WARNER ARCHIVE
BLACK & WHITE
TERROR TWO-FER!
THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939)
& THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1947)
THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 62 Minutes 56 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: B&W 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane
In The Return of Doctor X (1939), which has nothing to do with the Doctor X (1932) other than it's a mad-science with Doctor X in the title. It's a bit notorious as it's the only horror film that Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon), and is also the directorial debut of Vincent Sherman (The Damned Don't Cry). In it newspaper reporter Walter Garrett (Wayne Morris, Kid Galahad) is visiting the apartment of actress Angela Merrova (Lya Lys, Confessions of a Nazi Spy) only to discover her dead body, stabbed to death. He sends the story into the paper to run the story before calling the cops, but when they arrive at the apartment the body is gone, and she shows up at he newspaper the next day, looking quite pale, embarrassing Garret and the newspaper professionally and threatening to sue the newspaper over the false story about her death. Garret knows what he saw though, and won't let go of the story, he consults with his pal Dr. Michael Rhodes (Dennis Morgan, Captains of the Clouds) about the possibility of resurrecting a dead body. When more people start dying, all with the same rare blood type as the actress, they begin their own investigation brings them to Rhodes former mentor, a blood expert named Dr. Francis Flegg (John Litel, They Drive By Night). While visiting Flegg Garret notices that the pasty looking appearance of Flegg's assistant Marshall Quesne (Bogart) looks quite a bit like the drained appearance of the actress Merrova when she showed up at the newspaper. This causes both men to dig into the doc a little closer, embarking on a Scooby-doo type bit of mystery sleuthing, leading them to believe that Quesne is actually Dr. Maurice Xavier, a scientist who was put to death years earlier after starving a child to death. In their quest to find out the truth they end up at the mortuary and eventually a cemetery to unearth Xavier's grave, discovering that Flegg has created a synthetic blood serum that can reanimate the dead, which he eventually demonstrates using a dead rabbit in his mad science lab for Garret and Rhodes to witness. It turns out the that Quesne is indeed Dr, Xavier, but the process of resurrecting him has turned him into a vampire of sorts who requires the particular blood type to survive. It's a pulpy bit of sci-fi silliness but it's a hoor seeing Bogey play the blood-craving bogeyman, the white skinned creeper with a white streak through his dark hair makes for a chilling presence. The flick gets a bit silly at time but is never dull, the cast is terrific, and its well shot with shadowy atmosphere, this is a mad science flick with plenty of sizzle, and it's just cool to see screen legend Bogart in a horror flick, he seriously could have had a career in horror, he's super-creepy and is fully committed tot he bit.
Audio/Video: Warner Archive brings The Return of Doctor X (1939) to Blu-ray sourced from a 4K scan of the original nitrate negative, presented in 1080p HD in the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. It's another stunning presentation from Warner Archive, the source has been restored to immaculate condition while still maintaining it's filmic qualities with lush grain structures intact, pleasing fine detail, crisp whites, deep blacks and excellent grayscale. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue, atmospherics, sound effects, and the score by Bernhard Kaun (The Fly) sound period correct, the range is limited and sound design is quite basic, but it sounds terrific for it's age with only a few minor instances of hiss coming through the track.
Extras include a terrific Archival commentary by director Vincent Sherman and Author/Film Historian Dr. Steve Haberman which is carried over from Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection DVD box-set, a pair of era-appropriate Classic WB Cartoons by way of Doggone Modern (7-min) and Porky's Hotel (7-min) which were previously both available on DVD, and we get the 3-min Original Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided wrap featuring the original artwork, which proves that floating-heads poster styles were a thing even back them.
It should be noted that with this release Warner Archive has successfully upgraded all the films on the Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection DVD box-set to Blu-ray, which is awesome, so you can now retire that set.
Special Features:
- Archival commentary by director Vincent Sherman and Author/Film Historian Dr. Steve Haberman
- Classic WB cartoons: Doggone Modern (7:26) and Porky's Hotel (6:48)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:33)
Buy it:
Moviezyng - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
Physical Media Land - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1947)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 Minutes 53 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: B&W 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Robert Florey
Cast: Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre
The Beast with Five Fingers (1947), directed by Robert Florey (Murders in the Rue Morgue), is notable for several reasons, first because it's the last film Peter Lorre made with Warner Bros., second in that it's the only horror film they made in the '40s because studio boss Jack Warner hated horror, and thirdly, it's a notable early severed-hand horror entry. Set in a small town in Italy. Hillary Cummins (Peter Lorre, Mad Love), is the devoted book-obsessed secretary/astrologer to the wheelchair-bound piano virtuoso Francis Ingram (Victor Francen, Confidential Agent), who despite suffering a debilitating injury is still able to play the piano with his left hand. Ingraham is also cared for by his live-in nurse Julie Holden (Andrea King, Red Planet Mars) who he is obsessed with, unaware that she is falling for visiting American antiquities con Bruce Conrad (Robert Alda, Robert Alda, father of Alan, House of Exorcism). After Ingraham falls to his death down a flight of stairs, with Commissario Ovidio Castanio (J. Carrol Naish, Calling Dr. Death) declaring the death accidental.
After his death Ingram's attorney Duprex (David Hoffman), the deceased's brother Raymond (Charles Dingle, Duel in the Sun) and adult nephew Donald (John Alvin, Somewhere In Time) arrive at the villa for the reading of the will, with his blood relatives shock and dismayed to discover that all of Ingram's belongings will go to Julie, with Raymond conspiring with Ingraham's lawyer to disinherit Julie by producing a fraudulent earlier will.
Things take a wild turn when the duplicitous Duprex is strangled to death and it is soon after discovered that the left hand of Ingraham's corpse with his signature ring has been removed from the family mausoleum, and it seems that his severed hand has plans to kill everyone in the villa. None are more disturbed by the severed hand than Cummins, who not only sees the hand but also hears the music of Ingraham ringing out through house, he feels that he is being haunted by the hand, at one point nailing the hand in place to prove it's existence to others! It's fun, a little bit silly, but also well shot and stylish, and it makes for a delirious little thrill ride, with some tongue in cheek humor, especially there at the end. The special effects and trickery used to achieve the severed hand effects are top-notch, for the era and even now, nicely articulated and you can even see the radius and ulna bones at the pint from which it was severed, it's good stuff, and while there might be some campiness to this severed arm run amuck in an old dark villa there is also some actual chill-factor to be had. Also, kudos to Peter Lorre for his unhinged performance as Ingram's loyal secretary with an interest in the occult, he steals every scene as usual, and as he has the most interaction with severed hand he helps sell the threat of it.
Audio/Video: The Beast with Five Fingers (1947) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Warner Archive, also sourced from a 4K scan of the original nitrate negative, presented in 1080p HD in the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. Again, Warner Archive's restoration is flawless, it looks immaculate, grain structures look wonderful, we get pleasing fine detail, crisp whites, deep blacks and excellent grayscale. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue, atmospherics, sound effects, and the terrific score by Max Steiner (Caged!) sound wonderful.
Extras come by way of a well-studied Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Dr. Steve Haberman and Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr; a pair of era appropriate Classic Warner Bros. Cartoons with The Foxy Duckling (8min) and The Gay Anties (6 min) - the latter of which has not been on physical media since the Laserdisc days, plus the 2-min Original Theatrical Trailer.
Special Features:
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Author/Film Historian Dr. Steve Haberman and Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr
- Classic Warner Bros. Cartoons The Foxy Duckling (7:35) and The Gay Anties (6:26)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:03)
Buy it:
Moviezyng - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
Physical Media Land - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
