This is only the second Tod Slaughter vehicle I watched after the superior THE FACE AT THE WINDOW (1939), which I had come across during my tenure in Hollywood; I became even more interested in acquiring it after checking out Tim Burton's excellent 2007 filmization of the Stephen Sondheim musical rendition of the popular "barnstormer".
While the plot (which, for what it's worth, is given a contemporary framework in this case) is obviously similar, here, the titular figure is unsurprisingly depicted as an out-and-out villain – which the star (Britain's answer to Bela Lugosi rather than Slaughter's own more versatile countryman Boris Karloff) approaches with trademark hamminess, rubbing his hands together and laughing maniacally when about to indulge in his nefarious deeds. Typically, too, he covets a young girl (daughter of a merchant) in love with a poor boy (a sailor on one of his ships) and isn't above blackmailing her father in order to guarantee the mismatched union!
Incidentally, when the film opens, barber Todd (and the female owner of a neighboring pie-shop) is already well into the habit of disposing of his customers – his motive being simply greed rather than revenge as in the later film version. By the way, the fact that the victims end up as ingredients in the woman's 'recipe' (via a rotating chair in his shop which sends them tumbling down her cellar!) is merely intimated here – but it's perfectly understandable for a product from 1936. The climax, then, is a bit contrived as both hero and heroine don disguises in order to expose Todd – however, it all leads to a nicely ironic twist when, amidst the flames which have engulfed his establishment, the demon barber gets to make use himself of the very contraption he had devised!
In the end, this is watchable – if essentially crude and stodgy – fare which, however, isn't helped by the annoying practice of excessively cleaning up the soundtrack i.e. virtually all noise apart from the dialogue is bafflingly eliminated except that the former, undercut as it is by relentless hiss and crackle, comes across as muffled most of the time and, thus, rendering the ensuing digital manipulation all the more blatant!
While the plot (which, for what it's worth, is given a contemporary framework in this case) is obviously similar, here, the titular figure is unsurprisingly depicted as an out-and-out villain – which the star (Britain's answer to Bela Lugosi rather than Slaughter's own more versatile countryman Boris Karloff) approaches with trademark hamminess, rubbing his hands together and laughing maniacally when about to indulge in his nefarious deeds. Typically, too, he covets a young girl (daughter of a merchant) in love with a poor boy (a sailor on one of his ships) and isn't above blackmailing her father in order to guarantee the mismatched union!
Incidentally, when the film opens, barber Todd (and the female owner of a neighboring pie-shop) is already well into the habit of disposing of his customers – his motive being simply greed rather than revenge as in the later film version. By the way, the fact that the victims end up as ingredients in the woman's 'recipe' (via a rotating chair in his shop which sends them tumbling down her cellar!) is merely intimated here – but it's perfectly understandable for a product from 1936. The climax, then, is a bit contrived as both hero and heroine don disguises in order to expose Todd – however, it all leads to a nicely ironic twist when, amidst the flames which have engulfed his establishment, the demon barber gets to make use himself of the very contraption he had devised!
In the end, this is watchable – if essentially crude and stodgy – fare which, however, isn't helped by the annoying practice of excessively cleaning up the soundtrack i.e. virtually all noise apart from the dialogue is bafflingly eliminated except that the former, undercut as it is by relentless hiss and crackle, comes across as muffled most of the time and, thus, rendering the ensuing digital manipulation all the more blatant!