power is forgivable since the major attraction is a guy in a gorilla suite.  Primate B pictures were usually good for a knowingly goofy chuckle at most, but the story here ups the weird as it concerns a wrongly convicted man whose brain is used by scientists after his execution, a brain which is then put into an ape that inadvertently allows said condemned fellow to intact his revenge in a much hairier and stronger body.  Director Stuart Heisler stages the handful of kill scenes with no incidental music, something that actually makes them suspenseful, plus the brisk sixty-four minute running time means that most of the fat is trimmed.  The first half is more sluggish by comparison as we are given two flashbacks in a lengthy courtroom scene, but once the movie showcases what it advertises on the poster and does so in a horror-by-way-of-mad-scientist/film noir manner, it becomes a more interesting affair that it probably deserves to be.

 

INVISIBLE AGENT

(1942)

Dir - Edwin L. Marin

Overall: MEH

After the low-rent Invisible Woman went full comedy, Universal's following Invisible Agent switched genres yet again to being a war time spy film while still retaining elements of purposeful goofiness.  This particular franchise was miles away from horror at this point as well as H.G. Wells' source material, (a throwaway line states that Jon Hall's title character is the grandson of Griffin from the first film and novel), but it is also less silly than its predecessor.  That said, there are tonal shifts aplenty while Nazi officers and scientists try to get Griffin's invisibility formula and wacky high-jinks ensure, particularly during a long intelligence operation where J. Edward Bromberg's bumbling SS officer keeps falling for Griffin's unseen pranks on him.  Most of the performances could have been equally handled by anyone, including Hall in the lead who possesses only the most bare-bones level of charisma to carry things through.  That said, Peter Lorre is always a highlight even in his underused form here and Sir Cedric Hardwicke makes for a calculated Nazi Gestapo with a sophisticated English accent.  The main attraction of course are the special effects though, which thankfully are frequently showcased.

 

THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE

(1946)

Dir - Robert Siodmak

Overall: MEH

A gripping finale and superb cinematography are the major advantage points to director Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase; an adaptation of Ethel Lina White's novel Some Must Watch that is otherwise bogged down by an uninteresting plot.  David O. Selznick originally owned the rights to the source material before selling them to RKO, with first time screenwriter Mel Dninelli changing the setting from Merry Ole to New England with an almost exclusively American cast.  A proto-slasher film in some respects that utilizes POV shots and a story with a mysterious serial killer, the end reveal is satisfying in its melodramatic intensity.  The performances are commendable, with Dorthy McGuire as a mute, live-in companion and Ethel Barrymore as an invalid head of household making the best impressions.  Director of photography Nicholas Musuraca is the star of the show though, using heavy shadow juxtaposition and flowing camera work to create a Gothic mood that gives the entire thing the look and feel of a proper horror movie without technically being one.  Yet the mostly single location as well as hefty amount of characters and their uninteresting squabbles unfortunately get in the way of the "murder on the loose" aspects and eerie atmosphere, making this just shy from being a top-notch production.

40's Inner Sanctum Series Part Two

THE FROZEN GHOST

(1945)

Dir - Harold Young

Overall: MEH

Given the misleading title of The Frozen Ghost, Universal's forth Inner Sanctum mystery is mediocre from front to back.  Again a hypnotism angle is utilized, this time with Lon Chaney Jr. playing a professional in the field who comes to believe that his sensory powers are causing people around him to drop like flies.  Also, the bad guy is caught once more with the police just outside the door listening in, so the go-to plot points were getting a hefty workout.  It all amounts to knowingly cornball stuff, even if the presentation is dry and without much of any campy flourishes.  This was the second and last of the Inner Sanctum movies to pair Chaney with his usual costar Evelyn Ankers, yet their chemistry is lacking.  Speaking of Chaney, he goes through the motions here for the first time in the series, but this is mostly due to his bland character who does not have much to do besides brood and disappear for several portions of the running time.  Martin Kosleck is better utilized as a shady doctor turned wax sculptor, with his naturally sinister demeanor letting the audience in on the fact that he is up to no good even before such things are officially confirmed. 

STRANGE CONFESSION

(1945)

Dir - John Hoffman

Overall: MEH

 

The first in the Inner Sanctum series from Universal to entirely forgo any horror and/or mystery elements, Strange Confession, (The Missing Head), at least gets points for changing up the formula.  It also deserves some props for shining a light on unethical pharmaceutical drug production, be it a simplified, melodramatic light.  Still, there were not many films of either the A or B variety from the era to delve into such controversial issues that ring even more ugly and true eight decades later.  Lon Chaney Jr is a sought-after chemist who goes back to work for his shady former employer played by J. Carrol Naish who bypasses as many avenues as possible to increase his profits.  Things play out in a predictable fashion where we know the bad guy is up to no good every step of the way and that it is only a matter of time before Chaney discovers the level of betrayal that he has suffered, but the finale still packs a gruesome punch.  M. Coates Webster's script cannot justify its mere sixty-three minute length as it still comes off as stretched-out with no action until the very end, but is is a harmlessly efficient watch.  Plus Lloyd Bridges is in it so that is something.

PILLOW OF DEATH

(1945)

Dir - Wallace Fox

Overall: MEH

Universal wraps up their Inner Sanctum mystery series with the first and only one not to open with David Hoffman's disembodied head in a crystal ball.  The goofy title Pillow of Death actually proves appropriate in the movie's final moments where the killer's method of offing their victims is revealed and the road to get there is colored by a couple of seances and red herrings.  Lon Chaney Jr. is an attorney this time who is suspected along with several other would-be culprits of not only killing his wife, but two other people as things keep moving, with a sly, psychic medium, crotchety heiress and her dinner-craving husband, wackadoo maid, eavesdropping neighbor, and attractive secretary all thrown into the mix.  As is typical of the now six-movie-deep franchise, both the melodrama and the camp are dished out gingerly as to not become too unintentionally silly, yet this is also at the cost of making the final product as memorable as it could be.  The film has some macabre atmosphere of only the most mild variety and while director Wallace Fox keeps the talky plot moving forward as much as can be expected, it still results in a mediocre at best whodunit.