Doctor X

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Movie
German title Doctor X
Original title Doctor X
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1932
length 77 minutes
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Robert Tasker ,
Earl Baldwin
production Darryl F. Zanuck
music Bernhard Kaun
camera Ray Rennahan ,
Richard Tower
cut George Amy
occupation

Doctor X (alternative title: The mysterious Dr. X ) is a horror / crime film by Michael Curtiz from 1932. The film was shot in an early Technicolor process ( Technicolor Process No. 2 ), which cannot display blue color. Until a restored color version was released in 1989, the film was shown almost exclusively in black and white. In Germany, Dr X for the first time on 15 May 1979 at the NDR under the title The Mysterious Doctor X to see. The film was based on the play by Howard W. Comstock and Allen C. Miller.

action

Lee Taylor is a reporter working on an article about a series of murders of women committed by the so-called "moon killer". The injuries suffered by the victims suggest cannibalism.

In order to get information, Taylor pursues the investigating officials. They lead him to an institute whose director, Doctor Xavier, is suspected of having something to do with the murders. The investigations reveal that several of the doctor's employees seem to have come into contact with cannibalism. Two of them were in a lifeboat with a third person after a shipwreck, this third man disappeared under unspecified circumstances. Another employee Dr. Xaviers, the opaque Dr. Wells, is the leading authority on cannibalism research. Dr. Wells, who has an artificial hand, has managed to artificially produce human flesh.

Dr. Xavier, worried about the murders and what is going on in his laboratory, tries to unmask the murderer, who can only be he or one of his employees, with the help of a self-constructed apparatus. The plan fails, Rowitz falls victim to the moon killer. In order to catch the murderer, who must be in Xavier's institute, Xavier's daughter Joan is ready to play the bait.

Dr. Wells, it turns out, has become a monster of superhuman strength not just the killer, but a monster of superhuman strength through his attempts to use the man-made flesh to restore his hand, but has lost his sanity and personality. Between Xavier, Taylor and Joan on the one hand and Dr. Wells on the other hand, a grueling fight breaks out, in the final showdown of which the monster is defeated.

Reviews

The contemporary critic Mordaunt Hall praised the laboratories' “remarkable backdrops” in the New York Times . Doctor X is a production that makes Frankenstein look almost tame and friendly. Doctor X received a 6.5 out of 10 star rating in the Internet Movie Database . The online film database gave 6.2 out of 10 points. At Rotten Tomatoes , the film achieved 71% recommendations.

The excellent horror film offers a fascinating play of light and shadow, the film is based on the German (horror film) tradition. Doctor X uses color (the two-color Technicolor process) effectively.

Others

Doctor X gained additional notoriety in the 1970s when he was featured in the refrain of Science Fiction / Double Feature , the opening song of The Rocky Horror Picture Show .

The music formation Die Form used a sample from the film in their eponymous song Doctor X from the album Ad Infinitum (1991) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mordaunt Hall, in: New York Times, August 4, 1932, Doctor X review on nytimes.com, last accessed December 29, 2015.
  2. ^ Doctor X on imdb.com, last accessed December 29, 2015.
  3. Doctor X on ofdb.de, last accessed on December 29, 2015.
  4. ^ Doctor X on rottentomatoes.com, last accessed December 29, 2015.