The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942) dir. Joseph H. Lewis, Universal Pictures
By the 1940s, the Universal Monsters had been shoved to the B circuit. The Mad Doctor of Market Street is a perfect example of that.
Dr. Ralph Benson (Lionel Atwill) is a doctor, a mad doctor that is! He's obsessed with putting living things into suspended animation. He's had some success with animals, but when he tries it on a person, well you all read the title, right?
Narrowly escaping an angry mob, Dr. Benson jumps to a ship bound for New Zealand. The ship doesn't make it though and he, along with some of the crew, end up shipwrecked on an uncharted island. Most people might see this as a problem, but Dr. Benson only sees opportunity. After all, when will he get so many choice specimens?
Disappointing; it starts as a mad science but takes a sharp left turn into a jungle adventure. Even then it plays it cool by adding a bit too much comedy for my liking. Atwill is the star though and he knows it. He chews every scene he's in like its his last meal.
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