La Femme et le Monstre

After his career as a director ended in 1933 with the re-shot and heavily re-edited HELLO SISTER, Erich von Stroheim turned exclusively to acting where he was still much in demand. He had some good roles in the 1930s most notably in Jean Renoir's GRAND ILLUSION but by the early 1940s he was typecast as Nazi villains in movies like THE NORTH STAR (1943). One year later he returned to playing a mad doctor as he had done in THE CRIME OF DR. CRESPI back in 1935. The movie was THE LADY AND THE MONSTER and it was made for the same studio, Republic Pictures.

The story by Curt Siodmak , who wrote and directed 1940s monster movies for Universal, concerns the brain of a dead millionaire which is kept alive after a plane crash by a crippled scientist and his young couple assistants. Slowly the brain takes over the personality of the male assistant who is then compelled to carry out the dead man's evil plans. Instead of trying to stop it, von Stroheim keeps the brain alive "in the name of science" allowing its influence to grow. When it begins to threaten the female assistant, something must be done before it's too late.

Erich von Stroheim is his usual imperious self as the crippled scientist. Richard Arlen (WINGS, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS) plays the assistant who gets taken over while perennial Republic Pictures leading lady Vera Ralston is the endangered heroine. The film is beautifully photographed by Noir specialist John Alton and successfully directed by George Sherman. Although later remade as the better known DONOVAN'S BRAIN (1953) with Lew Ayers and Nancy Davis (later Reagen), this version is just as engaging. Seven years later von Stroheim would play the butler in SUNSET BOULEVARD...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

A mad scientist called Professor Franz Mueller and his assistants keep alive the brain of a dead, crooked finance magnet called WH Donovan, who was killed in a nearby 'plane crash. However the brain has telepathic powers and takes control of scientist Patrick Cory. Mueller lives in a "castle" in the Arizona desert, the wind howls outside whilst inside his lab equipment buzzes and bubbles away, the sets are impressive and the camera work is good. Film noir, Gothic horror and science fiction. Erich von Stroheim puts in a good performance as Franz but the Lady, Janice, was played by Vera Rolston, originally from Czechoslovakia, she looks glamorous but her delivery of lines in English is quite wooden. I enjoyed this movie, despite being a bit plodding at times ,and would consider watching it again. The title is rather misleading, there is no monster as such, but that original poster artwork is very cool. This was the first filmed version of the novel "Donovan's Brain", on this basis I would like to see the others too.

1944's "The Lady and the Monster" was among the few Republic examples of the horror genre (serials and outdoor pictures were their bread and butter), unfortunately tainted by the godawful presence of Czech skating star Vera Hruba Ralston, sweetheart and later bride of studio president Herbert J. Yates, who spent 14 years spending extravagant amounts on her box office failures until the Poverty Row outfit finally collapsed at the same time as RKO. This was the first of three adaptations of the 1942 novel "Donovan's Brain," the first penned by screenwriter Curt Siodmak, so popular that he conceived a 1968 sequel called "Hauser's Memory," earning its lone adaptation as a 1970 TV movie, followed by 1991's "Gabriel's Body." The original title graced the 1953 version with Lew Ayres, while the second remake, 1962's British-German "Vengeance," was branded "The Brain" for American audiences. Yates only decided on the final moniker to signify Vera's importance to this initial screen version (no relation to George Zucco's "The Monster and the Girl"), shooting titles including "The Monster," "The Monster's Castle," "The Monster and the Lady," and "The Brute" (a later reissue earned yet another title, "The Tiger Man"). When cutting away from the intrigue to return to her attractive yet superfluous character the film only grinds to a halt, spending the entire first half on exposition before finally getting down to business. Erich von Stroheim enjoys one of his best remembered leading roles as Dr. Franz Mueller, whose isolated home outside Phoenix is an impressive castle where he conducts experiments on the brains of animals to see how long they survive when the body is deceased. Just as he and assistant Patrick Cory (Richard Arlen) pine for the use of a human specimen a nearby plane crash claims the life of renowned financier William H. Donovan, perhaps the most distinguished brain that any mab lab could want, pronounced dead by the local coroner to allow easier access to what lies inside the skull. Only at the midway point do we finally receive the novel's plot in more detail, Cory (the actual protagonist on the written page) encouraged by Mueller to continue the experiment through a telepathic link, sending the unwitting guinea pig west to Los Angeles to try to free a convicted killer from federal prison. Also taking an interest in Cory's every move are Donovan's scheming attorney (Sidney Blackmer) and faithless wife (Helen Vinson), left penniless by her husband's cleverness, multiple bank accounts set up only by an odd signature. The mystery holds up until the finale, where Cory explains all in a sadly perfunctory dialogue session, Mueller receiving his comeuppance from an unexpected source.

Despite the title, there is no monster, unless you count Vera Hruba Ralston's horrific attempt at acting. Beyond that, this is a pretty good B-flick, the first filming of "Donovan's Brain."

Erich Von Stroheim plays a scientist (you know where this is going already) who experiments on animal brains ... and now he is looking for a human subject. So when a plane crashes nearby, he dispatches his assistant (Richard Arlen). Arlen finds one guy barely alive and takes him back to Erich's "Castle." The guy then croaks, and we find out he was a rich dude named Donovan. Stroheim manages to remove his brain and start the ball rolling. In short order, Arlen begins to get subliminal messages from Donovan, like "if you build it, he will come."

The film gets steadily better, and Arlen does a good job transforming himself into a ruthless scumbag. The effect is heightened by what I presume was a special kind of makeup reacting to the lighting, which brought out shadows under Arlen's eyes and gave him a menacing forehead. At times, I expected him to turn into a werewolf.

Ralston is pretty much along for the ride. She looks good, but she may as well have been a mannequin that the director rolled onto the set. Von Stroheim is remarkably sedate in his role, even though he apparently sleeps with a gun.

The film's weakest aspect is the unnecessary narration.

THE LADY AND THE MONSTER is the first version of Curt Siodmak's often filmed novel "Donovan's Brain". This first version is largely forgotten, and those that recall it usually dis-miss it as inferior to the 1953 version DONOVAN'S BRAIN with Lew Ayres. While the 1953 version is superior in almost every way, THE LADY AND THE MONSTER is still an entertaining, atmospheric 1940's thriller.

The plot is basically the same, but in this version the living brain of Donovan possesses the mind of scientist Richard Arlen to clear his illegitimate son who has been wrongly convicted of murder. The brain also wants to get revenge on his daughter, whom is just as money hungry and ruthless as Donovan was in "life." Even though Donovan's goals are good, his disembodied brain is still ruthless; he orders the possessed Arlen to kill a girl who gave false testimony at his son's trial.

We can always tell when Donovan is about to possess Arlen, the lighting and Arlen's make-up changes. The 1953 version employed no such tricks, and relied entirely on the acting skills of Lew Ayers. (See my entry on that version). Erich Von Stroheim plays the elder scientist, and as with any film he was in, he was always a commanding presence. There are hints of him having an unhealthy infatuation with Vera Ralston, but this doesn't lead anywhere.

Overall, LADY AND THE MONSTER isn't as good as the later 1953 version, but it is still a decent 1940's horror thriller.