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The Devil Commands
''The Devil Commands'' is a 1941 American horror film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Boris Karloff. The working title of the film was ''The Devil Said No''.Young, 2000, p. 154 In it, a man obsessed with contacting his dead wife falls in with a sinister phony medium. The Devil Commands is one of the many films from the 1930s and 1940s in which Karloff was cast as a mad scientist with a good heart. It was one of the last in line of the low-budget horror films that were produced before Universal Studios' '' The Wolf Man''. The story was adapted from the novel '' The Edge of Running Water'' by William Sloane.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 265 Plot Dr. Julian Blair is engaged in unconventional research on human brain waves when his wife Helen ( Shirley Warde) is tragically killed in an auto accident. The grief-stricken scientist becomes obsessed with redirecting his work into making contact with the dead and is not deterred by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ''Crossfire (film), Crossfire'' (1947). In 1947, he was named as one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in their investigations during the McCarthy era, McCarthy-era Second Red Scare, Red Scare. They all served time in prison for contempt of Congress. In 1951, however, Dmytryk testified to the HUAC and named individuals, including Arnold Manoff, whose careers were then destroyed for many years, to rehabilitate his own career. First hired again by independent producer Stanley Kramer in 1952, Dmytryk is likely best known for directing ''The Caine Mutiny (film), The Caine Mutiny'' (1954), a critical and commercial success. The second-highest-grossing fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Fiske
Thomas Richard Potts (November 20, 1915 – August 10, 1944), known professionally as Richard Fiske, was an American film actor. He appeared in over 80 films between 1938 and 1942. Career Born Thomas Richard Potts, Fiske was born to Frank and Bernice Potts. The tall, handsome young actor signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1938, and appeared regularly in the studio's "B" pictures, serials, and short subjects, including major roles in the popular serials '' The Spider's Web'' (1938) and ''Flying G-Men'' (1939), frequent castings in the '' Blondie'', ''The Lone Wolf'', and ''Boston Blackie'' series, and equally frequent work with short-subject comedians Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, and Buster Keaton. Fiske is best known by modern viewers for his portrayals of neurotic foils to The Three Stooges. Perhaps his most familiar role is that of the irate husband-turned-drill sergeant in 1940's ''Boobs in Arms''. This performance would be recycled three years later in '' Dizzy P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boris Karloff Filmography
Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his death * Boris II of Bulgaria (c. 931–977), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire * Boris III of Bulgaria (1894–1943), ruler of the Kingdom of Bulgaria in the first half of the 20th century * Boris, Prince of Tarnovo (born 1997), Spanish-born Bulgarian royal * Boris and Gleb (died 1015), the first saints canonized in Kievan Rus * Boris (singer) (born 1965), pseudonym of French singer Philippe Dhondt Arts and media * Boris (band), a Japanese experimental rock trio * ''Boris'' (EP), by Yezda Urfa, 1975 * "Boris" (song), by the Melvins, 1991 * ''Boris'' (TV series), a 2007–2009 Italian comedy series * '' Boris: The Film'', a 2011 Italian film based on the TV series * '' Boris: The Rise of Boris Johnson'', a 2006 biography by Andrew G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Boogie Man Will Get You
''The Boogie Man Will Get You'' is a 1942 American comedy horror film directed by Lew Landers and starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. It was the final film Karloff made under his contract with Columbia Pictures, and it was filmed in the wake of his success in the 1941 Broadway production '' Arsenic and Old Lace''. As he had done several times previously, Karloff played the part of a "mad scientist", Professor Billings, who is using the basement of his inn to conduct experiments using electricity to create a race of superhumans. The inn is bought by a new owner, who is initially unaware of the work Billings is conducting. Plot Faced with mortgage debts, Professor Nathaniel Billings (Boris Karloff) sells his 18th-century tavern to Winnie Layden ( Jeff Donnell), who plans to turn it into a hotel. Billings stipulates as a condition of sale that he is able to continue working in a laboratory in the basement. His housekeeper Amelia Jones (Maude Eburne) and hired hand Ebenezer ( Geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Before I Hang
''Before I Hang'' is a 1940 American horror film released by Columbia Pictures, starring Boris Karloff. The film was directed by Nick Grinde (under the working title ''The Wizard of Death'') and was one of several films Karloff starred in under contract with Columbia.Pitts, 2010, p. 9Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 pp. 260–261 Plot Dr. John Garth (Boris Karloff) is on trial for murder after performing a mercy killing on an elderly friend. In the trial, he reveals that he had been researching a cure for aging but had not had time to perfect it before his friend's pain became unbearable. Despite his pleas for mercy, the judge sentences him to be hanged in three weeks' time. As he awaits his execution, Dr. Garth is allowed to continue his experiments, thanks to support from the prison warden (Ben Taggart) and another scientist who is interested in his research, Dr. Ralph Howard (Edward Van Sloan). Using the blood of a recently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man With Nine Lives (film)
''The Man with Nine Lives'' is a 1940 American horror science fiction film directed by Nick Grinde and starring Boris Karloff.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 258-259 Both ''The Man with Nine Lives'' and ''The Man They Could Not Hang'' were based in part on the real-life saga of Dr. Robert Cornish, a University of California professor who, in 1934, announced that he had restored life to a dog named Lazarus, which he had put to death by clinical means. The resulting publicity (including a Time magazine article and motion picture footage of the allegedly re-animated canine) led to Cornish being booted off campus. Plot Dr. Tim Mason (Roger Pryor), a medical researcher experimenting in "frozen therapy" visits the deserted home of Dr. Leon Kravaal (Boris Karloff), the originator of the therapy, who has been missing for ten years. After discovering a secret passage in the basement, Dr. Mason and his nurse (Jo Ann Sayers) discover Kravaal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man They Could Not Hang
''The Man They Could Not Hang'' is a 1939 American horror film directed by Nick Grinde from a screenplay by Karl Brown. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard,Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 pp. 246-247 a scientist who develops a procedure for bringing the dead back to life. When he is arrested and sentenced to be executed for murdering a young medical student who volunteered to be killed to test the procedure, Savaard vows retribution on the individuals responsible. Alongside Karloff, the film's cast includes Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox, and Roger Pryor. ''The Man They Could Not Hang'' is the first in a series of four similarly-themed but otherwise unrelated horror films produced by Columbia Pictures, all starring Karloff, informally known as the "Mad Doctor Cycle." It was followed by '' The Man with Nine Lives'', ''Before I Hang'' (both 1940), and ''The Devil Commands'' (1941). A fifth, '' The Boogie Man Will Get You'' (1942), w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Room (1935 Film)
''The Black Room'' (released in Great Britain as ''The Black Room Mystery''Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 182) is a 1935 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill (as R. William Neill) and starring Boris Karloff. Cinematography was done by Allen G. Siegler. Plot In a Tyrolean castle in the late 18th century, twin sons, Gregor and Anton, are born to the de Berghmann baronial family. The baron is concerned: an old prophecy in the family states that the younger brother shall kill the elder in the Black Room of the castle. Some years later in 1834, it is revealed that the Baron Gregor (Boris Karloff) has become a depraved ruler who murders the wives of local peasants. His brother, Anton (also played by Karloff), who cannot use his right arm and has spent much of his life traveling Europe, returns to the castle for a visit, but refuses to believe the rumors he hears about Gregor. The kindly Anton becomes popular with the village ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing since 1952. History and content ''Sight and Sound'' was first published in Spring 1932 as "A quarterly review of modern aids to learning published under the auspices of the British Institute of Adult Education". In 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent British Film Institute (BFI), which still publishes the magazine today. ''Sight and Sound'' was published quarterly for most of its history until the early 1990s, apart from a brief run as a monthly publication in the early 1950s, but in 1991 it merged with another BFI publication, the ''Monthly Film Bulletin'', and started to appear monthly. In 1949, Gavin Lambert, co-founder of film journal ''Sequence'', was hired as the editor, and also brought with him ''Sequence ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth MacDonald (American Actor)
Kenneth MacDonald (born Kenneth Dollins; September 8, 1901 – May 5, 1972) was an American film actor. Born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made more than 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1970. His name is sometimes seen as Kenneth McDonald. Career MacDonald began his career as a stage actor. In 1923 he appeared in his first feature film, ''Slow as Lightning''. He came to Hollywood in the early 1930s, where he played small roles in low-budget, independent productions. In 1939 Kenneth MacDonald was signed by Columbia Pictures for the studio's Charles Starrett westerns. MacDonald perfected a cool, debonair demeanor, which usually masked an evil side as a con man, outlaw, or thief. His speaking voice was rich and well modulated, often being gentle and ominous at the same time, in the Boris Karloff manner. Also, like Karloff, he seldom raised his voice, making his characters both dominant and dangerous. This quality made MacDonald an effective villain in Columbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Baldwin
Walter Smith Baldwin Jr. (January 2, 1889 − January 27, 1977) was an American character actor whose career spanned five decades and 150 film and television roles, and numerous stage performances. Baldwin was born in Lima, Ohio, into a theatrical family: his father Walter S. Baldwin Sr. and mother Pearl Melville (a sister of Rose Melville) were both actors. He joined his parents' stock company, and in 1915 married fellow actor Geraldine Blair. He was probably best known for playing the father of the disabled sailor in ''The Best Years of Our Lives''. He was the first actor to portray "Floyd the Barber" on ''The Andy Griffith Show''. Prior to his first film roles in 1939, Baldwin had appeared in more than a dozen Broadway plays. He played Whit in the first Broadway production of ''Of Mice and Men'', and also appeared in the original ''Grand Hotel'' in a small role, as well as serving as the production's stage manager. He originated the role of Bensinger, the prissy Chicago Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Adams
Dorothy Adams (January 8, 1900 – March 16, 1988) was an American character actress of stage, film, and television. Early years Adams was born in Hannah, North Dakota. She later moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and was educated there. Stage In the 1920s, Adams was active with the Moroni Olsen Players. Films and television Adams was perhaps best known for her role as Wilma Cameron's mother in ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946). Adams made numerous television appearances in the 1950s. She was seen in '' Gunsmoke'' with James Arness, and four episodes of the Western series ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'', starring Bill Williams. She appeared in four episodes of the crime drama series '' Dragnet'', starring Jack Webb. She made two guest appearances in ''Perry Mason'', starring Raymond Burr. She also appeared in comedy series, such as a 1958 episode of '' Leave it to Beaver'', starring Jerry Mathers. Later years In the 1960s, she was a popular acting instructor a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
