Smarmy journalist Walter Garrett talks his way into an interview with actress Angela Merrova. Stumbling into her hotel room he is surprised to discover that she has been brutally murdered. Rather than immediately calling the police he phones the scoop in to his newspaper, because that’s the kind of guy he is. Eventually he does call the police, but when they arrive there is no body to be found. Unfettered by this small detail he has the story printed anyway. When Angela shows up at his newspaper the next day threatening to sue for reporting her death, Walter is promptly fired. Walter can’t help but notice that Angela is as pale as Casper the Friendly Ghost and that she wears a long black veil; just what the hell is going on here? Pissed off about his termination, he sets out to clear his good (?) name. His investigation leads to a series of murders where all the victims share the same rare blood type and appear to be drained of all their blood.
Ultimately his (self-financed?) investigation leads to a creepy, mad blood doctor and to the uber-creepy Dr. Maurice Xavier (Humphrey Bogart slumming!), a man who had been executed years earlier for conducting Frankenstein-like experiments on children, which led to their deaths. Unbeknownst to Walter, Dr. X, like any vampire worth his spit, needs fresh blood to survive (having to match blood type is new vampire twist for this weary viewer).
Eventually Dr. X abducts Walter’s heroine friend because she possesses his favorite blood type and damn if he isn’t thirsty. He brings her to his remote New Jersey hideout, where we find plenty of Frankenstein equipment necessary for the blood transfusion. You know the kind of equipment I mean, all full of lights, whirling dials, loud noise, and lightening. As the tension gets ratcheted up, the film suddenly ends with a mundane shootout with the police.
Bearing no relationship to its predecessor Dr. X., The Return of Doctor X was a mildly fun diversion that was obviously attempting to cash in on thematically far-superior horror films that were characteristic of the era. We get the mad scientist committing crimes against humanity, the wisecracking reporter, the snarky heroine, and a hell-of-a-lot of loud, mad-scientist equipment. According to my research Bogart was forced to take this role as punishment for insulting the head of the studio at the time. Bogart’s appearance would be the impetus to check this film out, as he’s playing way against type. Also his hair resembles a skunk, which I suppose makes him appear more “mad” or perhaps just unfashionable.
Quote from Bogart on starring in this film,
"This is one of the pictures that made me march in to Jack Warner and ask for more money again. You can't believe what this one was like. I had a part that somebody like Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff should have played. I was this doctor, brought back to life, and the only thing that nourished this poor bastard was blood. If it had been Jack Warner's blood, or Harry's, or Pop's, maybe I wouldn't have minded as much. The trouble was, they were drinking mine and I was making this stinking movie."
2 comments:
yeah, he could piss and moan all he wanted, but the line of stars ahead of him was pretty long at the time. it wasn't until maltese falcon that HB began to call his own shots. when he did return of dr. x, he just wasn't that big a deal.
Man, the rare blood types get so much attention! Dr. X probably has a brother who just likes O-positive, and his vampire tomfoolery is never discovered.
The one problem with Humphrey's swank hairdo is having to fend off Pepe LePue.
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