The Mysterious Doctor

The doctor of the title is Dr. Frederick Holmes (Lester Matthews). He comes upon a small, fog-bound English village in WWII England. It contains a tin mine--tin which is badly needed in the war against the Nazis. But the local men are terrified to go into the mine because of the headless ghost that roams the mine and kills people. The bodies start piling up and the village starts to get very panicked....

Strange combo of patriotism and horror story. The plot is totally predictable (although there were a few surprises at the end) and this has a cast of B actors (John Loder, Eleanor Parker) or total unknowns. Still, it's pretty good. The settings are fairly elaborate (I suspect they were shooting on the sets of other films), the constant fog provides a nice spooky atmosphere, the appearances of the ghost are kind of fun and the acting is pretty decent--Parker especially does wonders with her role as "the girl" and Loder is tall, handsome and seems to be really enjoying himself.

Nothing new or thrilling but competent and quick (59 minutes). There are worse ways to kill an hour.

It would sure look that way. Fog-shrouded forests are more akin to the Universal landscape of the Wolfman films or those of Sherlock Holmes than of the urban crime thrillers at Warners. While it starts out as a pure horror film, it soon settles nicely into a wartime thriller which may "cheat" a bit on the Grand Guignol, but it's still enjoyable and it's briskly paced at around an hour.

Lester Matthews, who was seen likely to inherit Valerie Hobson in "The Werewolf of London" is the doctor of the title. Some in the village think that he may be a spy who descended on the moors with a parachute and may be up to no good - he keeps asking about the tin mine. It's WWII time, and tin is a most needed commodity. But the locals are afraid to work the mine as there happens to be a headless ghost prowling around.

Matthews as Doctor Holmes (interesting choice of character names) goes to check out the mine, but meanwhile he's being checked out by the innkeeper - a man whose face is covered by a mask since he was involved in a mine explosion that horribly scarred his face. Meanwhile, checking them both out is the village idiot and a headless ghost - suddenly there's more mine traffic than anyone's seen in years.

This is one of those films in which one has to drop all questions - at 57 minutes, there isn't time to ask any, and just enjoy the atmosphere. Not only the moors and the mine, but the performances of a Britain as only Hollywood could conceive it and transplanted British actors could play it. The characters in the inn could well have come from Whale's "The Invisible Man" - or perhaps more aptly Beebe's "The Invisible Man's Revenge." No matter, they're colorful and led by local squire John Loder who had the pleasure of going home to Hedy Lamarr at the time. He lent a solid presence to several "B" horrors of the 40s - such as "The Brighton Strangler" and "A Game of Death." Also in the cast is a most youthful Eleanor Parker looking radiant. Matt Willis is the mentally challenged villager, and damned if he doesn't resemble Lon Chaney Jr's Lennie - just as he resembled Chaney's Wolfman in "Return of the Vampire."

The sharp cinematography is by Henry Sharp (a deliberate pun) who photographed Vidor's "The Crowd" as well as Lang's "Ministry of Fear" and the Technicolor opus "Dr. Cyclops." This was quite a talent to snare for a "B" film, one would want to credit the producer for such a coup, but for some reason there isn't one credited. Bryan Foy was over at Warners and in charge of their "B" unit, but his name isn't on screen. If someone thought the project unworthy, they were wrong - it may have had only slightly better than a PRC or Monogram budget, but the results were light years apart. It's closer to Val Lewton, or 20th-Fox' "The Undying Monster" and from this writer's perspective, that's praise indeed.

Mysterious Doctor, The (1943)

*** (out of 4)

Strange horror/mystery from Warner has a small town living in fear that a headless ghost stalks their fog filled town. Legend has it that the ghost haunts a local tin mine and will kill anyone who goes close. This is a rather unique little film because of what was going on in the real world at the time. We all know that WW2 was going strong and a lot of war talk often made its way into movies but very few horror films had this. That's not the case here as this film features plenty of talk about the war and Hitler, which is used to show that other fears can cause people to hide when they should be out fighting. The actual story isn't all that original but with these added fears it makes for an interesting film. The mystery aspect of the movie also works quite well as the truth behind the legend is never really known. The atmosphere is another bonus as it really comes off and feels like a Universal film from the period. John Loder, Eleanor Parker, Bruce Lester and Lester Matthews turns in good performances in this forgotten gem, which desperately needs to be released to DVD.

"The Mysterious Doctor" is an enjoyable, atmospheric B movie about a unmine-able tin mine in Morgan's Head, England, due to the presence of a headless ghost. It's wartime and the country needs the tin, but no amount of persuading can get the workers back after so many people have been killed by the spirit, which goes back to a local legend in the town.

It sure feels and looks British, and the cast includes a young, vibrant Eleanor Parker who fits right in with actors John Loder and others.

This is an excellent little wartime gem. Don't miss it when it's on TCM.

Dark, foggy, lantern-lit settings abound in this 1943 second run feature about a headless ghost(no horse) that terrorizes an old mine, still laden with tin needed by the British against the Germans in WWII. Heavy on atmosphere and light on originality, The Mysterious Doctor comes off rather well due to its effective and crisp cinematography, solid character acting, and competent direction. Director Benjamin Stoloff moves with such a fast pace that the film's 57 minute length seems almost too short to have covered what this film covers. Don't expect any great and clever plot twists here as the film's hero and villain should be quite obvious shortly - especially if you remember what the title of the film is. Eleanor Parker is in the film as the female lead, but her role has little depth to it. There are some nice performances by John Loder, Lester Matthews, and I particularly liked the feeling and sincerity in Matt Willis's portrayal of the village idiot. Willis gives more than just a one-dimensional performance, and this is quite evident in the scene with the children goading him. But these actors and the fine, able group of terrified, pub-drinking villagers of Cornwall are far more defined by their aiding the atmosphere of the film - the film's chief character. Though their are a few grisly murders shown off-stage, the film has a rather light touch to it despite this and the foggy mood. Films like this were very formulaic, and it is important that one of its chief goals was to serve England in its battle with the Germans. Once you understand that, everything falls into place. Nonetheless, this is an interesting film with some style.