Doctor X (1932)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Howard Warren Comstock (play) &
Allen C. Miller (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

27 August 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Out-Thrills Them All!

Plot:

A wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.

Plot Keywords:

Moon | Scientist | Reporter | Academy | Experiment

Cast

Lionel Atwill	...	Dr. Jerry Xavier
Fay Wray	...	Joanne 'Joan' Xavier
Lee Tracy	...	Lee Taylor, Daily World Reporter
Preston Foster	...	Dr. Wells (Academy of Surgical Research)
John Wray	...	Dr. Haines, Academy of Surgical Research
Harry Beresford	...	Dr. Duke, Academy of Surgical Research
Arthur Edmund Carewe	...	Dr. Rowitz, Academy of Surgical Research
Leila Bennett	...	Mamie, Xavier's Maid
Robert Warwick	...	Police Commissioner Stevens
George Rosener	...	Otto, Dr. X's Butler
Willard Robertson	...	Detective O'Halloran
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Daily World Editor (as Thomas Jackson)
Harry Holman	...	Mike, Waterfront Policeman
Mae Busch	...	Cathouse Madame
Tom Dugan	...	The Sheriff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Selmer Jackson	...	Willard Keefe, Daily World Night Editor (uncredited)
Charles McMurphy	...	Detective At Headquarters (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Howard Warren Comstock		(play) (as Howard W. Comstock) &
Allen C. Miller		(play)
Robert Tasker		(screenplay) &
Earl Baldwin		(screenplay)
George Rosener		(contributor to screenplay construction) uncredited

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ray Rennahan
Richard Towers		(black and white version) (uncredited)

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
Anton Grot

Makeup Department
Ruth Pursley	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Ray Romero	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Al Alleborn	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Marshall Hageman	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Herbert Plews	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert B. Lee	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Jackman Jr.	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Thad Brooks Jr.	....	assistant camera: Technicolor (uncredited)
Owen Crompton	....	grip (uncredited)
Ellsworth Fredericks	....	camera operator (uncredited)
W. Howard Greene	....	second camera operator: Technicolor (uncredited)
Carl E. Guthrie	....	second camera operator: black and white unit (uncredited)
Ernest Haller	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Floyd Lee	....	assistant camera: Technicolor (uncredited)
Scotty Welbourne	....	still photographer (uncredited)
William Williams	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra

Production Companies

• First National Pictures (controlled by Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• First National Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (USA)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (on "Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection")

Other Companies

• Max Factor Co.  mask effects
• UCLA Film and Television Archive  restoration (color version)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (theatrical) | USA:Unrated (DVD)

Filming Locations:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 9 February 1931 and had 80 performances.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the opening scene of the film, Lee Tracy is shown strolling along the New York docks in search of news, when a body arrives at the Mott Street Morgue across the street. In reality, Mott Street, located in New York's old Chinatown district, is fairly well landlocked and nowhere near the either waterfront or dock areas.

Quotes:

Mamie, Xavier's Maid: Something tells me if I go in that room tonight, tomorrow I'll be... in my coffin!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Soundtrack:

Agitato

"Synthetic" early horror film is fun despite a hokey plot...

When you think of it, everything about this film is strictly synthetic...the plot, the hokey comic relief, the occasional ham acting--but the atmosphere photographed in crisp looking two-strip Technicolor is fully charged and the taut direction of Michael Curtiz (long before he did another more polished noir called THE UNSUSPECTED), makes this a very watchable early horror film from Warner Bros.

The Anton Grot sets in early color will keep the viewer totally enhanced even when the plot holes become too obvious. The annoying comic relief supplied by Lee Tracy as a fast-talking newspaperman (was there any other kind?), is fortunately not much of a handicap when the cast includes an assortment of richly eccentric characters.

I have to confess I guessed who the murderer was from the start--but it didn't dampen my enjoyment of the melodramatic and very creepy events. The storyline concerns a killer known for striking when there's a full moon and Lionel Atwill is the doctor who thinks he can solve the crime by some scientific detective work of his own.

It's the sort of film that became a staple of the "old dark house" mysteries audiences loved in the '20s and '30s--and even into the '40s with films like THE CAT AND THE CANARY. None of it seems quite as compelling as some of the better known fright films (including MURDER IN THE WAX MUSEUM), but we do get a chance to hear some first rate screams from Fay Wray (who looks very attractive in close-ups even though the Max Factor make-up is a little too extreme), and the capable cast includes such sturdy performers as Lionel Atwill and Preston Foster.

Trivia note: The killer's synthetic flesh make-up is very effective when he's in full mode on the kill. Kudos to Michael Curtiz for a fun-filled fright film.