The Man They Could Not Hang
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| The Man They Could Not Hang | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Nick Grinde (as Nick Grindé) |
| Screenplay by | Karl Brown |
| Story by | Leslie T. White George Wallace Sayre |
| Starring | Boris Karloff |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline (as Benjamin Kline) |
| Edited by | William A. Lyon (as William Lyon) |
| Color process | Black and white |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 64 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Man They Could Not Hang is a 1939 American horror film directed by Nick Grinde and starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard.[1][2] It is the first in a series of four similarly-themed Columbia horror movies, all starring Karloff, informally known as the "Mad Doctor Cycle." It was followed by The Man with Nine Lives, Before I Hang and The Devil Commands. A fifth, The Boogie Man Will Get You, was a parody of the others.
Plot
Dr. Savaard is obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. A young medical student offers his services to him, but before he can bring him back to life, Savaard is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to hang. He vows revenge on the judge and the jury before his hanging. His assistant claims his body and revives him by using his technique. The vengeful Savaard goes on a killing spree.
Cast
- Boris Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard
- Lorna Gray as Janet Savaard
- Robert Wilcox as 'Scoop' Foley
- Roger Pryor as District Attorney Drake
- Don Beddoe as Police Lt. Shane
- Ann Doran as Betty Crawford
- Joe De Stefani as Dr. Stoddard
- Charles Trowbridge as Judge Bowman
- Byron Foulger as Lang
- Dick Curtis as Jurry Foreman Clifford Kearney
- James Craig as Juror Watkins
- John Tyrrell as Juror Sutton
Production notes
The fictional heart and lung machine prop presented an idea that was strictly science fiction at the time, but later the central idea became reality as "Open-Heart Surgery." Later renamed "On-Pump" surgery due to the development of microsurgery that does not require stopping the heart, "On Pump" requires heart stoppage, then hook up to the pump, then operate on the repairs, then re-connect and revive the patient, exactly the basic theory presented by the film.[citation needed]
Release
The film has been released on VHS by Sony Pictures. It is also included in the "Icons of Horror – Boris Karloff" DVD, released in 2006.
See also
- Boris Karloff filmography
- John "Babbacombe" Lee, a.k.a. "The Man They Could Not Hang"
References
- ^ Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomahawk Press 2011 pp. 246-247
- ^ "The Man They Could Not Hang". FilmAffinity. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
External links
