The Creeper *** (1948, Ralph Morgan, Eduardo Ciannelli, Onslow Stevens, June Vincent) – Classic Movie Review 2445

Ralph Morgan and Onslow Stevens star as experimenting research doctors Dr Lester Cavigny and Dr Jim Bordon, who are being assisted in their work by Gwen Runstrom (June Vincent). But the doctors are clashing and falling out over whether to carry on their dangerous experiments. And then they find a potion that transforms one of the scientists into a cat-clawed killer.

Meanwhile, down the hallway from Cavigny and Bordon’s laboratory is another lab in which Dr Van Glock (Eduardo Ciannelli) and Dr John Reade (John Baragrey) are also at work experimenting, while their black cat called Creeper creeps around.

Director Jean Yarbrough’s small-time 1948 mad scientist chiller The Creeper is quite moody, mysterious and creepy in Maurice Tombragel’s screenplay and George Robinson’s black and white cinematography. It is only a short (63 minutes), humble B-movie, and you might expect a little more from a production by a studio like 20th Century Fox, but there is much fun to be had for those who are in for an eerie, atmospheric little horror film.

The Creeper also stars Janis Wilson as Dr Cavigny’s teenage daughter Nora Cavigny and Richard Lane as Inspector Fenwick. Also in the cast are Philip Ahn as Ah Wong, Lotte Stein as Nurse, Ralph Peters as Porter and David Hoffman as Andre Dussaud.

Radio writer Joseph Ruscoll sued producer Edward Small for using the title of his radio show for the film and the suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Is there a copyright on titles? It would have been safer to keep the film under its working title of The Cat Man. It is written by Maurice Tombragel from an original story idea by Don Martin.

The Creeper was made very quickly, in production from the beginning to the middle of March 1948, so just two weeks, and released in September 1948.

It was made in an unusual era. It seems there have always been horror films, but between 1947 and 1951 the Hollywood studios made almost none, with The Creeper being virtually the sole exception.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2445

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