Doctor X.

Review #2608: Doctor X.

Cast: 

Lionel Atwill (Dr. Jerry Xavier), Fay Wray (Joanne Xavier), Lee Tracy (Lee Taylor), Preston Foster (Dr. Wells), John Wray (Dr. Haines), Harry Beresford (Dr. Duke), Arthur Edmund Carewe (Dr. Rowitz), Leila Bennett (Mamie), Robert Warwick (Police Commissioner Stevens), George Rosener (Otto), and Willard Robertson (Detective O'Halloran) Directed by Michael Curtiz (#125 - Casablanca, #416 - Yankee Doodle Dandy, #505 - The Adventures of Robin Hood, #529 - Mildred Pierce, #719 - Mystery of the Wax Museum, #1370 - Life with Father, #2267 - The Walking Dead)

Review: 

Oh sure, let's pick another mad scientist movie from the old old days. At least this one came before the advent of the Production Code, which means you can get a movie with themes that involves murder and cannibalism (okay you won't see people eat others straight up, but, well, beggars can't be choosers), complete with the early two-color Technicolor process (for over 40 years, only the black-and-white version was thought to exist).. The film is based on the 1931 play of the same name by Howard W. Cornstock and Allen C. Miller, for which Robert Tasker and Earl Baldwin served as the credited writers on the film (incidentally, there was an actual killer with one nickname being the "Moon Maniac" that had killed and apparently eaten several people prior to being apprehended in 1934 and executed). A mild success with audiences, Curtiz wound up directing Mystery of the Wax Museum the following year in that soon-to-be obsolete Technicolor process, complete with Atwill and Wray as the leads and a few returning crew members (such as cameraman Ray Rennahan and designer Anton Grot). 1939 saw The Return of Doctor X from Warner Bros. that isn't exactly a sequel given its completely different cast (complete with Humphrey Bogart as the re-named title character). Night Monster (1942), released by Universal featured Atwill in a similar scientist role.

You might wonder what's the setup for something that only goes 76 minutes. Well, it involves an investigator sticking his nose all over figuring out who the creepy man is going around killing people on a full moon that leads to suspicion around a medical academy and the oddballs that are around it (an amputee that studied cannibalism, a pervert voyeur, a paralytic, and a guy studying the effects of the moon). Trying to measure who did it by electrical systems getting the heart rate up before a re-enactment doesn't work the first time but trying it the second time with the people handcuffed to the seats leads to the real creep. This barely mentions the outright annoyance that comes with the bumbling reporter played by Tracy that just has to pervade the movie, complete with time spent in a spooky house (skeletons!) before you get what you really want to know: what lies beneath "synthetic flesh" and the makeup of a nutty scientist? Wray probably comes out the best in spry charm (one has to when playing against a goof before having to be the one rescued at the end), although Atwill certainly made enough of an impression (not quite at full ham, but jolly would be the best way to describe it) that he would get tabbed to do a number of mysteries/horror dramas for the next decade. It all really goes on how much exposition you are willing to go with for this movie, which seems to dawdle on getting to the point of its mumbo-jumbo science when all you need to know is that a guy is going around with hands to spare eating people and will gradually reveal themselves anyway regardless of any "traps". The effect for the actual monster does look pretty good in a disturbing type of clay-man that goes hand in hand with the old comic book type of color present for the film that does give the film a look worthy enough to keep invested. As a whole, Doctor X is a mixed bag: it bumbles and stumbles around the most interesting part of what you might expect from a mystery horror with a fluky setup that happens to also look pretty fascinating with a useful enough edge when actually dealing with the murky world of men and flesh that may make it a worthwhile time.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day! 

Kansas City Confidential.

Review #1381: Kansas City Confidential.

Cast: 
John Payne (Joe Rolfe), Coleen Gray (Helen Foster), Preston Foster (Tim Foster), Neville Brand (Boyd Kane), Lee Van Cleef (Tony Romano), Jack Elam (Pete Harris), Dona Drake (Teresa), and Mario Siletti (Tomaso) Directed by Phil Karlson.

Review: 
"This was so far ahead of itself that I say these pictures have been copied and recopied so many times. Unfortunately Phil Karlson never got the credit for it because I've never been a publicity hound. I come from the school where what we want to be judged by is up on the screen, not by how well I know so-and-so or so-and-so."

One can always find themselves in the mood for a hardboiled noir, whether it has a budget behind it or stars to look forward to. This falls right into the alley for producer Edward Small, who had a lengthy career of 53 years from his first Who's Your Neighbor? (1917) to The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970). Small produced a variety of genres and worked with various studios in his time through his production company, such as Eagle-Lion Films with Raw Deal (1948) and United Artists with films such as Witness for the Prosecution (1957). One particular director that worked with Small was Phil Karlson, with this being one of eight films that the two worked on together. Karlson worked on a variety of small films for a various group of studios from his start at Monogram Pictures to Columbia Pictures that worked for a variety of actors, such as John Payne, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, and Joe Don Baker in a career of 31 years that had standouts such as The Phenix City Story (1955), The Silencers (1966), and Walking Tall (1973). Three further films were made with the Confidential title in New York Confidential (1955), Chicago Confidential (1957), and Hong Kong Confidential (1958), all of which were produced by Small.

One can see the makings of an interesting little film with its semi-documentary look and a composed pace of 99 minutes that generates a neat noir worthy of consideration from the public domain. One film that seems to have taken some inspiration from this was Reservoir Dogs (1992) with its aspects of the robbery. The screenplay was done by George Bruce and Harry Essex, while Harold Greene and Rowland Brown did the story. Payne (known for his musical and noir roles) does a fine job in his weary urgency, capable of throwing a punch alongside casual criminal conversation. Gray accompanies the film once the film jumps to its real setting (Mexico, filmed in California), and she makes for a fair innocent presence in a film with plenty of shade around her. Foster proves to be a sharp careful presence as the film's big bad, one that differs from the usual in being a good cop gone bad. Brand, Van Cleef, and Elam make for adequate heavies to view alongside the blunt nature of the film, comprised of the perfect caper and the attempts to escape its consequences. It follows plenty of noir aspects to a T with its own blunt edge that overcomes some of its low-budget limitations. Sure, it is the kind of film that you can see coming with its endgame, but it is all in the chase that really matters in the long run, where darkness has a little light at the end of the tunnel. In that regard, this is a fair experience to behold, one with plenty of punches to pack in its little cynical world without becoming a parody of itself, filled with a carefully picked cast and capable directing to make a fair gem worth thinking about at least once.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.