Man Made Monster (1941)

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

Director:

George Waggner

Writers:

Harry Essex (story "The Electric Man") (as H.J. Essex), Sid Schwartz (story "The Electric Man")

Stars:

Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., Anne Nagel

Cast

Complete credited 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	...	District Attorney Ralph B. Stanley (as William Davidson)
Ben Taggart	...	Detective Sergeant Regan
Constance Bergen	...	Nurse (as Connie Bergen)
Ivan Miller	...	Doctor
Chester Gan	...	Wong
George Meader	...	Dr. Bruno
Frank O'Connor	...	Police Detective
John Dilson	...	Medical Examiner
Byron Foulger	...	Alienist #2

Storyline

"Big Dan" McCormick is the sole survivor of a bus crash into hydro lines. 5 others were electrocuted. Intrigued by Dan's apparent immunity to electricity, Dr. John Lawrence, distinguished elector-biologist, asks Dan to visit him at his laboratory, where Lawrence's assistant, Dr. Paul Rigas, is secretly conducting experiments to prove his theory that human life can be motivated and controlled by electricity. Rigas persuades Dan to submit to tests, where Dan absorbs increasingly powerful charges until he develops an amazing degree of immunity, and becomes a walking hulk of electricity. Rigas does a final test of pouring a tremendous charge into Dan's body, and Dan becomes superhuman and his body glows. He is also a robot that is controlled by Rigas. When Lawrence tries to stop the experiment, Rigas orders Dan to kill him. Rigas removes the electricity from Dan's body and he becomes a shrunken shell. Despite the efforts of June Meredith, Lawrence's niece, and newspaper reporter Mark ...

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Plot Keywords:

electricity | reporter | theory | scientist | rubber | 

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Taglines:

DEATH-DEALING DYNAMO!..All the furies of nature in his electric-charged body...his revenge-wracked brain! (originl poster)

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Atomic Monster

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the story, "The Electric Man" which Universal had purchased for $3,300 in 1935 as a potential Boris Karloff / Bela Lugosi vehicle to be titled "The Man in the Cab." The studio, in the midst of a financial debacle at the time, shelved the project for over five years, assigning the re-write to George Waggner (working as "Joseph West") who re-tooled it as "The Human Robot."

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Goofs

After Dr. Rigas has infused Dan McCormick with electricity, sparks to erupt from Dan's fingers. Leaving the laboratory, he reaches toward a glass goldfish bowl, which seems to attract the electricity in his body. But glass is an insulator; only a grounded, electrically conductive substance would attract the sparks.

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Quotes

Dr. Paul Rigas: ...eventually a race of superior men can be developed, men whose only wants are electricity.
Dr. John Lawrence: But, man, you're challenging the forces of Creation!
Dr. Paul Rigas: The forces of Creation? Bah! You know as well as I do that more than half the people of the world are doomed to a life of mediocrity - born to be nonentities, millstones around the neck of progress, men who have to be fed, watched, looked over, and taken care of by a superior intelligence. My theory is to make these people of more use to the world. By...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Coming Soon (1982)

User Reviews

Chaney Sparkles....Literally

Big Dan McCormick survives a bus accident that is hit with electricity only to end up being the guinea pig for two scientists...one a good man who wants to investigate McCormick's immunity to electrical currents for the benefice of mankind and the other who wants to make McCormick the prototype of his super human electrical men army that only he is able to control. Lon Chaney, in his first horror film for Universal(Well, after all everybody else mentioned it so why not me?), does a good job doing another variation of Lenny from Of Mice and Men being the simple man who is tricked and coerced by the evil scientist. The evil guy is played with relish and finesse than none other than Lionel Atwill. Atwill plays the man with a degree of enlightened insanity. Lionel Atwill played evil scientists better than anyone else for my money. He enunciates his words with delicacy while all the time looking through those snake-like eyes. The special effects and direction in this one are pretty good and the film is very enjoyable.