Man Made Monster (1941)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

George Waggner

Writers:

Harry Essex (story) and
Sid Schwartz (story) ...

Release Date:

28 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The most amazing monster the world has ever known

Plot:

Mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.

Plot Keywords:

Theory | Rubber | Mad Scientist | Scientist | Escape

Cast

Lionel Atwill	...	Dr. Paul Rigas
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Dan McCormick
Anne Nagel	...	June Lawrence
Frank Albertson	...	Mark Adams
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. John Lawrence
William B. Davidson	...	Dist. Atty. Ralph Stanley
Ben Taggart	...	Detective sergeant
Constance Bergen	...	Nurse (as Connie Bergen)
Ivan Miller	...	Doctor
Chester Gan	...	Wong (servant)
George Meader	...	Dr. Bruno
Frank O'Connor	...	Detective
John Dilson	...	Medical Examiner
Byron Foulger	...	Alienist #2
Russell Hicks	...	Warden Harris

Also Known As:

Atomic Monster (USA) (reissue title)
Mysterious Dr. R
The Electric Man (UK)

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:U | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Based on the story, "The Electric Man" which Universal had purchased for $3,300 in 1935 as a potential Boris Karloff / Bela Lugosi vehicle to be titled "The Man in the Cab." The studio, in the midst of a financial debacle at the time, shelved the project for over five years, assigning the re-write to George Waggner (working as "Joseph West") who re-tooled it as "The Human Robot."

Quotes:

Dr. Paul Rigas: ...eventually a race of superior men can be developed, men whose only wants are electricity.
Dr. John Lawrence: But, man, you're challenging the forces of Creation!
Dr. Paul Rigas: The forces of Creation? Bah! You know as well as I do that more than half the people of the world are doomed to a life of mediocrity - born to be nonentities, millstones around the neck of progress, men who have to be fed, watched, looked over, and taken care of by a superior intelligence. My theory is to make these people of more use to the world. By successive treatments their bodies can be so electrolyzed that they are no longer subject to the pains and frailties of ordinary mankind.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Very Good Second Tier Universal Horror

This is the story of Dynamo Dan, a sideshow worker who does a faked electrical act. Perhaps because of this he's the only survivor when a bus he's on slams into a high tension tower and all the passengers are killed by the electricity. Dan ends up working with Lionel Atwill a mad scientist trying to make electrified super humans.

Yes, its as corny as it sounds but then so are the Frankenstein films. Corny or no the film is a great way to spend an hour of your time on a rainy night.When most people think of the Universal horror films in the 1930's and 40's they tend to think of the Frankenstein/Dracula/Wolfman movies forgetting or unaware that Universal turned out a a number of very good second tier horror films at the same time. This is one of them.

Warning: do not confuse this with The Indestructible Man which has a similar plot line but which is not particularly well made.

8 out of 10 on a rainy night with the lights off and your best honey by your side.