While
Universal dominated the horror story during the 1930s, their rivals
Warner were busy with Gangster pictures. Hoping to capitalise on
this popular genre, Universal decided to put their two big horror stars
into a horror themed gangster picture.
Told
as a flashback, we open with Dr. Ernest Sovac (Boris Karloff) being
lead to the electric chair; on his way past assembled journalists, he
hands one of them a notebook explaining his actions... and the story
begins. It all starts in the small US town of Newcastle where Sovac is
offering a lift to his friend Professor George Kingsley, an absent
minded professor at the local University. Driving through the town,
tragedy strikes as Kingsley is run down during a drive-by gang shooting
- Sovac takes Kingsley and the injured gangster, Red Cannon, to
the hospital where he realises that the only way to save his friend is
to transplant part of the crippled gangster's brain
into Kingsley's head. Kingsley
is recovering from the incident when Sovac discovers that parts of
Reds's personality seem to be showing themselves in Kinsley; he also
finds out that Red was an infamous New York gangster with $500,000
reportedly hidden away somewhere before he died. Hoping to reawaken
that part of Red's brain that contained the whereabouts of the money,
Sovac takes him to New York city where Kinsley starts to suffer from a
Jekyll/Hyde effect as he switches personality between himself, and the
ruthless gangster. As Red, he sets out to track down the members of his
gang that killed him, including Eric Marnay (Bela Lugosi), but as
Kinsley he becomes weaker all the time. Sovac is forced to play his
cards carefully as he tries to use Red to track down the money, without
killing his friend or getting caught...
The
trailer for this picture proudly declares that Bela Lugosi was
hypnotised in his role so that his death scene would have a real
authenticity as he was convinced that he was really suffocating to
death - whether true or not seems to matter little as the scene in the
final film is only a few seconds long. This was one of many missed
opportunities in Black Friday,
more notable is that this was the last time that Bela Lugosi and Boris
Karloff would be cast together under the Universal Studios banner, and
they never actually meet in the film.
The
plot is a mixed bag - it has an interesting synopsis - a
modern day telling of the Jekyll/Hyde story with a gangster background
- but suffers from clunky dialogue. On the plus side,
characterisation is strong and although the plot drifts along slowly,
the story does keep you hooked and it is interesting to find out how
Dr. Sovac comes to be headed for the electric chair, as seen in the
prologue. On the down side, there are plenty of plot holes (as Red,
Kinsley no longer needs his glasses and becomes super fit?), a lack of
good gangster shootouts, and some of the dialogue is just terrible;
when Sovac asks his daughter why she hasn't guessed yet that he
transplanted the brain of a gangster in to that of his best friend, you
know the film is lost.
The
film's direction does little to lift the affair, director Arthur Lubin
was more at home with comedy than horror and an overabundence of
spinning newspapers will leave you dizzy. On the plus side, the generic
mix of Universal studio music is fitted well to the film and works
quite well to build up some excitement.
Although originally
cast in the lead role, Karloff turned it down considering it too
complex for his acting abilities. Character actor Stanley Ridges
was cast in the role and plays it very well, managing to convince as
both sides of his personality. Karloff moved into the role of Sovac,
that Lugosi was originally to have played, and with his experience of
playing mad Frankensteinesque
characters, he fits the role well, starting as a friend, but becoming
completely obsessed with finding the money. Lugosi was bumped off the
top of the cast list and ends up in the role of gangster Marnay where
he looks totally out of place alongside the three American fellow
gangsters, and gets too little screentime.
An
interesting, but flawed film. A good concept is let down by some gaping
plot holes, a poor script and flat direction with far too many spinning
newspapers... Universal Horror fans should find this worth watching
once but are unlikely to want to revisit it often. Lugosi fans
will likely be disappointed with the actor's awkward casting and lack
of screentime.
In Brief
Anyone famous in it?
Bela Lugosi - the most famous Hungarian export, best known for his leading role in Dracula (1931) Boris Karloff - a legend of horror cinema, and best known for his defining role in Frankenstein (1931)
Directed by anyone interesting?
Arthur Lubin directed many of Universal's Abbott and Costello pictures in the 1940s.
Any gore?
None.
Any sex?
None.
Who is it for?
Universal Horror fans might want to check this out, but it doesn't come recommended.
Good soundtrack?
Standard orchestral score that fits quite well.
The DVD
Visuals
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.33:1 fullscreen. Black and White. The
print quality is okay, occasional speckles and scratches but never
unwatchable. Not as good as some of Universal's other releases, but far
superior to any public domain prints.
Audio
English language original mono sound. Strong and clear.
Subtitles
English HOH, French and Spanish.
Run-time
Feature: 1hr 10m 01s
Extras
Bonus features:
Original trailer - 1m 58s - low quality, but containing some footage not used in the final film.
