Schwarzer Freitag

In Black Friday, Stanley Ridges delivers one of the most incredible performances I have even seen commited to celluloid.As the meek University professor who unknowing receives part of a dead gangster's brain, Ridges is amazing.When the gangsters personality surfaces, Ridge's speech and mannerisms are transformed.He is convincing as a brutal, homicidal gangster and seems like a different actor.He steals the film easily from Lugosi and Karloff (No simple task!) and leaves you spellbound throughout.This one is worth the rental!

if you found this film in your "Bela Lugosi Collection" or some other feature with Karloff and Lugosi, you will probably be disappointed the two horror stars were minor players.

This movie is really about the Stanley Ridges character of a College professor who finds part of the brain of a gangster implanted in his head. You have some very nice transformational scenes where the actor changes personality by merely changing his hairstyle and mannerisms.

It is said Karloff was supposed to play the professor/gangster, and Lugosi the doctor, but they changed casting at the last minute when Karloff balked at what he thought would be too complicated a role. Ridges pulls it off perfectly. And sadly, the guy is probably not remembered for much of anything else.

Ruthless gangster by night, meek college professor by day.

Really a B-movie, but fun to watch.

After his close friend, an affable and absent minded college professor (Stanley Ridges) is critically injured when a gangster runs him down, Karloff does what any other doctor would do – he transplants the gangster's brain into Ridges' head. Incredibly, Karloff manages to do this by himself, with no one at the hospital knowing about it. What's more, he doesn't need prior authorization from Ridges' health insurance company. In fact, Karloff does such a great job, there are no scars on Ridges, and he also maintains his full head of hair.

It seems the gangster has hidden 500 grand somewhere, so Karloff figures maybe he can coax the location out of Ridges, who is starting to act strangely. In short order, the gangster brain takes over, and Ridges (now looking about 30 years younger) goes on a killing spree, exacting revenge on his former gang. On occasion, he returns to his professor self. How will this all end? If you can ignore the stupidity involved, this is one of the most entertaining of the Universal horror flicks. Beautifully paced, never dull, the film benefits from a great Hans J. Salter score, with familiar themes he used over and over in multiple films. Karloff is fine as the doctor. But the real star is Ridges, who is outstanding in a dual role. Anne Nagel, as the gangster's girlfriend, is gorgeous. Murray Alper is very amusing as a confused bellboy. However, Bela Lugosi, billed second, is woefully miscast as one of the gangsters.

There are so few films in which either Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi are in where they do not steal each and every scene, but Black Friday is indeed one such film. Character actor Stanley Ridges delivers the performance of his career as a dottering English literature professor that has the brain cells from a gangster implanted into his brain in order to save his life. Dr. Slovac, deliciously played by Karloff, performs the necessary surgery and soon puts his friend's life in peril as he tries to force him to relive memories in order to find five hundred thousand dollars. Ridges basically flows from one personality to another. The transformation is incredible as he looks and speaks and moves like a completely different actor in every way. He certainly deserved some recognition for this acting feat. The story has the feel of a gangster film mixed with supernatural elements. Lugosi has a small(and I would argue thankless) role as a gangster. He has little to do with his role and does little with it. The cast is fine overall with a surprisingly good performance from the lovely Anne Nagel as the former gangster's moll. Fine Universal production values, intriguing writing by Curt Siodmak, and the performance of a lifetime from Ridges make this film a cinematic treat. Just for added measure are a couple of guys named...Karloff and Lugosi. Too bad they do not share a scene in the film!

In order to save a friend's life (Ridges), Dr. Ernest Sovac (Karloff) must perform a "brain transplantation" using the brain from a gangster (also played by Ridges). It is an illegal operation and one that has horrifying results. I must admit I had a hard time getting past the idea that a man who had a brain transplant would make up and still be himself (and not the person whose brain he now had), but once I did I enjoyed all the wonderful melodramatic hooey. Karloff is great in his role as the caring doctor with a sinister motive for saving his friend's life and Lugosi is super in his unusual role as a gangster (despite his European accents). But Stanley Ridges stole this show and did a perfect job with his Jekyll and Hyde personas.