The Man in Half Moon Street

I thought about DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE whilst I watched this old film, not the same scheme, story, but the same kind of topic. Or PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY too. From a bland director such as Ralph Murphy, I did not expect much, but my doubts were not justified after all. It is not at the scale of an Albert Lewin's film level, nor any great director, but I spent a good time. Maybe a bit too long, seventy minutes would have been far enough. It is rare and worth watching for gem diggers. I don't know any of the actors, never heard of them but the acting is good, convincing. And the topic is also unusual.

THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (later remade by Hammer Films as THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH) is an overlooked and under-appreciated little horror-fantasy. Sometimes compared with Oscar Wilde's PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, unlike many genre efforts of the era, the film rarely seemed to get the same airplay on late night TV or on any of the "Shock Theatre" programs that were so popular in the pre-cable/pre-VCR days of the 1960s & 1970s. With so many of the classic horror films of the '30s and '40s now on DVD, and since Paramount produced THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (as well as handled distribution for the Hammer Films remake), it would be nice to see this released to DVD (possibly as a double feature with the Hammer Film production).

I had previously twice watched Terence Fisher's color remake of this one, THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH (1959) – made for Hammer Films – and, in fact, intend re-acquainting myself with it now for the sake of comparison with the original. Still, there is already little doubt in my mind that the later version is the superior adaptation of Barre' Lyndon's original play, not that I know (or much care) which one is actually the more faithful to it! As soon as I saw the Paramount logo, I recalled the fact that this had been released on VHS in the U.S. as a "Universal Horror Classic" (since the latter studio actually owns the rights to the vast majority of the former's library up to 1949!). Though their individual styles were very different, it is worth noting that Paramount did indeed turn out at least a couple of highly-regarded efforts during the genre's heyday, namely DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931) and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1933), to say nothing of such minor outings as MURDERS IN THE ZOO, SUPERNATURAL (both 1933) and THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL (1941).

With this in mind, I was quite looking forward to the film under review but, while it has undeniable surface polish, I was very disappointed by its relentlessly talky nature, which almost completely eschews the possibilities for horror found within its intriguing theme! The latter is actually rather similar to Oscar Wilde's "The Picture Of Dorian Gray", filmed contemporaneously – and, even if in similarly highbrow fashion, far more successfully – at MGM. Anyway, here we have Nils Asther (curious casting since he had not played in an 'A' picture or even a leading part in a decade!) as a scientist who has apparently stumbled upon the secret of eternal life. As a sideline, he has taken up painting – since his lovers cannot likewise reap the rewards of his Great Experiment until it has been perfected, he is considerate enough to do the next best thing and have them immortalized on canvas! This, however, almost brings about his downfall as he not only unwisely discloses intimate information at one of his exhibitions to an elderly lady he once knew (she assumes him to be merely a lookalike descendant!) but another patron seems to recognize the hand of an artist from his youth in Asther's latest painting (for which he is actually labeled a "copycat")!

Incidentally, given the brief time-span that the rejuvenation results in this type of fare usually remain effective for (say, in the Italian I VAMPIRI {1956} or the Mexican THE MARK OF DEATH {1961}), it is hard to believe that Asther here could retain his youthful (though he was in fact 47 when this was made!) appearance for 10 whole years! When the ageing symptoms begin to manifest themselves, he sends for an illustrious colleague (who, however, has lost his surgical abilities with the advancing years!) but, though they are shown as being of a comparable age in a photo from their student days, when Asther finally reverts to his true state at the end, he looks considerably older than his pal! Saving a young man from suicide, Asther discovers he is a medical student but rather than keep him to replace his old friend, he foolishly uses him as a donor (the rejuvenation being possible via a gland transplant) and soon dies. When he intends finding another 'guinea pig', his associate rebels and destroys a serum Asther used to take in order to control the ageing process, with the latter naturally killing the former for it! Leaving the country, ostensibly on a holiday, with his oblivious girlfriend in tow, Asther reverts to his real age during the train journey – though she swears to stick by him, the Police are after the colleague's murderer and, fleeing the scene, he simply drops dead on the spot!

As I said, the film is definitely interesting for its sophisticated approach to genre (though the 16mm print I watched was severely lacking when it comes to contrast levels – so vital in creating atmosphere in a horror movie – with virtually nonexistent blacks and suffered from a couple of instances where the image wobbled!), but I could not help feeling that so much more ought to have been done with the material at the film-makers' disposal; thankfully, the 1959 version (which, while not necessarily classic Horror is certainly vintage Hammer) rectified matters in this respect. Perhaps it is rather telling that, while THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET was shot in 1943 and trade-screened in October 1944, it was only given a theatrical release in January 1945!; for the record, this was director Ralph Murphy's sole foray into Fantasy and the first of his films that I have seen…but I do have 2 swashbucklers – THE LADY AND THE BANDIT (1951) and CAPTAIN PIRATE (1952) – patiently awaiting their turn in my unwatched pile.

I had a strong sense of déjà vu while watching The Man in Half Moon Street, but I knew I hadn't seen it before. I've just read up on the film, and it turns out that it was based on the same novel as the 1959 Hammer movie The Man Who Could Cheat Death, which starred Anton Diffring as a scientist who prolonged his life with gland transplants. That film was far from Hammer's best, despite a fine cast and solid direction from Terence Fisher - the plot was rather hackneyed and predictable. The Man in Half Moon Street suffers from the same problem; however, I do slightly prefer this version over Fisher's adaptation - it feels classier and has a bit more charm about it, but then I'm a sucker for an old black and white movie.

In The Man in Half Moon Street, Nils Asther plays scientist Dr. Julian Karell, who hasn't aged in decades thanks to the glandular operation devised with the help of his old friend Dr. Kurt van Bruecken (Reinhold Schünzel). The only problem with the procedure is that the donors, young medical students recruited by the scientists, have a habit of popping their clogs, and this comes to the attention of Det. Insp. Ned Garth (Matthew Boulton), who begins to suspect that Karell is older than he appears. Oblivious to Karell's true age is beautiful Eve Brandon (Helen Walker), the young woman that the scientist has fallen in love with.

The story writes itself: we know that Karell's secret will be discovered by the copper; we know that van Bruecken will ultimately refuse to help Karell any longer; and we know exactly how the film will end. The film works, not because of the plot, but because of the excellent performances, the stylish direction, the wonderful cinematography (foggy London looks great), and the impressive aging special effect at the end (which I assume was achieved using coloured filters).

This is kind of a Dorian Gray without the portrait.

Silent film hunk Nils Asther plays a 120-year-old man who is kept youthful by having glands from a younger man implanted surgically. He falls in love with a young woman (Helen Walker) and has asked his surgeon to come and operate on him as it's more important than ever that he stay youthful. When his surgeon (Reinhold Schunzel) is delayed in getting to him, he takes a potent to tide him over.

When his surgeon arrives, there are complications, particularly due to the suspicions of a doctor friend (Paul Cavanaugh) of his fiance's family.

Interesting film, low budget. Asther was very handsome and a good actor. Schunzel did well as a weak old man.

In this film, Helen Walker, who usually played tough noir women, is an ingenue. She was a wonderful actress who should have hit stardom. Unfortunately, she gave a ride to soldiers after World War II, which was quite common, and was in a horrible accident. It not only caused her injury but killed one soldier. She was put on trial and acquitted, but her career was over.

A good watch about man fiddling with the laws of nature.