Customer Reviews

Doctor X [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This stylish early sound entry in the mystery/horror genre has been a late night favorite of film buffs for many years. Michael Curtiz directs with his usual flair this wildly entertaining film about a killer on the loose who may be one of the group of scientists under Dr. Xavier's direction. Based on a play from the time by Howard Comstock and Allen Miller, adapted for Curtiz by Robert Tasker and Earl Baldwin, it has everything any fan of the genre could possibly want, inculding a great cast. Lionel Atwill is excellent as Dr. Xavier, holding off the police while he makes his own investigation. Lee Tracy is quite fun as reporter Lee Taylor of The Daily World, trying to get the scoop on the Moon Killer and keep his boss happy. It is the presence of Fay Wray's ethereal loveliness, however, which gives it a special spark, making it a must see film.

Fay Wray's delicate Canadian beauty graced many silent films and she was a star long before King Kong and The Most Dangerous Game. She would eventually be relegated to the feminine lead in "B" films, but was beloved by many. In the late 1950's and early 1960's she was still active, appearing on TV's Perry Mason. When the lamp inside her which radiated such a luminous glow onscreen slipped into the eternal night not long before she was slated to appear in Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong, the world lost one of its great stars. Two days after her quiet passing, the Empire State Building she and Kong had once stood upon became a darkened shadow on the skyline for fifteen minutes in her memory. In Doctor X she adds a spark to an already fun film as Dr. Xavier's young and alluring daughter.

The sets are terrific and stylish as well in this much underrated classic. Tracy is marvelous skulking around Atwill's place trying to get the scoop, deterred only by his daughter Joan, who catches him at it more than once. Lee and Joan have some innocent banter in contrast to the more serious task at hand. Reenacting one of the Moon Killer's crimes goes haywire and the Moon Killer strikes again. With police pressuring Dr. Xavier for answers, he attempts it again, this time with Joan acting as the victim, while nearly everyone else is strapped in. On a bed in her nightgown, a very sexy Joan realizes only at the last moment the real Moon Killer is playing his part for real. Fortunately Lee is still on the loose, and jumps in to battle a truly mad scientist while the others, chained helplessly to their seats, watch on.

The wrap up is pleasant and everything movie endings are supposed to be. Origuinally filmed in early color, the film was restored beautifully for the boxed DVD Legends of Horror set which my wife bought. Though it is nice to look at, I remember watching this in black and white and turning the color off on the VHS I had back home years ago as it made it more fun. For the cost, picking up a used VHS copy seems the best bet if you're just a Fay Wray fan and aren't enamored of some of the other films on that boxed set. It certainly offers an hour of fun for classic movie fans. Don't miss the beach scene with Wray and Tracy. A fun movie and a delightful way to remember Fay Wray.

This historic frighter was restored by UCLA, apparently from two separate prints, one of which was in dreadful condition. From what remains, it's evident that director Michael Curtiz skillfully applied the limited spectrum of two-strip Technicolor to enhance the story's eerie mood. Natural fleshtones, glowing pastel blues and warm grays predominate. Backdrops, lighting and props are ideally suited to this minor work.

A genuine treat for fans of '30s Hollywood.
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CAST--

LEE TRACY was assigned a role he was familiar with, that of a smooth-operating fast-gab newshound, who in this situation is also the hero that wins the girl's heart at the end. Tracy's career was damaged by an incident that occurred on location for VIVA VILLA! (1934). He got very "gassed" and urinated out an upper floor hotel window onto a parade of passing Mexicans.

London-born son of wealth, LIONEL ATWILL is famous for being in five of the first eight "Frankenstein" movies, and infamous for a 1942 morals conviction stemming from the legendary wild parties he hosted in his home.

FAY WRAY, who is Atwill's daughter here, would soon don a blonde wig at the insistence of producer/directors Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper for her most famous part, that of the terrified girl at the top of the Empire State Building in KING KONG (1933).

Although best known for macho cop and military man roles, here 6' 2" PRESTON FOSTER is a doctor confined to a wheelchair. Foster was a guitarist, songwriter and expert deep sea fisherman.

MAE BUSCH, who is seen briefly as a "madam," is fondly remembered for playing Oliver Hardy's wife in several classic Hal Roach comedies.

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Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 IMDb viewer poll rating.

(6.5) Doctor X (1932) - Lionel Atwill/Fay Wray/Lee Tracy/Preston Foster/Robert Warwick/Mae Busch/Tom Dugan

A delightfully campy MGM horror film, featuring Lee Tracy as a fast-talking news reporter on the trails a moonlight serial killer to a special research academy headed by the lofty Dr. Xavier (Lionel Atwill). An interesting, if uneven, mix of horror and comedy, balancing over-the-top scenery chewing by a truly bizarre collection of mad scientists with Tracy's slapstick interludes. (By the way, is it just me, or does he remind anyone else of Edward Norton?) Fay Wray is completely dishy as Dr. Xavier's sassy, wise-cracking daughter. Best of all, though, is the pioneering early version of Technicolor, which perfectly accentuates the beautiful German-influenced impressionistic cinematography. A fun film, and a total hoot.

I must say that this is just amazing. The sets, dialog, atmosphere, and more... This movie is just about the best i have ever seen. Lionel Atwill and the others are fabulous. I love old horror and murder mysteries and this movie does it all. The only thing is, please try to get your copy of this movie in its orig technicolor as it is much better to see than in black and white. It makes the sets and feel of the movie much better. Thanks Norm, it was your review that led me to this movie ! P.S. I agree, Night Monster is another great movie! I love it!

Length:: 5:00 Mins

I'm partial to Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Mummy from this time period, but "Doctor X" is certainly worth a view. See my video for more info about the picture.

While definitely not in the same league as the other classic horror films from this era, Doctor X comes close. While some reviewers have rightly complained about the story and the acting of the lead (Lee Tracy) as a wisecracking newspaper reporter on the trail of a strange killer, if you read about this film on paper it's quite startling - murder, dissection, AND cannibalism! Say, why does that sound familiar to me? A wise cracking reporter on the trail of a derranged supernatural killer? Could it be that this film, with its themes of dissection, sythetic flesh, and cannibalism was not only an infleunce on The Night Stalker, but The X Files as well?

You simply cannot demand the same level of believability out of a film this old as you might for something made yesterday. Not that films made today are any more believable or better acted. In fact, I'd say we're about the same. You have to watch films like this with one eye of a film historian and cultural spelunker and the other eye, or part of the other eye, on things like story and acting and technical issues, otherwise you only reveal yourself to be a dolt.

Definitely worth watching, but buy the new boxed set instead.

I watched this on Turner Classic Movies a few nights ago. I found it an average horror movie with some surprisingly grisly elements in the plot, probably due to the fact that the Production Code didn't have any teeth until the mid-30s. The use of two-color Technicolor was probably what "made" the film. Although most of the film was in the shadows, the Technicolor bathed it in shades of orange and green, giving an unnaturally eerie look, especially in the lab scenes. I thought actor Lee Tracy's physical comedy stuck out like a sore thumb, as did Fay Wray's shrieks. All the scientist suspects looked appropriate spooky, and when the killer was revealed, the acting was ghoulishly hammy. God bless.

I just had the very rare (these days) pleasure last night of discovering a classic movie gem that I had never heard of before. I had to watch it on VHS, because it's not available on DVD yet.
It has Fay Wray screaming (before King Kong) and Lionel Atwill sinistering. It's got the old, dark Cliff Manor at Blackstone Sholes, Long Island, complete with secret panels and a closet (literally) full of skeletons. It's got the weirdest looking half dozen collection of scientists ever captured on film and all the psuedo-scientific babble and enormous equipment to fill a 50's ci-Fi matinee.
It also features some weird 1932 version of Technicolor that seems to insert colored items randomly in various scenes (heavy on the blues and greens). The one scene where the color really works is a beach scene with Fay Wray in a suggestive swimsuit. This looks like it could have come from one of the Beach Party movies. If Fay Wray cheesecake is interesting to you, there's a later scene where she lies helpless in a flimsy nightgown on a bed while being threatened by the killer.
It's got a silly plot about a "moon killer" and the moon is completely full for about 5 straight nights. It's got a romantic lead/comic relief newspaper reporter that plays one of the noisiest hiding in the closet scenes ever, even though he is able to hear the conversation of the scientists through the closet door well enough to take notes.
The camera here is extremely stationary. The sets are somewhat impressionistic which makes them a little more interesting, but it still cannot be considered a great movie. But boy is it fun.

This glorious old horror movie from l932 was made during an era when Universal was electrifying the world with its stream of classics: The Mummy, Dracula, etc. This was Warner Brother's entry into the horror field and Doctor X should rank with the great ones. The great early Technicolor, making everything sinister and gloomy; Ray Rennahan's photography, Anton Grot's fabulously gothic sets, everything saturated with ravishing shadows, greens and pinks and oranges. Fay Wray is a classic damsel in distress; her father is horror movie stalwart, Lionel Atwill. IT all takes place in a weird, 30s type mansion near the sea, with the wind howling and when you see the monster, you'll be chilled. The collection of doctors at the mansion are wonderfully enacted by a cast of Grade A supporting actors. If you watch this one, be sure to watch it's companion, MYSTERY IN THE WAX MUSEUM, also filmed in gorgeous Technicolor and some of the same cast. Both directed by the amazing Michael Curtiz whose flair for the grotesque is obvious. A great double-feature to watch on a Halloween night--or when the wind's howling around your eaves.

Michael Curtiz' two-color Technicolor DOCTOR X (1932) is a companion piece to his even more scary and ghoulish MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), which has now officially been remade twice. The movies seem on moratorium, selling through third parties, but show up on Turner Classics. I am reviewing an old videocassette from the UCLA Film and Television Archives.

We have Lee Tracy as a reporter investigating a series of "Moon Killings", killings that take place under a full moon in Depression era Manhattan. The killings all seem to originate in doctor Lionel Atwill's (a good guy for a change) crime institute. Fay Wray, who played the unfortunate victim in WAX MUSEUM (also with Atwill) plays Atwill's likeable daughter and Tracy's love interest this time. Tracy's wisecracking humor and talking to himself helps murderous chills blend with welcome comedy for at least me. The police want to shut Atwill's institute down, but Atwill wants 48 hours to conduct his own investigation. He does that at a truly spooky lab on the edge of a Long Island cliff. The institute members are all bolted to chairs which are bolted to floors as the crimes are reinacted to find out who the killer is, assuming it is an institute member. The movie has a happy ending.

DOCTOR X was filmed in very eerie and effective two-color Technicolor, with lots of pinks and greens. Most prints today are B&W, but Turner Classics shows the movie in color. And prehistoric 1980's videocassette editions are also in color. It is worth seeking out in color, and the Max Factor makeup is really something on the killer in color. ("Synthetic flesh!") Michael Curtiz was one of Hollywood's most neglected directors, working in very possible genre. This and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, filmed back to back with Atwill and Wray, are two of his best horror films, and two of the best of the 1930's for me.

Beg Warner Home Video to bring out both of these early 1930's horror gems on DVD so that people do not have to seek out second and third party sources, or Turner Classics, at Halloween time. The effort is worth it.