The Neanderthal Man (1953)

Wheeler, a tourist-hunter in the California High Sierras, is not believed by the patrons of Webb's Cafe when he claims to have run across a live tiger with tusks. Among the scoffers is ... See full summary »

Director:

Ewald André Dupont

Writers:

Aubrey Wisberg, Jack Pollexfen

Stars:

Robert Shayne, Joyce Terry, Richard Crane

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Shayne	...	Prof. Clifford Groves (as Robert Shane)
Joyce Terry	...	Jan Groves (as Joy Terry)
Richard Crane	...	Dr. Ross Harkness
Doris Merrick	...	Ruth Marshall
Beverly Garland	...	Nola Mason, waitress
Robert Long	...	George Oakes
Tandra Quinn	...	Celia, the housekeeper (as Jeanette Quinn)
Lee Morgan	...	Charlie Webb
Eric Colmar	...	Buck Hastings
Dick Rich	...	Sheriff Andy Andrews
Robert Easton	...	Danny, a townsman
Frank Gerstle	...	Mr. Wheeler, the hunter
Anthony Jochim	...	Skeptical Naturalist
Marshall Bradford	...	Conference Chairman
William Fawcett	...	Dr. Fairchild

Storyline

Wheeler, a tourist-hunter in the California High Sierras, is not believed by the patrons of Webb's Cafe when he claims to have run across a live tiger with tusks. Among the scoffers is game-warden Oakes - until he is driving home later that night and the critter hops on the hood of his car. Oakes convinces a skeptical Dr. Harkness, state university zoologist, to come to the small town to investigate. At Webbs', Harkness meets Ruth, fiancée of Prof. Groves who maintains his home and lab outside the town, and thru her meets Groves' daughter, Jan. Groves himself is down in the city, angrily trying to convince the Naturalists' Society of the truth of his theory that the size of skull and brain equate with intelligence, and therefore Neanderthal man was equal, if not superior, to Homo sapiens. He is rejected, and by the time he returns home, seems completely unhinged, rejecting his fiancée and secluding himself in his lab. There, he has developed a serum with which he is experimenting. ...

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Plot Keywords:

evolution | monster

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Taglines:

What primitive passions...what mad desires drove him on...? He held them all in the grip of deadly terror...nothing could keep him from the woman he claimed as his own!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 June 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Homem Fera

Company Credits

Production Co:

Global Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The saber-toothed tiger's long fangs aren't shown as it's walking around, but does show when he jumps on a car and in other scenes.

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Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: The Neanderthal Man (1995)

User Reviews

The Neanderthal Man (1953) **1/2

An ultra-cheesy '50s monster flick in which we get to see Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson from TV's 'Adventures of Superman') shamelessly recite hilarious dialogue and feverishly overact as a dedicated mad scientist who's found a way to reverse the evolutionary process! It's the treat of the film to watch him rant and rave about his idiotic theories without applying the brakes. First he turns a common house cat into a fierce saber-toothed tiger utilizing close-ups of a fake model; later, he jabs himself with a serum that transforms him into the title character. You've got to get a load of this ape-man's face; it's one of the most ridiculous-looking of all film monsters, like an over-the-head mask you'd buy in a Halloween shop, and it's completely expressionless with a muzzle and set eyes that don't move. For his creature, the filmmaker should have chosen to stay with the crude third or fourth stage appliances during the chintzy transformation sequence.

A real hoot, and a good deal of fun if you go for these types of movies. We also get to see a young Beverly Garland in the cast, although a double is used in a sequence where she dons a bathing suit and models for a photographer.