A scientist is about to be put to death via the electric chair and before this occurs hands a written diary of the events leading to this grim fate.
A renowned brain surgeon, Dr. Ernest Sovac(Boris Karloff)decides to save his pal, professor George Kingsley(Stanley Ridges, the true star of the film)whose marvelous brain is damaged in a gangster shoot-out passing through when notorious mobster Red Cannon crashes into him. Sovac sees that his friend will die unless he can perform a delicate brain procedure using transplantation as a key to any degree of success. Red's spinal cord is broken so Sovac decides to use parts of his brain to save George. That's all well and good until Sovac notices that Red had $500,000 hidden away somewhere in New York City(Sovac sees an opportunity to build a proper laboratory using Red's cash as means to build it while also paying for equipment he might need) for which he summons that dormant personality inside poor recuperating George's brain. It's quite obvious that Red's personality is stronger that tender, gentle George and he soon starts bumping off those gangsters who betrayed them through strangulation. Marnay(Bela Lugosi, effective with a rather minor role)is the mobster who convinced Red's bunch to turn on him taking the top position. Sunny Rogers(Anne Nagel)is Red's former moll who is quite shaken with bewilderment when this older gent springs on her claiming to be her old gangster love. Sunny, however, is working behind Red's back with Marnay hoping to get a piece of the action if they can retrieve the $500,000 from him when he least expects it. Meanwhile, Sovac tries his best to keep the Red personality as dormant as possible just wishing to find out where the large cash box is. Unfortunately for Sovac, the Red personality can be triggered at the sound of police sirens.
Jekyll and Hyde variation using gangster elements.
A renowned brain surgeon, Dr. Ernest Sovac(Boris Karloff)decides to save his pal, professor George Kingsley(Stanley Ridges, the true star of the film)whose marvelous brain is damaged in a gangster shoot-out passing through when notorious mobster Red Cannon crashes into him. Sovac sees that his friend will die unless he can perform a delicate brain procedure using transplantation as a key to any degree of success. Red's spinal cord is broken so Sovac decides to use parts of his brain to save George. That's all well and good until Sovac notices that Red had $500,000 hidden away somewhere in New York City(Sovac sees an opportunity to build a proper laboratory using Red's cash as means to build it while also paying for equipment he might need) for which he summons that dormant personality inside poor recuperating George's brain. It's quite obvious that Red's personality is stronger that tender, gentle George and he soon starts bumping off those gangsters who betrayed them through strangulation. Marnay(Bela Lugosi, effective with a rather minor role)is the mobster who convinced Red's bunch to turn on him taking the top position. Sunny Rogers(Anne Nagel)is Red's former moll who is quite shaken with bewilderment when this older gent springs on her claiming to be her old gangster love. Sunny, however, is working behind Red's back with Marnay hoping to get a piece of the action if they can retrieve the $500,000 from him when he least expects it. Meanwhile, Sovac tries his best to keep the Red personality as dormant as possible just wishing to find out where the large cash box is. Unfortunately for Sovac, the Red personality can be triggered at the sound of police sirens.
Jekyll and Hyde variation using gangster elements.