Sexta-Feira 13

This is not a bad film; it's a serviceable "B" thriller. In fact it is very reminiscent of the fine Columbia Studios Boris Karloff mad doctor/gangster/horror films of the late Thirties and early Forties. Curt Siodmak collaborated with Eric Taylor on a script variation of his "Donavan's Brain" theme. It has the polished look of some of Universal Studio's best "B" movies. Arthur Lubin's direction is competent-he keeps it moving along-but lacks the zest he would bring to the 1943 remake of "The Phantom of The Opera" starring Claude Rains. It has a good supporting cast that includes the lovely Anne Nagel, Paul Fix, Stanley Ridges, and in a brief role as the reporter who is the recipient of Dr. Sovac's notes, James Craig. Most important of all, and this cannot be overstated, it stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, the greatest horror team the cinema has produced. At least that is what the credits would have us believe. And this is where the film unfortunately goes all wrong. Karloff and Lugosi were a team with a fine pedigree; "The Black Cat" (1934) "The Raven" (1935) "The Invisable Ray" (1936) and their greatest collaboration, "Son of Frankenstein" (1939). They even did bits together in two slight films, "The Gift of Gab" (1935) and "You'll Find Out" (1940) with Peter Lorre. The chemistry the two generated in their scenes together in their horror films was terrific. Lugosi with his daemonic will to power and Karloff with his unique ability to combine the sinister with the sympathetic have delighted audiences for over seventy years. So it is not unnatural that devotees of their films would approach "Black Friday" with extremely high expectations. And for those expecting another Karloff-Lugosi teaming the disappointment, the sense of being cheated, is enormous. "Black Friday" is not a Karloff-Lugosi film despite what the opening credits suggest. Not only do they not share any scenes together, but Bela is relegated to the perfunctory, unimportant role of Marnay with very little to do except to try to look and act like an American gangster, who coincidently just happens to sound like Count Dracula. So what happened?

It has long been rumored that Karloff was originally going to play the duel role of Prof. Kingsley/Red Cannon-the best part in the film-and Lugosi was to play Dr. Ernest Sovac-the part Karloff eventually took. This would make sense. Sovac has a Hungarian name, so Lugosi's accent would not have seemed out of place and also his daughter makes reference to his being in the process of gaining American citizenship while the Kingsley/Cannon part would have provided Karloff with a nice variation of the type of roles he had been playing at Columbia. Instead for reasons that remain a mystery, Karloff got bumped to the Sovac role-Hungarian name still intact, Lugosi got the thankless part of Marnay while Stanley Ridges, an actor no one wanted to see got the plum role of Kingsley/Cannon! Who was responsible for this ineptitude? Ridges was a good actor with a fine speaking voice, and he had a career in supporting roles, usually playing minor officials or bureaucrats but no one in their right mind would ever think about building a film around him, certainly not a horror film. Not from a box-office point of view. Not when you have the talents of BOTH Karloff and Lugosi on the payroll. Then to add insult to injury when the film didn't perform to expectations instead of blaming it's failure on the moronic casting-imagine MGM casting Marie Dressler to play Juliet and then wondering what went wrong-the studio heads chose instead to believe the Karloff-Lugosi team was no longer box-office. It was a sad end to a great horror collaboration, and the disappointment of Karloff and Lugosi fans is thoroughly understandable.

Unfortunately while the miscasting is the most grievous flaw, it is not the only one. There are other problems at work undermining the film. The most serious being it completely lacks any atmosphere of horror. Like many of Universal's Forties fare the film is slick and professional but utterly lacking in any style. This can be deadly in a horror film. As mentioned before the direction is serviceable while the score-always one of the strong points of the Universal horror films-is simply stock music and forgettable, except when it recycles some of Hans J. Salter's themes from earlier horror films. The same might be said of Elwood Bredell's cinematography-its serviceable but nothing more. And that pretty much sums up this last teaming of Karloff and Lugosi in a Universal horror film. Its serviceable and nothing more and thats sad because with a little more thought and care-and more intelligent casting-it could have been quite good. It is somewhat ironic that RKO Pictures, Universals great horror competitor of the Forties actually provided a more fitting coda for the Karloff-Lugosi team in the beautifully atmospheric 1945 Val Lewton production of "The Body Snatcher". They have only one real scene together but it showcases both stars. And it gives Lugosi, in ill health and drug-ridden as he was, one last chance to show the world he was a fine actor and not just a flamboyant personality.

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.

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.

if you found this film in your "Bela Lugosi Collection" or some other feature with Karloff and Lugosi, you will probably be disappointed the two horror stars were minor players.

This movie is really about the Stanley Ridges character of a College professor who finds part of the brain of a gangster implanted in his head. You have some very nice transformational scenes where the actor changes personality by merely changing his hairstyle and mannerisms.

It is said Karloff was supposed to play the professor/gangster, and Lugosi the doctor, but they changed casting at the last minute when Karloff balked at what he thought would be too complicated a role. Ridges pulls it off perfectly. And sadly, the guy is probably not remembered for much of anything else.

Ruthless gangster by night, meek college professor by day.

Really a B-movie, but fun to watch.

There are so few films in which either Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi are in where they do not steal each and every scene, but Black Friday is indeed one such film. Character actor Stanley Ridges delivers the performance of his career as a dottering English literature professor that has the brain cells from a gangster implanted into his brain in order to save his life. Dr. Slovac, deliciously played by Karloff, performs the necessary surgery and soon puts his friend's life in peril as he tries to force him to relive memories in order to find five hundred thousand dollars. Ridges basically flows from one personality to another. The transformation is incredible as he looks and speaks and moves like a completely different actor in every way. He certainly deserved some recognition for this acting feat. The story has the feel of a gangster film mixed with supernatural elements. Lugosi has a small(and I would argue thankless) role as a gangster. He has little to do with his role and does little with it. The cast is fine overall with a surprisingly good performance from the lovely Anne Nagel as the former gangster's moll. Fine Universal production values, intriguing writing by Curt Siodmak, and the performance of a lifetime from Ridges make this film a cinematic treat. Just for added measure are a couple of guys named...Karloff and Lugosi. Too bad they do not share a scene in the film!