Dead Men Walk
| Dead Men Walk | |
|---|---|
 Film poster for Dead Men Walk | |
| Directed by | Sam Newfield |
| Written by | Fred Myton |
| Produced by | Sigmund Neufeld |
| Starring | Dwight Frye George Zucco Mary Carlisle Nedrick Young Forrest Taylor |
| Cinematography | Jack Greenhalgh |
| Edited by | Holbrook N. Todd |
| Music by | Leo Erdody |
| Distributed by | Producers Releasing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 64 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Dead Men Walk is a 1943 American horror film produced by Sigmund Neufeld for Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). It is an original story and screenplay by Fred Myton, starring George Zucco, Mary Carlisle, Nedrick Young, and Dwight Frye, directed by Sam Newfield. It was originally distributed by PRC and reissued in the US in 1948 by Madison Pictures, Inc.
Plot
The story involves a kindly small-town physician Doctor Lloyd Clayton (Zucco), who has secretly murdered his twin brother Elwyn, because of Elwyn's deep involvement in satanic occult practices. Only Elwyn's hunchback assistant Zolarr (Frye) suspects the good doctor of doing away with his master and confronts him on this matter, but the doctor maintains that he only acted in self-defense when his brother had become a danger to society.
Meanwhile, because Elwyn has gone far with his study of the dark arts before his demise, he returns to life as an evil supernatural being who begins murdering the villagers by draining them of their blood. The doctor and his beautiful young niece, Gayle Clayton (Carlisle), and her fiancé, soon discover that Elwyn still lives, and are in peril of their lives for this knowledge.
Dr. Clayton realizes the only way he can help his niece now is to again kill Elwyn, and plans to conquer him with fire. Clayton, unfortunately, becomes also trapped in the resulting conflagration, and along with Elwyn and Zolarr perishes in the flames of Elwyn's accursed library.
Cast
- George Zucco in a dual role as Dr. Lloyd Clayton, a kind scientist trying to stop Elwyn from biting Gayle/Dr. Elwyn Clayton, Lloyd's Twin Brother who reads about the dark arts and becomes a vampire when revived, starting to bite Gayle.
- Mary Carlisle as Gayle Clayton, Lloyd's Niece and David's Fiancée who is being bitten by Elwyn.
- Nedrick Young as Dr. David Bentley, Gayle's Fiancée who investigates who bit her.
- Dwight Frye as Zolarr, Elwyn's Servant who revives him back to life as a vampire.
- Fern Emmett as Kate, a local townswoman who despises Elwyn and thinks he is back to life.
- Robert Strange as Wilkins (Harper in credits), a local townsman who thinks Lloyd is the one biting Gayle.
- Hal Price as Sheriff Losen
- Sam Flint as Minister
- Forrest Taylor as the Burning Fireplace, the narrator who explains the story in the pre-credits sequence.
Production
The film was shot in six days. It was the final film of Mary Carlisle.[1] She made the film shortly after getting married.[2]
It was one of the last film appearances of Dwight Frye.[3]
Critical reception
As of November 2016, the film scored 4.7/10 on the Internet Movie Database and 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.
See also
References
- ^ Internet Movie Database Trivia
- ^ Schallert, Edwin (Sep 10, 1942). "DRAMA: Montgomery Handed Plum Roles at 20th". Los Angeles Times. p. 18.
- ^ "DWIGHT FRYE DIES; CHARACTER ACTOR: Former Stage Performer Here, Seen in Many Film Thrillers Since 1930, Stricken at 44". New York Times. Nov 12, 1943. p. 22.
External links
- Dead Men Walk at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- Dead Men Walk at IMDb
- Dead Men Walk at the TCM Movie Database
- Template:AllMovie title
- Dead Men Walk is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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