Doctor X (1932)

A wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Robert Tasker (screen play), Earl Baldwin (screen play),

Stars:

Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lionel Atwill	...	Dr. Jerry Xavier
Fay Wray	...	Joanne Xavier
Lee Tracy	...	Lee Taylor
Preston Foster	...	Dr. Wells
John Wray	...	Dr. Haines
Harry Beresford	...	Dr. Duke
Arthur Edmund Carewe	...	Dr. Rowitz
Leila Bennett	...	Mamie
Robert Warwick	...	Police Commissioner Stevens
George Rosener	...	Otto
Willard Robertson	...	Detective O'Halloran
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Daily World Editor (as Thomas Jackson)
Harry Holman	...	Mike - Waterfront Policeman
Mae Busch	...	Cathouse Madame
Tom Dugan	...	Sheriff

Storyline

A monster lurks as New York newspaperman Lee Taylor investigates one of the "Moon Killer" murders, in which the victims are strangled, cannibalized and surgically incised under the light of the full moon. The trail leads to the cliffside mansion of Dr. Xavier, where the doctor and his colleagues conduct a strange experiment.

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Plot Keywords:

moon | academy | reporter | scientist | experiment | 

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Taglines:

Out-Thrills Them All!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Monstro

Filming Locations:

Laguna Beach, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 9 February 1931 and had 80 performances.

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Goofs

In the opening scene of the film, Lee Tracy is shown strolling along the New York docks in search of news, when a body arrives at the Mott Street Morgue across the street. In reality, Mott Street, located in New York's old Chinatown district, is fairly well landlocked and nowhere near the either waterfront or dock areas.

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Quotes

Lee Taylor, Daily World Reporter: [to the Piano Player] Hey, Rachmaninoff - how 'bout the Prelude?

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Connections

Featured in Glorious Technicolor (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op.3 No.2"
(1887) (uncredited)
Music by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Played on piano by an unidentified man at the Madame's house

User Reviews

Full Moon High

Old dark house thrillers were all the rage in the early talkie era. Doctor X combines a spooky old house with a mad scientist horror story, and as directed by Michael Curtiz in early two-strip Technicolor, it's a quite good show even by today's standards.

Lionel Atwill's Doctor X is a scientist who runs a medical research institute in New York City near where a series of grisly murders have recently occurred. He and his entire teaching staff are suspects in the case, as the police have determined that the killer has some medical knowledge. The ever-helpful doctor seeks to prove the authorities wrong, and transports his staff to the cliffside manor, Blackstone Shoals, to prove them wrong, and gets more than he bargained for.

Newspaperman Lee Tracy is along for the ride, and can't seem to keep his mouth shut, as he continually makes wisecracks. His character is utterly of the time, and as such a fascinating glimpse of a bygone type, both of real life and the movies. Fay Wray is her usual lissome self, with her peculiarly gyrating physicality far more interesting than her delivery of dialog. She's a brunette here, and proves herself once again filmdom's definitive Scream Queen, on at least one occasion shrieking with no provocation whatsoever, as if in preparation for the horror to come.

For a 1932 movie, this one moves quickly. There are enough dour and sinister-looking suspects to keep one guessing the identity of the murderer till near the end. Curtiz shows an often sadistic sense of humor, as when several suspects are manacled to their chairs to witness reenactment of one of the murders, only to have the real killer turn up! The director's control of the material is complete, and he shows himself once more one of great unsung masters of the studio era.