{"id":48468,"date":"2020-04-18T20:41:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T03:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48468"},"modified":"2021-02-05T17:27:58","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T00:27:58","slug":"return-of-dr-x-the-1939","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48468","title":{"rendered":"Return of Dr. X, The (1939)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The day is coming when man will be able to control blood &#8212; and when that time does arrive, he&#8217;ll be able to control his destiny. Blood is the source of life!&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Dr-X-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Dr-X-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-48470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Dr-X-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Dr-X-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Dr-X-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen an eager journalist (Wayne Morris) who has arranged to meet a glamorous actress (Lya Lys) at her apartment arrives to find her dead, he promptly calls his newspaper to file the story &#8212; but the police find Lys perfectly alive, and Morris is fired. Morris consults his doctor-friend (Dennis Morgan) for help in investigating the mystery, and they meet both Morgan&#8217;s mentor (John Litel) and Litel&#8217;s assistant (Humphrey Bogart), who are conducting experiments related to blood types, and are eager to connect with Morgan&#8217;s colleague (Rosemary Lane) &#8212; who happens to have the exact blood type they&#8217;re in search of.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Amateur Sleuths<\/li>\n<li>Humphrey Bogart Films<\/li>\n<li>Journalists<\/li>\n<li>Mad Doctors and Scientists<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThis atmospherically shot B-flick &#8212; directed with panache by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0792605\/\">newbie Vincent Sherman<\/a> &#8212; is best known for featuring Humphrey Bogart in his only &#8220;horror flick&#8221; role, but it&#8217;s actually more of a pseudo-comedic mad-doctor amateur-sleuth genre-mash. In just 62 minutes, we&#8217;re taken quickly through a tale of journalistic gusto, mysteriously disappearing bodies, vampiric visages, a pet monkey, a fuzzy white bunny, and a monocled scientist &#8230; <\/p>\n<p><strong>SPOILERS HERE <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; willing to revive a doctor put to death for &#8212; no kidding &#8212; experimentally starving a baby (!). Bogart&#8217;s white hair-streak is clearly intentionally reminiscent of Elsa Lanchester in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=17366\"><em>The Bride of Frankenstein<\/em> (1935)<\/a>, and while he wasn&#8217;t at all thrilled with his role here, he actually does a decent job &#8212; much better than his supporting turn as a Mexican bandit in Michael Curtiz&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48458\"><em>Virginia City<\/em><\/a> the same year. There&#8217;s some amusingly droll dialogue (&#8220;His interest in blood&#8230; almost equals my own.&#8221;), and Sherman&#8217;s visual flair is consistently engaging. While this isn&#8217;t high art by any means &#8212; and the narrative has plenty of holes &#8212; it&#8217;s an enjoyable low-budget film and worth a look.   <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Highly atmospheric cinematography and sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6-1024x623.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"389\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-48473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6-1024x623.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6-768x467.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6-1536x934.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography6.png 1597w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart-1024x617.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-48472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart-1024x617.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart-768x463.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart-1536x925.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Bogart.png 1599w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7-1024x656.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"410\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-48471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7-1024x656.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7-300x192.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7-128x82.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7-768x492.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Return-of-Doctor-X-Cinematography7.png 1525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a nifty little B-flick. Listed as a Camp Classic in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031851\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1939\/11\/23\/archives\/the-screen-paramount-finds-comedy-in-the-cat-and-the-canary-return.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/88045\/the-return-of-dr-x#articles-reviews?articleId=89008\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2123horr.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down to 6th title)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/horror\/return-of-dr-x-1939.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The day is coming when man will be able to control blood &#8212; and when that time does arrive, he&#8217;ll be able to control his destiny. Blood is the source of life!&#8221; Synopsis: When an eager journalist (Wayne Morris) who has arranged to meet a glamorous actress (Lya Lys) at her apartment arrives to find her dead, he promptly calls his newspaper to file the story &#8212; but the police find Lys perfectly alive, and Morris is fired. Morris consults&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48468\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48468"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69044,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48468\/revisions\/69044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}