Doctor X (1932)

It's certainly wonderful to see this hitherto lost work of director Michael Curtiz. True, it has been available in black-and-white, but who in their right senses would want to look at Doctor X without color? I agree the picture might still deliver a few odd thrills, but its obsessive mood, its genuinely spooky atmosphere — not to mention all its splendidly Gothic pictorial effects — are utterly lost. In monochrome, maybe a passable chiller. In color, a minor yet fascinating masterpiece of almost unbearably tingling horror.Take the cast. Thanks to her appearances in this one and "The Mystery of the Wax Museum", plus "The Most Dangerous Game" and "King Kong", Fay Wray is the only female film star of the early 1930s who has a greater reputation today than way back then. She looks lovely. And most attractively dressed too. The imperiled heroine par perfection.Lee Tracy is hardly our first choice for the role of comic newspaperman, but he handles that assignment with such skill that he ingratiatingly delivers thrills, laughs and romance in liberal yet almost equal measure. The ever-reliable Lionel Atwill is handed a made-to-order part as the suspicious doctor-in-charge. Few actors can deliver lines with such commendable speed and authority. Robert Warwick makes a game try here, but comes nowhere close. As for Preston Foster, his startling performance will have audiences cheering. Leila Bennett is also effective as a scared-witless maid. And A.E. Carewe has a small but vivid role to play.For me, however, there are two actors in "Doctor X" who truly excel way, way beyond the call of duty. The other is George Rosener. Admittedly, he's handed a colorful role as a sadistically servile Otto-of-all-work, but Rosener plays it with an edge that is absolutely riveting.It's a bit mean to single out a few players when Curtiz has drawn such vividly convincing portraits from the whole cast. Notice how he adds to the realism by sometimes causing one player to break in on someone else's dialogue, or cues a number of actors to all speak at once.Curtiz has also made fine use of Grot's magnificently atmospheric sets and — assisted by Amy's smoothly sharp editing — paced the picture to a really palm-sweating climax. Ray Rennahan's superb camera-work adds immeasurably to the bizarrely enthralling atmosphere of ultra- chilling suspense.Finally, I will mention that Atwill, Foster and company all rejoice in titles of both "doctors" and "professors"; that Miss Wray is usually called "Joanne" but that she is twice addressed as "Joan"; that Mae Busch is obviously the madam of a brothel, not a speak- easy; that Tom Dugan is best described as a plainclothesman outside the Mott Street Morgue; that Harry Holman of the exploding cigar (which plays a neat part in the cleverly menacing plot) is indeed Patrolman Mike; and yes, it is Selmer Jackson in the not-credited bit part as the Globe's night editor.The play opened on Broadway at the Hudson on 9 February 1931, running 80 performances. Howard Lang starred.

Entertaining pre-code chiller that was the first color [2 strip technicolor], talking horror film. Eerie, atmospheric, with some well timed humor as well. Ray Rannahan was behind the camera and Fred Jackman Jr produced the special effects. Both were outstanding. Michael Curtiz was Warner's top director and he came through Lionel Atwill played Doctor X and was his sinister self. Fay Wray was the damsel in distress and invents the "scream queen" role. Its Lee Tracy who is the star. Playing the anything to get the story newspaper reporter he strikes the right cord , of brass, sarcastic humor, and quick witted bravery in his portrayal of Lee Taylor. He really foreshadows Bob Hope' Larry Lawrence in 1941's "Ghostbreakers". The scene where he wants to use the pay phone in the 'cat house" is a hoot.After Universal released Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931 and made a bundle and the other studio's jumped on the bandwagon. Doctor X was based on a play Howard W Comstock and was Warner Brother's first attempt to jump into the horror genera.

The police are investigating a series of murders where victims have been cut up by scalpel and cannibalized. The murders always take place on a night with a full moon. They trace the scalpels to a nearby surgical academy. The head of the academy, Dr. Xavier (Lionel Atwill), doesn't believe someone at the academy is the killer and asks police for a chance to prove this using his own scientific methods. Also on the trail of the killer is reporter Lee Taylor (Lee Tracy). Taylor is suspicious of Doctor Xavier but when he meets the doctor's daughter (Fay Wray) he becomes smitten. Allowed only 48 hours to prove his case, Xavier gathers all the suspects at his mansion to perform his experiment. But things don't go as planned and another murder is committed.Doctor X is a classic horror-mystery that has many points of interest for film fans. For starters, the two-color Technicolor process it was filmed in was new for the time. It also has great Max Factor makeup that looks especially nice in the early Technicolor. Another thing, it's a pre-Code film. Cannibalism, a major part of the plot, wouldn't have been allowed just a short time later. Lastly it's the horror debut of one of the greats of the genre, Lionel Atwill. Atwill would go on to a great career making many horror films, including two more with Wray the following year. He always brought class and dignity to his usually villainous roles. He's great here as well.The major complaint about the film seems to be directed at Lee Tracy's comic character. He is probably the worst part of the movie, but not because his performance is bad. He does fine with what he's supposed to do. It's just that comedy in horror films is usually best left to minor supporting roles not for the male lead in the film. However, I personally feel he's not obnoxious enough to hurt the film significantly. It's still very fun and very interesting, both from a film history perspective as well as sheer entertainment value. I would recommend all fans of classic horror films check it out.

On the whole, this film is an agreeable and interesting waste of time, yet doesn't pack nearly the punch of its peers, which include Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, King Kong, Mystery in the Wax Museum, etc.The major flaw is that there is an excess of comic relief. Being adapted from a stage play, this is understandable. Live theater usually requires more laughs, even in mostly serious productions, than does film. Filmmakers were still relatively new to talkies, and talking horror movies were definitely a novelty when this was made.Fright films do need some comic relief, so as to avoid the problem of having the audience laugh at the monsters. James Whale took this concept as far as possible with Bride of Frankenstein; but Dr. X goes a little farther than it should, and so you have this uneven feel, with one foot in the world of comedy, and one foot in the world of horror.On the plus side, there is Lionel Atwill, one of the greatest villains of the classic period of the movies, and you have Fay Wray, who was always a pleasure to watch. And you have a fairly original plot and a whodunit, and you have weird mad scientists, and a bizarre lab. And you have a truly creative and macabre make-up job by the legendary Max Factor: I don't know if he did any other horror make-up besides this film.So far as I know, this is the earliest film to have 'X' prominently in the title, referring to Dr. Xavier and to the unknown villain both. There were later scifi/horror films with the titles 'X: the Unknown' and 'X: the Man with the X-Ray Eyes', and in 1963 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the now famous comic book 'X-Men', led by Dr. Charles Xavier. Of course, in the 1990's, the 'X-Files' became a hit on TV and at the cinema.Overall, this film is interesting, but flawed. I'd recommend it only after you've had a chance to see the other films mentioned in paragraph 1 of this review.