Juggernaut

Dr. Sartorius (Boris Karloff) is without financial means to experiment for a paralysis cure and must give up his lab work. He meets Lady Yvonne Clifford (Mona Goya), a very wealthy wife of an ailing cotton millionaire Sir Charles Clifford (Morton Selten). Lady Clifford asks Dr. Sartorius to help her obtain her husband's money. Dr Sartorius eager to obtain money for his expenses and laboratory studies, agrees to poison her husband, making it look like he died from natural causes. After a period of time, Sir Charles begins to suspect Dr. Sartorius of making him gravely ill. This Karloff movie has a very different ending which surprised me. Karloff is without any monster makeup, however, he is terrifying and proves to be a very evil French doctor as usual.

Boris Karloff is cast once again as a man of science in the British independent film Juggernaut released here by the short lived Grand National studio. Science might be Boris's game, but he's not mad just led terribly astray.

It's his research and his own mortality that Karloff is worried about, that he might die before finding a cure for some tropical diseases. He's been cut off from research funds and left at sea.

Enter Mona Goya, trophy wife of rich old Morton Selten who is not in good health, but not dying fast enough to suit Mona. She's already got Anthony Ireland in tow ready to share in the fortune when the old coot croaks. But Selten isn't croaking fast enough to suit her.

Enter Karloff who needs money for his research and do I have to go into the rest of it for you? The whole thing ends in one sudden melodramatic climax as if the rest of the film wasn't melodramatic enough.

What is good about Juggernaut that without his usual makeup and sinister science as part of the plot, Karloff does do a very good job as a man who succumbs to evil so he can put a coda of good on his life. But the whole film is really rather far fetched and could have used better writing and production values.

My Ratings: Story 1.00 : Direction 1.00 : Pace 1.00 : Acting 0.75 : Entertaining 0.75 Total 4.50 out of 10.00.

Sometimes you have to go back to the days of overacting and melodrama. Should you have one of those days then this film is for you.

It's a decent story. A doctor, who has been hampered and hindered by government grants, rather than helped, has to find another way to fund his research. Enter the Clifford family. Papa Clifford is not a well man and his new wife, Yvonne, cannot wait for the inheritance. She hires the good doctor so he can run his experiments and get his much-needed money... just as long as hubby doesn't last too long.

I would have to say I would love to read the novel Alice Campbell wrote, as I don't believe the writers did it justice with the screenplay. Many times there's a disjointedness to the tale. This may be down to the quick cutting editor or director, though I cannot help but think it's the writers. Also, a wee bit more characterisation wouldn't have gone amiss. This would have been a nice way to show motive and motivation. That said, it is watchable, just could have been better.

Which is the same for the direction. Henry Edwards isn't a bad director, however, he is a mite pedestrian in his techniques. He stomps through the story at a brisk pace; sometimes with a heavy foot. The climax is the best example of this. If I'd gone to the picture theatre and paid my hard-earned money to watch this film, I would have felt more than an iota of upset. The ending comes quickly and is over just as fast and credits roll. It would have been nice to have a build-up to the ending. Then a couple of short scenes to tie off all the loose threads; of which there are three major yarns left dangling.

As for the acting, Boris Karloff is okay as the good "Bad" doctor Sartorius. Shame they typecast him as the baddie as you've seen this character before. It would have been nice if he had been the father of the Clifford family. Let him stretch his acting wings a little. The best actor was Arthur Margetson, who played Roger Clifford. He is natural and relaxed. His character is the most realistic and believable. He made this film more watchable for me. Now we come to the great melodramatic overtones... while the lead actresses were good, they must have come from the silent era as they were both superb at the pertinent pause and significant stare. The only thing missing was the orchestration of, "Da Dah DAHHH!"

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. It's not a bad waste of time in this coronavirus void. There's a slight mystery in the story. It's also good to see how things were done in Yesteryear. The way the story is told, and the filmmaking adds an unintentional lightness to the viewing experience... plus it's not that long.

Now briskly stride on over to my The Game Is Afoot list to see where I've ranked this deadly little thriller.

Take Care & Stay Well.

Juggernaut is really a very low budget film that holds interest as it was one of several British films made by Boris Karloff after he made his name in Hollywood for making horror films for Universal Pictures.

Karloff plays Dr Sartorius somewhere in north Africa whose funding for medical experiments has been cut. Distraught he succumbs to the dastardly plans of Yvonne Clifford (Mona Goya) a greedy, philandering wife of a rich old man. She wants Sartorius to poison her husband so she can inherit his fortune and he gets money for his research. Her plans become unstuck when she finds out that her stepson will administer his father's estate.

Goya is wildly over the top in her performance, Karloff is rather laid back even though he is playing a sinister role.

There is actually a rather short film but still packs a plot and some poor acting.

Boris Karloff is a research doctor who needs money to complete his research. He's returned to Britain to search for backers, and gets involved in one of those family situations. Old Morton Selten is married to young Mona Goya, and she has a young man on the string. Selten is failing, so Karloff is called in, Meanwhile, Selten has changed his will and given power of attorney to his son, Arthur Margetson; he hates Miss Goya and she him. Suddenly, Margetson is dead, and the nurse, Joan Wyndham suspects foul play.

It's a pretty good murder movie, one of the last that Henry Edwards directed for Julius Hagen. Karloff is, as always, a treat to watch, playing his doctor with intelligence, although he clearly finds the screaming and shouting going on a distraction from his duties; Miss Wyndham is good as the nurse who suspects the worse and finds herself trapped. There's also Nina Boucicault as Selten's sister; she was the daughter of the dramatist Dion Boucicault, and the first women to play Peter Pan.

It's a solid effort, with its only flaw the blaring theme by W. L. Trytel. Karloff had made three films in Great Britain in quick succession. After this, it was back to the US; Charlie Chan needed him.