The movie is very competently shot by busy director Vincent Sherman (who lived to be 100!), with all the trademarks of what would more recently come to be known as cinema noir, but it is the protagonist's odd introduction to Bogart's unnerving bespectacled Dr. X, stroking a lab rabbit (a rabbit which has some significance in the story), that really struck my fancy. It was ripe for a Warner Bros. send-up starring Bugs Bunny as the rabbit. Due to a mysterious affliction, Dr. X has a ghastly pallor, a hand that's cold to the touch and a lame left arm. And the white streaks in his hair, which garners a probably unintended association when one character refers to him as a skunk. The movie's plot is rife with unfunny comic relief offset by chuckle-inspiring science and it's at least worth a look for fans of the genre and of famous actors in early camp roles. Curiously, the trailer for The Return of Dr. X is made from footage not seen in the actual movie and seems to play up Bogart's typical gangster persona and hints at a rather more interesting movie.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Humphrey Bogart as Dr. X
The movie is very competently shot by busy director Vincent Sherman (who lived to be 100!), with all the trademarks of what would more recently come to be known as cinema noir, but it is the protagonist's odd introduction to Bogart's unnerving bespectacled Dr. X, stroking a lab rabbit (a rabbit which has some significance in the story), that really struck my fancy. It was ripe for a Warner Bros. send-up starring Bugs Bunny as the rabbit. Due to a mysterious affliction, Dr. X has a ghastly pallor, a hand that's cold to the touch and a lame left arm. And the white streaks in his hair, which garners a probably unintended association when one character refers to him as a skunk. The movie's plot is rife with unfunny comic relief offset by chuckle-inspiring science and it's at least worth a look for fans of the genre and of famous actors in early camp roles. Curiously, the trailer for The Return of Dr. X is made from footage not seen in the actual movie and seems to play up Bogart's typical gangster persona and hints at a rather more interesting movie.
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3 comments:
Fantastic!!
Thanks!
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