The Lady and the Monster ** (1944, Vera Ralston, Erich von Stroheim, Richard Arlen) – Classic Movie Review 5602

The Lady and the Monster, starring Vera Hruba Ralston as Janice Farrell, is the second ‘Brain Movie’ after Black Friday (1940). The obviously weirdly popular idea, a cousin of the disembodied hand premise, was later reprised again in Donovan’s Brain, the title of Curt Siodmak’s source novel, and it is also filmed as Vengeance and The Brain.

This is a patchily creepy tale of mad scientist Professor Franz Mueller (Erich von Stroheim) who keeps alive in a jar a crooked millionaire businessman’s evil disembodied grey-matter, which telepathically takes possession of Professor von Stroheim’s assistant Dr Patrick Cory (Richard Arlen).

Producer-director George Sherman’s 1944 horror movie is overlong and consistently ludicrous, and it is disgraced with several lip-smackingly bad performances. Yet it still delivers a nice cluster of unnerving moments when nearing its climax, and von Stroheim’s hugely over-the-top portrayal is sheer delight.

Also in the cast are , Mary Nash, Sidney Blackmer, Helen Vinson, Charles Cane, William Henry, Juanita Quigley, Josephine Dillon, Sam Flint, Lane Chandler, Wallis Clark and Harry Hayden.

It runs 86 minutes, is released by Republic, is written by Dane Lussier and Frederick Kohner, is shot in black and white by John Alton, and is scored by Walter Scharf.

It is also known as Tiger Man and The Lady and the Doctor.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5602

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