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The Return Of Doctor X

1939, Movie, NR, 62 mins

The Return Of Doctor X: Review

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Not really a sequel to the 1932 two-strip Technicolor classic, DR. X, this strange Bogart film was merely an attempt by Warner Bros. to cash in on the second talkie horror boom. While rival studio Universal was making a fortune resurrecting the Frankenstein monster in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (and later Dracula, the Mummy, and the Wolfman), Warners found itself without any resident monster to revive. The studio had practically ignored the horror genre in the early 1930s, but did manage to produce two classics starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, DR. X and THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933). In an attempt to emulate Universal's formula for success, Warners decided to revive the "Dr. X" character for its new horror film. Morris stars as a scoop-hungry reporter who discovers the dead body of famous actress Lys. As the story breaks in the papers, however, Lys turns up very much alive, although her skin has taken on an ashen pallor. The actress, whose face is hidden behind a black veil, sues Morris' newspaper for its irresponsible journalistic practices. Morris soon finds himself out of a job, but he remains convinced that Lys was really dead. While digging for clues, Morris discovers that Lys has given up acting and spends much of her time at the office of Litel, an eccentric but brilliant blood specialist. Morris begins to suspect that the recent series of murders in New York (where all the victims were drained of their blood) can be traced to Litel. Further investigation reveals that all the victims had donated blood at Litel's hospital, and that they all shared the same rare blood type. Luckily, one of Morris' best pals is Morgan, a young intern who happens to study under Litel. Together they decide to crack the mysterious case. While nosing around Litel's laboratory, Morris and Morgan are discovered by Litel's lab assistant, Bogart, an odd looking man with a pale complexion and short-cropped hair streaked with white down the middle (Bogart's makeup, especially the hair, is remarkably similar to that of Boris Karloff in Warner Bros.' 1936 shocker, THE WALKING DEAD--both were done by Perc Westmore). Litel reveals that he has been experimenting with a synthetic blood mixture that has brought small animals back to life. The next step is to test it on human beings. Morris and Morgan soon learn that Litel has already pumped his synthetic blood into humans and Bogart is the result. In reality Bogart is the infamous Dr. Maurice Xavier who was electrocuted years earlier for murdering a patient during an experiment. Litel confesses that Bogart, actress Lys, and others he has brought back to life have turned into monsters searching for fresh blood. Soon after this revelation, Litel is murdered. Meanwhile, Bogart has learned that Morgan's girl friend, Lane, possesses the proper blood type he needs to stay alive. Bogart traps Lane in the marshes of New Jersey, but Morgan, Morris, and the police arrive in time to save her. Bogart is once again killed by the law. Although rather silly at times, and inferior when compared to the horror films produced by Universal, THE RETURN OF DR. X does have some effectively chilling moments. The chance to see tough-guy gangster Bogart play a ghoul is worth the price of admission; this is the only time the actor ever appeared in a horror movie. leave a comment
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