Man Made Monster (1941)

Director:

George Waggner

Writers:

Harry Essex (story) and
Sid Schwartz (story) ...

Release Date:

28 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The most amazing monster the world has ever known

Plot:

Mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.

Plot Keywords:

Theory | Rubber | Mad Scientist | Scientist | Escape

Cast

Lionel Atwill	...	Dr. Paul Rigas
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Dan McCormick
Anne Nagel	...	June Lawrence
Frank Albertson	...	Mark Adams
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. John Lawrence
William B. Davidson	...	Dist. Atty. Ralph Stanley
Ben Taggart	...	Detective sergeant
Constance Bergen	...	Nurse (as Connie Bergen)
Ivan Miller	...	Doctor
Chester Gan	...	Wong (servant)
George Meader	...	Dr. Bruno
Frank O'Connor	...	Detective
John Dilson	...	Medical Examiner
Byron Foulger	...	Alienist #2
Russell Hicks	...	Warden Harris

Also Known As:

Atomic Monster (USA) (reissue title)
Mysterious Dr. R
The Electric Man (UK)

Runtime:

59 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | UK:U | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Budgeted at a mere $86,000 on a 3-week shooting schedule. It was the cheapest feature film produced by Universal in 1941.

Quotes:

June Lawrence: [referring to Dr. Rivas] He's a genius in his line.
Mark Adams: Maybe, but I'll bet he spent his childhood stickin' pins into butterflies.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Hollywood and the Stars: Monsters We've Known and Loved (#1.15)" (1964)

Overlooked Universal sci-fi film that features one of Chaney's finest performances

Lon Chaney Jr. was often stuck in lousy if entertaining b-films, due to various reasons (typecasting, difficulty to work with due to his chronic alcoholism), but occasionally the man proved himself to be an extremely good actor. I'm always surprised to see him give a literally good performance, but he comes through every now and than, creating horror protagonists the viewers can feel sympathy for. He did it in "The Wolf-Man", "Spider Baby", and he does it in "Man Made Monster", an unfortunately overlooked second tier Universal monster flick.

"Man Made Monster" is very good for several reasons. As mentioned above, Chaney turns in one of his finest performances. Lionel Atwill is superb also, but hes always fantastic. Here he plays a villain thats never remotely over-the-top yet always purely evil. Also, the screenplay is well written, with likable characters you can always feel sympathy for. The direction by George Waggner keeps everything moving at a very quick pace, even though the actual monster doesn't turn up until over half way through. The short running length of an hour helps out as well, and the material manages to be satisfyingly developed despite the brevity. The only negative aspect is the dated romantic subplot involving a newspaper reporter and the daughter of one of the scientists, but those were often expected in this kind of film. "Man Made Monster" is a nice little gem that satisfies the target audience. (7/10)