Docteur X

Don't even try to compare this wonderful old WArner Brothers thriller from l934 with today's thrillers. It was made at a time long gone when atmosphere, sets, lighting and camerawork were king. I adore getting this movie out at least once a month along with "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and "Night Monster" (another reviewer has also cited "Night Monster" as the classic it is)turn out the lights and lose myself in the early Technicolor two-strip photographey which is beautifully pastel and atmospheric in its eerie greens, pinks, crimson and gold. The Anton Grot sets are unforgettable. The cast of Hollywood's greatest character actors throw themselves into their roles (I doubt they had any other choice. After all, the demonic Michael Curtiz was cracking the whip as director). Fay Wray is pretty and screams now and then. Most irritating of all is Lee Tracey as the relentlessly wise-cracking reporter. Glenda Farrell had the same role in "Mystery of the Wax Museum" also filmed in early color and she was fantastic. A great old thriller, set in a remote mansion by the sea. The monster is terrifying. Ironically, you never see any carnage, blood or torture. Hats off to those long-ago film masters who knew how to do things right.

Not wholly creak-free (Lee tracy's performance is notably of it's time), but still with some marvellous moments. The legendary "synthetic flesh" scene is still totally shocking and bizarre, worth the price of admission alone. Definitely one for the collection.

The fact that Doctor X was shot in color was pretty rare in 1932 with most of the studios existing from day to day during the Depression. Very few had money to splurge on something like this. Knowing that I'm surprised Warner Brothers didn't bother to use it on one of their Busby Berkeley spectaculars.

There have been a string of mutilation killings in New York, really horrible stuff and forensics has determined the weapon used was a special kind of surgical scalpel only in use at a particular scientific institute. The one headed by Doctor Xavier the Doctor X of the movie title.

Atwill's got some pull with the cops because they allow him 48 hours to find who the killer is and save his institute some scandalous press. The press is in the form of Lee Tracy a determined reporter who sneaks into the institute looking for the inside scoop. He meets up with Fay Wray who is Atwill's daughter, but even she doesn't deter him from his mission.

Horror stories were not the Warner Brothers specialty and when you consider what was coming out of Universal at the time, Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy, Doctor X looks pretty second rate besides them. No monsters in this film except the truly monstrous human being who is doing all the homicides.

Warner Brothers seven years later did The Return Of Doctor X which has absolutely nothing to do with this film and provided Humphrey Bogart with one of the worst roles in his career. Next to that one, Doctor X is like Citizen Kane.

When you think of it, everything about this film is strictly synthetic...the plot, the hokey comic relief, the occasional ham acting--but the atmosphere photographed in crisp looking two-strip Technicolor is fully charged and the taut direction of Michael Curtiz (long before he did another more polished noir called THE UNSUSPECTED), makes this a very watchable early horror film from Warner Bros.

The Anton Grot sets in early color will keep the viewer totally enhanced even when the plot holes become too obvious. The annoying comic relief supplied by Lee Tracy as a fast-talking newspaperman (was there any other kind?), is fortunately not much of a handicap when the cast includes an assortment of richly eccentric characters.

I have to confess I guessed who the murderer was from the start--but it didn't dampen my enjoyment of the melodramatic and very creepy events. The storyline concerns a killer known for striking when there's a full moon and Lionel Atwill is the doctor who thinks he can solve the crime by some scientific detective work of his own.

It's the sort of film that became a staple of the "old dark house" mysteries audiences loved in the '20s and '30s--and even into the '40s with films like THE CAT AND THE CANARY. None of it seems quite as compelling as some of the better known fright films (including MURDER IN THE WAX MUSEUM), but we do get a chance to hear some first rate screams from Fay Wray (who looks very attractive in close-ups even though the Max Factor make-up is a little too extreme), and the capable cast includes such sturdy performers as Lionel Atwill and Preston Foster.

Trivia note: The killer's synthetic flesh make-up is very effective when he's in full mode on the kill. Kudos to Michael Curtiz for a fun-filled fright film.

DOCTOR X is one of those heartbreaking films to watch for a fan of old horror movies, because it has so many wonderful things going for it yet just narrowly misses the mark of being really good due to a liability or two which could have been avoided. As is so often the case with early '30s fright films like this, the need was felt to add a "funnyman" to the proceedings to perhaps give audiences of the day a chance to laugh along with being scared. The culprit in this case is Lee Tracy, who plays a typical golden age newspaper reporter who snoops around and gets his nose tangled into everyone's business.

The "business" at hand is a string of killings in New York regarding a fiend who strangles people and then apparently cannibalizes them. Dr. Xavier (the always enjoyable Lionel Atwill) heads a group of doctors who are all suspects up for scrutiny, and though we have to deal with the frequent lapses into silliness from Mr. Tracy, this old chestnut is interesting and gripping a fair amount of its running time. Director Michael Curtiz does a fine job of visually entertaining us with strange angles, quick closeups and flashy set designs. An added delight is the early use of two-strip color that gives the film a rather eerie dimension with its muted greens. Fay Wray (KING KONG) steps into another early horror picture here, but really doesn't have much to do and isn't of much use to the story. There's a completely out of place beach scene with Wray and Tracy that will leave you wondering who thought it shouldn't be left on the cutting room floor (perhaps it was an excuse to get a pantie shot of Fay as she sunbathes under her big beach umbrella).

The film's strongest moment comes in a revelation sequence late in the movie where we finally get to see who the crazed murderer is, and it's still chilling even now to watch him go through his insane routine. You're bound to have the words "synthetic flesh" etched into your subconscious for a long time after seeing DOCTOR X, and if there's one thing you'll remember, this will be it. **1/2 out of ****