The Man They Could Not Hang

Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) and his assistant are performing an experiment on reviving recently deceased people through use of an artificial heart. Unfortunately, the assistant's girlfriend is scared and runs to the police. They arrive before Savaard can complete the experiment and the assistant dies. Savaard is convicted and executed for murder. However, another assistant uses the artificial heart to bring him back to life. But the good doctor is batspit crazy and out for blood. So he starts killing off those he holds responsible for his death one by one. The first of several movies Karloff made for Columbia where he played a mad scientist type out for revenge. It's formulaic but it works. Karloff carries the movie as always.

Columbia's 'Mad Scientist' quintet was supervised by line producer Wallace MacDonald, the initial three all scripted by Karl Brown and directed by Nick Grinde, the template set from the start, Boris Karloff a dedicated researcher whose experiments often skirt into illegality, hoping to achieve something positive for mankind even if it means sacrificing a few lives (the actor's previous Columbia SON OF SHOCK titles included "Behind the Mask" and "The Black Room"). 1939's "The Man They Could Not Hang" actually kicks off exactly that way, an artificial heart made of glass designed to pump blood through tubes in an attempt to revive the actual human heart and restore life to a body that has been scientifically put to death to more easily perform surgery without the pressure of a race against time (commonly known today as open heart surgery, the film gets it right). His assistant Lang (Byron Foulger) is present along with a willing test subject (Stanley Brown) eager to do a great benefit for humanity, his complete trust in Karloff's Dr. Henryk Savaard undone by an unthinking fiancée (Ann Doran), her subsequent summoning of the police assuring the young man's demise. Pleas for one hour to save the boy's life fall upon deaf ears, a trumped up trial only a pretense for disbelieving medical authorities to put a stop to Savaard's incredible theories, the title incorrect for they DO actually hang him ("Before I Hang" should have sported this title, this one redubbed "After I Hang!"). Lang claims the corpse and revives Savaard, after which six of his jurors mysteriously suffer suicide by hanging, reporter 'Scoop' Foley (Robert Wilcox) joining the remaining jurors at the supposedly deserted Savaard home to learn the truth. Secure in the knowledge that no one would ever suspect a man legally dead, the now insane medico is determined to gain revenge on the short sighted authorities who denied him justice ("they killed the man I was"). The law of diminishing returns works against the four follow ups, and it's tough to imagine Karloff topping his performance here, from sympathetic entreaties for techniques to preserve life to embittered angel of death, a devoted dispenser of retribution. Interestingly, his Warners debut in "The Walking Dead" found him an innocent man electrocuted for a murder he didn't commit, restored to life by Edmund Gwenn, only his resurrection is a spiritual one, his enemies driven to destroy themselves through their own guilt.

This film was by all means a head of its times with heart transplants and mechanical parts in the year 1939. This films success was encouraged by a Dr. Robert Cornish who was a biochemist hired by Columbia pictures who present the idea of a mechanical heart. Columbia signed Karloff for several more films in the same theme, staring the actor onto his second "crazed scientist" cycle. It is unbelievable that for more than twenty-five years later, human lives were successfully prolonged by surgical heart transplants. Karloff looks less menacing that he has been in the past. Karloff as usual, turns in his usual good performance.

"The Man They Could Not Hang" is certainly a very watchable film. On the surface, it appears to be another mad-scientist-defies-nature story, but it has deeper roots.

Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) has designed an artificial heart and has tested it on various animals. A young man volunteers to be the first human recipient, so Savaard and his assistant terminate the man's life only to be interrupted mid-procedure, before they can restore the man's life.

What follows is a courtroom drama, then an Agatha Christie-like murder in a box, with a twist.

At each phase of the film, Dr. Savaard delivers a speech about science vs. ignorance, each with its own perspective. Each speech is well written and takes the story beyond the typical mad doctor genre.

This film does not fall into the horror genre. Perhaps the mere presence of Karloff prompted that labelling. But Savaard may be the most rational character in the film. It is a sci-fi crime story. And it is well worth watching and very entertaining.

Karloff plays Dr. Saavard, a scientist involved in creating an artificial heart and hopefully the means to extend life and perhaps realize immortality. A young man offers his services to him, and accidentally dies. Karloff is brought to trial, convicted and hung. He comes back(as we new he would from the name of the title) and seeks revenge on all those responsible for his "death." The story is fairly conventional and routine, but there are some splendid moments in the house of Karloff menacing his "guests" and letting each one know how long he or she has to live. The only real complaint I have deals with the ending which just cuts the tension that had been built up. The ending is rather make-shift and really spoiled the mood earlier created.