If you are looking for a nifty B-movie ape-into-man film, go no further.
Mad scientist Dr. Renauilt is played by George Zucco (who else?). Renault experiments on an ape (gorilla?), turning him into an almost human, Noel (played by J. Carrol Naish), who becomes his deformed man servant, purportedly from Java. Renault lives in an isolated French house with his beautiful niece Madelaine (Lynne Roberts). Enter Larry Forbes (Shepperd Strudwick, billed as John Shepperd here), a young doctor engaged to Madelaine. Because a storm has washed out the bridge to Renault's house, Forbes spends the evening at a local inn. A man who took the room originally meant for Forbes is mysteriously killed. The next day, at the house of Cr. Renault, Forbes feels that thee is something strange about Noel but he can't put a finger on it. Noel is also sending off vibes that he is attracted to Madelaine. (Hmm.) Renault has come to fear Noel and locks him in a cage to protect both Forbes and himself. Noel, having the strength of a might ape, breaks out of the cage and follows Forbes and Madelaine to a local carnival; there he murders a pair of heckling villagers. Forbes is getting suspicious and sneaks into Renault's laboratory and reads his secret notes about the experiment. Renault catches him and threatens to kill him. Noel arrives and kills Renault. Then a gardener (Rogell, played by Mike Mazurki -- where'd he come from?) kidnaps Madelaine. Noel follows them and kills the gardener, but not before he fires a fatal shot. The end.
A fast-moving story with moody photography and tight direction, all of which places it above the typical Poverty Row horror melodrama. And Naish gives us just the right blend of pathos and terror in his role. As a bonus we get to see Ray Corrigan once again in his gorilla suit.
Although sometimes compared to Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau, Dr. Renault's Secret was actually based on the 1927 film The Wizard, which in turn was based on Gaston Leroux,s (he of The Phantom of the Opera) 1911 novel Balaoo. Dr. Renault's Secret was released as part of a double feature with The Undying Monster (based on Jessie Douglas Kerruish's classic werewolf novel).
Ably directed by Harry Lachman (Charlie Chan in Rio, Dante's Inferno, The Yellow Mask); this was his final turn at directing. Scripted by William Bruckner (Riders of the Purple Sage, Sundown Jim, and a slew of 50s and 60s television shows, including 36 episodes of The Loretta Young Show) and Robert F. Metzler (Circumstantial Evidence, The Undercover Woman, and -- with Bruckner -- Riders of the Purple Sage and Sundown Jim).
A good way to pass an idle 53 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL04ILo6fh0
No comments:
Post a Comment