The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)

It is a performances centric movie

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

1941's "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx" was part of Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s, turning up twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, on May 8 1976 (following Cameron Mitchell's "Nightmare in Wax") and Jan 29 1983 (solo). Yes, Lionel Atwill is criminally wasted, but what's worse is how the ads promoted it as a horror film prominently featuring his countenance (billed second, as he also was in "The Mad Doctor of Market Street"). Patric Knowles is the actual star, before "The Wolf Man" and "Mystery of Marie Roget," and has no trouble carrying the picture, but the on again-off again sparring between his detective Jerry Church and new bride Kit (Anne Gwynne) wears thin very quickly. Church has just returned from South America, only to be bludgeoned by the recent series of murders committed by a mysterious Doctor Rx (not to be confused with Atwill's 1932 "Doctor X"), who executes criminals that escape the justice system. The couple are likable performers, but the 'Battling Churches' were mercifully not granted a sequel (it really is less a horror film than a domestic mystery/whodunit, certainly no THIN MAN). Still entertaining for those who encountered it long ago, particularly for the excellent cast, with Samuel S. Hinds, Paul Cavanagh, Mary Gordon, pretty Jan Wiley, and Ray 'Crash' Corrigan as the gorilla Nbongo, in the lone nightmarish sequence that climaxes the picture. The underrated Mantan Moreland, who always rose above his material, easily steals every scene he's in, which the better known Shemp Howard fails to do (some 5 years before he rejoined The Three Stooges).

Private Detective Jerry Church (Patric Knowles) is asked to investigate the strange deaths of several recently acquitted men. The only clue is the mysterious calling card found on the body of each victim of a man known only as "Doctor Rx". Soon after taking the case, Church is on hand to see a man named Zarini acquitted, only to fall dead before he can leave the courtroom. To solve the series of murders, Church is kidnapped, his wife's life is threatened, and he is strapped to a table by Doctor Rx and prepped for an operation involving organ transplantation with a gorilla. Will Church survive this ordeal and unmask the killer? As far as the classic Universal horror (and horror is used very loosely here) films of the 30s and 40s go, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx is about as bad as you'll run across. I place it at the bottom of the heap with the unfortunate She-Wolf of London. I described The Strange Case of Doctor Rx to a friend as a Charlie Chan movie without any of the charm or interest of a Charlie Chan movie. Knowles' Church doesn't make for a very effective or interesting lead. He's just too bland. Lionel Atwill is billed second, but he has so little screen-time you'll forget he's even in the film. And when Atwill is on screen, he's reduced to playing the role of the most embarrassing red herring I've ever run across. Gwynne is okay as the love interest / wife, but she can't save the film on her on. The highlights of the cast are Shemp Howard and, especially, Mantan Moreland. They have a scene together involving shooting dice that's laugh-out-loud funny. Moreland, as usual, steals most every scene in which he appears. Other weaknesses: the films plotting is plodding, the direction is pedestrian, the mystery isn't very mysterious, and the horror is pretty much missing altogether. As most everyone who has written about The Strange Case of Doctor Rx has pointed out, the one scene of real horror feels like it was cut from another film. Other than Moreland, the one bright spot worth mentioning is the "look" of the film. Like most other Universal pictures from this period, the movie looks like a million bucks. Overall, a very disappointing affair that I'll be generous to and give it a 4/10.

"The Strange Case of Doctor Rx" is billed as a horror film, but it really isn't. It's an all too obvious murder mystery with just one horrific scene that seems spliced in from another movie altogether. William Nigh probably relished the chance to direct at a major studio instead of the salt mine of Monogram, but though the film has handsome production values Nigh brings to it all the trademarks of his Monogram work: dullness, no sense of pace and an unwillingness to tell any of the actors they're overacting. Though billed second, Lionel Atwill is barely in the movie at all until the final reel. The title is obviously intended to evoke memories of Atwill's great film "Doctor X" from Warners in 1932, but the comparison only makes this film seem even worse than it is. The great Black comedian Mantan Moreland easily steals the movie out from under all the white stars; he's genuinely witty and a charismatic screen presence, and he gets the first line of dialogue as well as the final gag. Next to Moreland, the most entertaining aspect of the movie is Patric Knowles' gorgeous Art Deco apartment, where all too much of the film takes place. Why Universal and TCM chose this for their "Cult Horror Classics" boxed set instead of the neglected 1934 masterpiece "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head" (also with Atwill) or the interesting 1942 Edgar Allan Poe adaptation "The Mystery of Marie Roget" (also with Knowles) is a bigger mystery than the supposedly "mysterious" identity of Dr. Rx in this plot.

If you consider yourself a fan of Shemp Howard (of The Three Stooges) and have never seen this picture, DO SO IMMEDIATELY! Even though screen time for Shemp is relatively small, he and Mr. Church's "man" steal the show!!! The movie, overall, is your standard 1940's-1950's whodunit with a bit of a "weird" plot twist to throw you off course. It certainly does that, but it could have been done in a more "meaningful" manner. Aside from all that, SHEMP IS LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY! I picked my copy up off of eBay for around ten bucks and even though there are a couple of video glitches in it, I still consider it worth the price to catch this classic. SHEMP RULES!!!