The Brute Man (1946)

A facially deformed and mentally unhinged man wreaks his revenge on those who deformed him with a series of brutal murders.

Director:

Jean Yarbrough

Writers:

George Bricker (screenplay by), M. Coates Webster (screenplay by)

Stars:

Rondo Hatton, Tom Neal, Jan Wiley

Cast

Cast overview:
Rondo Hatton	...	Hal Moffat AKA 'The Creeper'
Tom Neal	...	Clifford Scott
Jan Wiley	...	Virginia Rogers Scott
Jane Adams	...	Helen Paige
Donald MacBride	...	Police Captain M. J. Donelly
Peter Whitney	...	Police Lieutenant Gates
Fred Coby	...	Young Hal Moffat
Janelle Johnson Dolenz	...	Joan Bemis (as Ja Nelle Johnson)

Storyline

Hal Moffat who is taking wholesale revenge by murdering those he holds responsible for his predicament, is befriended by Helen Paige, a blind piano teacher, and he develops a warmth for her that leads him to add thievery and robbery - no big deal, he is out there anyway - to his murders so that she can be provided with the money for an operation.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | murder | star died before release | lead actor's last film | off screen murder | 

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Taglines:

Towering NEW Terror!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Brute

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tristram Coffin, who appears briefly as a police lieutenant, doubles as the voice of the radio reporter.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Police Dispatcher: Attention all cars, attention all cars: general alarm. Car 22, go to 733 Spring Avenue, it's a 341, that is all.

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Connections

Follows House of Horrors (1946)

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Soundtracks

Liebestraum No 2 A Sharp Minor
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Liszt

User Reviews

An Extremely Well-Made Little B Picture

Guys, the next time you look in the mirror and don't like what you see, try telling yourself that at least you're not Rondo Hatton. Hatton suffered with the congenital disease acromegaly, which, as Webster's puts it, is "chronic hyperpituitarism marked by progressive enlargement of hands, feet and face." He lived to the age of 52, being felled by a heart attack shortly after making his last film, "The Brute Man," in 1946. This is an extremely well-made little B picture, featuring fine acting by all, a compact story and some real suspense. In it, Hatton plays a former college BMOC who became disfigured after a lab accident and who, years later, begins a murder spree against all his former pals and teachers that he blames for his current condition. He also befriends a pretty, blind piano teacher, who naturally doesn't recoil automatically from the big lug's unique physiognomy. These scenes, with big Rondo and the blind woman, will likely cause most viewers to recall Frankenstein and the blind hermit in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), just as his later sacrifices on her behalf are reminiscent of Chaplin's for his blind flower girl in "City Lights" (1931). No, "The Brute Man" is not nearly in the same league as those two immortal classics, but still remains a fine entertainment nevertheless. "Frankenstein" makeup man Jack Pierce contributed his great talents to this film, too, making Hatton (I would imagine) even more of a sight than he was ordinarily. It's hard to feel much sympathy for Rondo's "Creeper" character, cold-blooded psycho that he has become, but somehow, we DO still feel some, to the actor's great credit. Oh, by the way, this DVD looks just terrific; an absolutely first-rate transfer from the fine folks at Image Entertainment.