Tonight's movie was "The Return Of Doctor X" (1939), taken from my six movie "Legends Of Hollywood Horror" collection. I've watched five of these films so far, and every one has been first rate, not just spooky but exceptionally weird, and this sequel to "Doctor X" is no exception. The original Doctor was on a demented quest to develop Synthetic Flesh, which he altruistically thought would help people who had been disfigured in various ways, but of course one of his insane laboratory assistants was using the "flesh" to disguise himself while he committed murders at night.
A rather cheery picture it was! :)
In "The Return Of Doctor X", no mention is made of the good doctor for much of the 62 minute film. Instead, we have a "Doctor Flegg" (played by the oft-seen '30s actor John Litel). Doctor Flegg, in addition to being a surgeon, is running a research lab specializing in blood donation. On the surface, he seems to be trying to match blood donors of all types with patients in local hospitals in order to save lives.
The movie starts with a hotshot New York newspaper reporter trying to get an interview with a famous Eastern European actress (Lya Lys). She seems a bit like Vampira, and when he shows up to interview her, he finds her dead on the floor of her swanky hotel room.
The reporter dashes back to his newspaper headquarters to tell his boss he's got a scoop : Dead actress found!
The only problem is that when they run the story, the "dead actress" shows up at the newspaper offices threatening to sue. The publisher is humiliated and pissed, and the reporter is fired.
He did notice, however, that Miss Vampira, looked a bit pale when she showed up unexpectedly at the office. So he badgers her into another interview, swears he saw her dead the first time, and she confesses that she is under the care of Doctor Flegg, a famous researcher who is trying to develop a "synthetic blood" to help those in need of transfusions. He believes his new blood will eliminate the need for human donors. She claims that her "death" was only the result of unconsciousness brought about by a trial run of the Doctor's artificial blood.
Did I mention that the Horror plots were really weird in the 1930s?
And this isn't the half of it. You see, when the reporter goes to ask his reputable doctor friend (played by handsome good guy Dennis Morgan) about the so-called "artificial blood" theory, and to swear that he saw Vampira dead in the first place, the two men are both now intrigued enough to go directly to Doctor Flegg himself, to ask him what in the world is going on.
And that's where trouble starts, because before they are allowed to see Doctor Flegg at his research lab, they first must deal with his assistant, a white lab-coat wearing creepy crawler with a ghost white face named "Quesne" (pronounced "Kane") and played to the height of sublime strangeness by none other than Humphrey Bogart.
Once Bogie shows up, with a white streak in his hair to go with his white face makeup, the whole movie turns into a Halloween-worthy ghoulish extravaganza. The reporter and the good doctor (Morgan) visit morgues and cemeteries trying to uncover the mysteries of Mr. Quesne and "Vampira" the undead actress.
Why are they so pale? Why are their handshakes so clammy? Why do they look like they're deceased?
Probably because they are. This much is surmised by the dynamic investigative duo. Graves are exhumed and mortuary drawers are opened in their investigation, which leads back to Doctor Flegg and his assistant, Zombie Bogart.
You have gotta see Bogie's performance to appreciate what a good actor he really was, because it is so different from anything else he ever did. I will post a clip on FB.
And so, two very big Thumbs Up for "The Return Of Doctor X", which I think I liked even more than the first one, the original "Doctor X" from 1932. That movie had a more detailed story and more Mad Scientist involvement, but it boiled down to a murder mystery - which is fine - but it could've taken the Really Weird Route that was explored in the first half of the story, and it could have finished by exploring the horrific medical aspect.
I think that "The Return Of Doctor X" actually does a better job of that, because it is all about the medical creepiness, and the adjoining Death Aspect.
It must be noted that the actual "Doctor X" does indeed make an appearance, and it involves a huge plot twist, one that would be considered weird, creepy and demented even today.
So I can't tell you what it is, but I can reassure you that, because they knew how to make movies in the Golden Era, they never gross you out, even in the most explicit revelations.
Certain things are said, but nothing terrible is lingered on.
It was all about creating a Spook Show, and that it definitely is.
"The Return Of Doctor X" is a must see, I think, if for no other reason than Humphrey Bogart's highly unusual appearance. And because it's really weird. And because it's filmed in black and white. ////
Elizabeth, I thought your profile pic this morning was great! Wow, what an image, and now picture in your mind that your film is playing over and over to hundreds of people each day.
Even people just driving by are absorbing it, because they can't help but look up at the StandardVision screen.
I myself will be seeing it in person at some point before September 19th, and that will be awesome too.
I also saw your photo on FB Stories, of you by the lake in Madison, and I hope you are enjoying being back in your hometown in the Summertime.
For us here in the Valley, I think we have just had our hottest July ever. It is super humid as I write, never going much below 80 even on the coolest nights, and straight 97 to 101 degrees for the whole month, with high humidity, not including the charbroiler temps of 110+ that we had during the heatwave.
I got some Terro Ant Bait and it seems to be working after a day and a half. We had a major infestation, but I did some Googling and Terro seems to be the stuff to buy. So far so good.
Sorry to the ants, but what can you do when they are overrunning your house?
What would Doctor X have done?
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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