Le Monstre de minuit

A rather busy plot (for a 60-minute programmer, anyway) ensures that there's little padding other than the obligatory romantic interest between the highlights (my favorite being Lugosi's cold-blooded rooftop disposal) - not that the film reaches any particular heights, but it's certainly enjoyable and engaging while it's on. The dual nature of Lugosi's character and the 'mission' setting hark back to DARK EYES OF London (1939), and this one too can be chalked up among the star's better 40s efforts. There's even some smart dialogue to boot ("I wouldn't trust you with a bad case of dandruff" and Lugosi describing Fingers Dolan's use of criminal slang as "picturesque", etc) and the poster for THE CORPSE VANISHES (1942) on a theater marquee was a cool 'in-joke'.

Bela Lugosi is in fine form playing Karl Wagner, a sweet soul with a soft touch who runs a nightly Bowery mission, spooning out bowls of soup for needy tramps with nowhere to go. When he recognizes a new customer as an escaped safe cracker called "Fingers" Dolan, Wagner kindly escorts the convict to a hidden room and offers him a cigar. During the leisurely smoke, the host confides that he's admired Dolan's work for a long time, and springs a surprise on him: Bela's actually a crime boss, using the mission as a front and looking for someone new to join his racket. By day, Wagner leads a double-life as a professor named Dr. Brenner. When he's not showering his unsuspecting wife with gifts from his nightly escapades he teaches a class on psychology.

The potential is there for this to be as confusing as it sounds, but taken slowly it can be a hoot. An interesting ending, too, makes one suspect it was a possible influence for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Simply stated, BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT is one of the best of the poverty row pics made by Monogram studios with Bela Lugosi in the forties. Really more of a crime story with an occasional dash of horror as an added condiment, this is a tasty 62 minutes of absurd fun done on the cheap. **1/2 out of ****

Next to "Invisible Ghost" and "The Corpse Vanishes", this is probably the best of the old Monogram series. ("The Devil Bat", my number one favorite of the "Poverty Row" thrillers was not Monogram, but PRC). Bela Lugosi plays a mad psychologist who moonlights in the dark of night as a master criminal who uses a charity mission as a front. In this film, Lugosi demonstrates not one, but three different personalities. Moreover, the plot gets slightly convoluted compressed into a quick 62 minute running time. Some scenes such as the basement graveyard and the undead zombie attack during the film's climax are very hair-raising indeed.

7/10.

Dan Basinger

In the 1942 Monogram horror cheapie "Bowery at Midnight," Bela Lugosi plays quite the enterprising fellow, not just moonlighting...but double moonlighting! By day, he works as a college psychology professor named Frederick Brenner. By night, under his Karl Wagner alias, he runs a soup kitchen/hospital for the poor in NYC's Bowery. But wait...as Wagner, he is also the mastermind of a burglary ring that has lately been scourging the area. This ring is small in number, as Wagner has a habit of killing off one of his henchmen every time a heist is performed, and burying him in his basement...with named placards in lieu of headstones, no less! Anyway, the picture has been competently directed by Wallace Fox, who had already worked with Bela on two previous Monogram films, "Spooks Run Wild" ('41) and "The Corpse Vanishes" ('42); I wonder how this director would have fared with a budget larger than a few thousand bucks, some shoestrings and two bottle caps. In a relatively no-name cast, Tom Neal, playing Bela's sadistic gunsel, is a welcome presence; he would, of course, go on to achieve cult status by dint of his work in that truly bizarre film noir, "Detour" ('45). "Bowery at Midnight," at 63 minutes, never wears out its welcome, despite some occasional lame humor, incredibly chintzy sets and an unfortunate dependence on unlikely coincidence. (Really, what are the odds of Wagner's soup kitchen assistant being the fiancée of one of Brenner's students?) I mentioned up top that this is a horror film, but honestly, the only genuine horror elements here are Bela himself and the fact that his drunken doctor pal manages, inexplicably, to bring all his buried victims back to life. And speaking of inexplicable, just what is the deal with that map of Australia that Wagner keeps on his wall? Best not to ask such questions, I suppose. Just sit back and enjoy the spectacle of one of our true horror icons essentially playing three different roles in one hour. From a Poverty Row studio, that really IS value for money!

Bowery at Midnight (1942)

** (out of 4)

Professor Karl Wagner (Bela Lugosi) is a highly respected man who helps run a food kitchen that feeds homeless and poor people. At night he's taking advantage of the same people forcing them to do his illegal crimes including murder. BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT is yet another low-budget quickie from Monogram and while the story itself is pretty lacking, the film remains watchable thanks to a fast pace as well as the performance from Bela Lugosi. It's really a shame that the film doesn't feature a tad bit more life because it could have been something rather good had more time with the story been done. Lugosi is very good in the lead role and it's funny that during the opening credits his name appears twice for playing the two characters. One of the biggest reasons that the film works as well as it does is because Lugosi is very believable as both the good guy and the bad guy. I really liked the way Lugosi played the good professor because he made you believe that this guy couldn't be doing anything wrong. That cheerful glee from the bad guy also comes across flawlessly and especially when he gets to show how cold blooded the character is. Wanda McKay is good in her supporting role as the woman helping Lugosi not knowing exactly what he's up to. The rest of the supporting players fit their roles nicely and certainly help keep the film moving. The biggest problem is that the story just needed a little bit more work to make it something more than just a routine "B" picture.