By the mid-1930s, things had changed over at Universal. The old family and their dependence on horror were out. The new owners, however, still saw Karloff as a marquee draw. The catch they insisted was that the next film he did for them could not be horror.
So they did 'science fiction thriller' instead
David Malloy (Karloff) is your typical bumbling inventor. He's a good man, but his eye sight is failing plus he's in dire straits. Some time ago he invented a perfect locking system, but his former partner Ranger (Samuel S. Hinds) stole the invention and cheated him out of the royalties.
Malloy needs money for his daughter Joan (Jean Rogers), but he's been frozen out thanks to Ranger. Even when presenting him with a new type of lock and consulting a lawyer does him no good. Malloy, sick of everything by this point, teams up with second story man "Pretty" Louie (Hobart Cavanaugh) and tells him out to get pass Ranger's security. He stress that Louie isn't to rob anything from the stores though.
No, he simply wants Louie to mess the place up a bit to show everyone that Ranger's security isn't as foolproof as he claims. Things go great, but soon word of someone who can slip past the 'unbreakable' security reaches the Kid (Alan Baxter). The Kid is also the chief of the largest gang of cutthroats in the city. Kidnappings aplenty for everyone; can Malloy stop the ball once its rolling?
Not terrible, but by '37 horror films were now resigned to the b roll. Karloff does a nice turn, playing a friendly grandfather type instead of a mad scientist, but honestly to have included this in the Shock package is a stretch.
No comments:
Post a Comment