Tonight I watched another classic from my Hollywood Legends Of Horror box set. It was called "Doctor X" (1932), and was directed for an early movie studio called First National Pictures by Michael Curtiz, who would go on to fame with "Casablanca" a decade later. "Doctor X" stars Lionel Atwill as a scientist in charge of a medical laboratory in which cutting edge experimentation is taking place. However, the local Long Island police have come to suspect the researchers at the laboratory as possible perpetrators in a series of grisly murders, all of which have taken place near the lab. Furthermore, it has been determined that a specific type of scalpel has been used in the killings, a scalpel purchased (of course) "by only one facility in the entire country"! The Laboratory.
Dr. X (short for Xavier) swears he knows nothing about these murders. In addition to the police, a local reporter is sneaking around and hiding out in his lab, attracted not only to the case but also by the Doctor's daughter, played by King Kong sweetheart Fay Wray.
Intrigue is building and the cops are under pressure to find the killer, who - please put your hands over your eyes if squeamish - has also been cannibalizing the bodies. "Doctor X" was made pre-code, which once again means that it was more explicit for it's time than it would have been had it been released a few years later, after the Hays Code had been instituted, when a subject like cannibalism would've been taboo or only insinuated at best. In "Doctor X", they come right out and discuss it.
But - and The Squeamish may now return! - it is still not gross, just shocking for it's time. What is more important is that "Doctor X" is one of the great Mad Scientist Movies, because it has a whole bunch of Mad Scientists. Five, I think. Any one of them could be the killer, and Doctor X has to find out who it is before the police and the newspaperman do, because the bad publicity will ruin him and his lab.
Fortunately, he has the most high tech thermalelectromagnetic equipment available that he is going to use in a lie-detection experiment against his colleagues.
That is all I am going to tell you about the story, but about the Mad Scientist Aspect of the film I will rave a little bit. The sets are incredible, especially the Laboratory, with it's bubbling beakers and glass tubes and electrical dynamos. Karloff would be proud. There is also an Old Mansion on a Dark Scary Cliff that has many rooms and a Creepy Butler.
"Doctor X" was also a very early attempt at releasing a color film. The process used was two-strip Technicolor, a description of which I only learned about tonight by Googling, and which you can Google yourself if you wish. Normally as you know, I prefer all of my Golden Era films in black and white, but because this film was deliberately processed in the advanced-at-the-time two strip color format, I thought that it made the creepiness stand out even more, especially during the ten minute grand finale, which has to rank with the great Horror Movie endings of all time.
I think that there must have been a big Nicola Tesla influence in popular culture during that era, a fascination with electrical power, and I think that the movies used this as a drawing card over and over again in horror films. In "Doctor X", the use of makeup is demonstrated as another powerful effect, and I won't tell you why but it also has to do with the ending of the movie, which is 1000% classic!
Two Big Thumbs Up for "Doctor X". Soon we will watch "The Return Of Doctor X", which is also part of the box set. :)
Elizabeth, if you are reading I say congratulations on the continuing success of "Elemental". Though I haven't seen it myself, I knew that when it first screened, it was going to attract further attention. I mentioned this at the time, that there would be someone in the audience, or someone who was drawn to it via the screening, who would be in a position to advance it, and now it is gonna show in another country.
The reason I said this is because I knew you were gonna succeed. And I know that your career is going to build from this point. I see that you are gonna be working in Oregon, so I guess I was wrong about the day job thing. If so, hooray!
I have trouble getting things right, because of the FB situation.
But I think it's great that things are going well, and I am glad that you are posting.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment