I try to wrap my head around stories like this and sometimes it just doesn't work. Assuming you COULD perform a brain transplant (and we're probably getting close to that possibility), wouldn't you literally remove an entire brain from one person and put it in another? How then is it possible for the brain being transferred to retain some of the memories of the brain it replaced? There could be a lot more going on than I'm aware of regarding muscle memory and things of that nature, but for a picture like this it's just a puzzler.
Well this is more of a gangster flick with some sci-fi thrown in rather than a straight up horror film with two of the genre's iconic stalwarts. Boris Karloff is Dr. Ernest Sovac performing the brain transplant after his good friend, Professor George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges), is seriously injured in a combined gangland shootout and horrible auto accident. The guy driving the out of control car was gangster Red Cannon after he'd been shot by his former associates over the whereabouts of half a million in stolen loot. You know, it wasn't until I came to the IMDb cast list for this picture that I realized that actor Ridges was portraying both Kingsley and Cannon. The transformation between his two characters was uncannily well achieved, I had no idea it was the same guy doing both. It was certainly a lot more credible than George Reeves as Clark Kent and Superman. Maybe that would explain some of those memory issues I doubted earlier.
You know, Sovac's plan to learn the location of Red Cannon's stash probably would have worked except for the Professor's carelessness in tipping a taxi driver (John Kelly) with a thousand dollar bill. I guess that driver was being a good citizen, but I sure had to wonder whether I would have done the same. And that was a much bigger piece of change back in the Forties than it would have been today. The guy could have taken a few months off if it weren't for his nagging wife.
Well I'm trying to think now whether Karloff and Lugosi spent any screen time together, since Lugosi was the replacement leader of Cannon's former gang and not really involved with Dr. Sovac's side of things. I guess it doesn't matter because I get a kick out of both actors no matter what picture they're in. Some are better than others and this one is sort of in the middle in terms of favorability. If you think about it though, it was Stanley Ridges that did most of the heavy lifting here, both before and after the questionable brain exchange.
Well this is more of a gangster flick with some sci-fi thrown in rather than a straight up horror film with two of the genre's iconic stalwarts. Boris Karloff is Dr. Ernest Sovac performing the brain transplant after his good friend, Professor George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges), is seriously injured in a combined gangland shootout and horrible auto accident. The guy driving the out of control car was gangster Red Cannon after he'd been shot by his former associates over the whereabouts of half a million in stolen loot. You know, it wasn't until I came to the IMDb cast list for this picture that I realized that actor Ridges was portraying both Kingsley and Cannon. The transformation between his two characters was uncannily well achieved, I had no idea it was the same guy doing both. It was certainly a lot more credible than George Reeves as Clark Kent and Superman. Maybe that would explain some of those memory issues I doubted earlier.
You know, Sovac's plan to learn the location of Red Cannon's stash probably would have worked except for the Professor's carelessness in tipping a taxi driver (John Kelly) with a thousand dollar bill. I guess that driver was being a good citizen, but I sure had to wonder whether I would have done the same. And that was a much bigger piece of change back in the Forties than it would have been today. The guy could have taken a few months off if it weren't for his nagging wife.
Well I'm trying to think now whether Karloff and Lugosi spent any screen time together, since Lugosi was the replacement leader of Cannon's former gang and not really involved with Dr. Sovac's side of things. I guess it doesn't matter because I get a kick out of both actors no matter what picture they're in. Some are better than others and this one is sort of in the middle in terms of favorability. If you think about it though, it was Stanley Ridges that did most of the heavy lifting here, both before and after the questionable brain exchange.