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!

Karloff stars as a surgeon who's close friend Stanley Ridges is fatally wounded in a car accident with a notorious gangster. To save his life, Karloff transplants part of the gangster's brain into his friend's head, killing the gangster in the process. Karloff realizes that the gangster's personality is preserved in his friend's brain, and decides to exploit this to find out where a missing stash of $500,000 is hidden. An interesting take on Jekyll and Hyde with Ridges changing back and forth between a mild mannered English professor and a ruthless gangster, with Karloff playing the scientist who increasingly loses perspective on how badly he's exploiting his friend. Lugosi is here too in the extremely questionable role as a rival gangster. He's okay ... but he's very obviously wrong for this part.

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.

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.

Okay when I sat down to watch this film the other night it was with dread.All I had ever heard was how this wasn't a horror movie and it was a cheat because Lugosi & Karloff didn't have any scenes together.

Guess what?It was a darn fine movie.This falls more into a gangster/mad scientist type of genre but is a lot of fun just the same. Stanley Ridges actually steals the movie with his performance as the teacher/gangster.Karloff is his usual wonderful self.Lugosi does a great job in the allegedly thankless role of Varney the gangster.

Rather than go into the details of this little gem why don't you see if you can find a copy of it and watch it.