Before I Hang. Nick Grinde. 1940.
I forgot I watched this Karloff/Colombia vehicle last week. This is the fourth film from Eureka's Karloff at Columbia set. On the whole a good package.
This is one of the so called Mad Scientist films Karloff made for Columbia studios.
In this one he plays an elderly scientist striving to perfect a serum that will combat the effects of old age. When an experiment goes wrong and kills one of his test subjects, Dr John Garth is sentenced to death. As he waits out his time in prison Dr.Garth is surprised to find the prisons own doctor, played by Edward Van Sloan, has made succesful appeals to the powers that be to let him carry on his work in prison. Unfortunately the good doctors first successful experiment comes with tragic side effects.
Decent film this, though the weakest of the mad scientist themed films in this set so far. Karloff is superb as ever, the man had such a way of drawing an emotional response from his audience, be it the masterworks like Frankenstein and it's (slightly lesser) sequel or lower grade b-movie hokum like this. The way he evokes sympathy even as we watch him gear up to do something naughty is masterful and one of the reasons he is a true icon of the genre. Boris also recieves able support from the actors around him and unlike other reviews I've read have suggested I didn't particularly find this came across as low budget. Enjoyable, a little slow here and there if I'm honest and simply not quite as gripping as Karloffs best turns. Still a great film and Eureka's presentation is flawless.
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