THE CRIME OF DR. CRESPI 1935
This is a 1935 American horror film and is loosely based on the Edgar Alan Poe story " The Premature Burial.
Directed by John H. Auer
Produced by John H. Auer Herb Hayman
Based on The Premature Burial by Edgar Alan Poe.
Written by : Lewis Graham
Edward Olmstead
John H. Auer
Production Company: Republic Pictures
The cast included:
Erich von Stroheim as Dr. Andre Crespi
Harriet Russell as Estelle Gorham Ross
Dwight Frye as Dr. Thomas
Paul Guilfoyle as Dr. John Arnold
Geraldine Kay as Miss Rexford
Jean Brooks as Miss Gordon
Patsy Berlin as Jeanne Ross, The Child
Joe Verdi as Dr. Angelo
Dean Raymond as Minister
The plot of the film is this per IMDB.
Doctor. Crespi has a festering hatred for Doctor. Stephen Ross, the man who has married his ex sweetheart. Ross must undergo surgery and Crspi, sensing an opportunity, seizes it. Ross "appears" to die but Crespi has given him a drug that places the victim in a trance like state but leaves the victim in possession of his senses. Crespi attends the premature burial of his hated colleague. Doctor. Arnold has his suspicions and calls on Doctor. Thomas to help him. They exhume Ross' body and finds him alive., although now a terrified ghostly figure given to stalking the hospital corridors.
Further plot information:
Doctor. Crespi has developed a serum that paralyzes his victims so that he can bury them alive. He puts them into a sort of catatonic state.
Thus Ross revives and comes back to consciousness. He then heads to Crespi's office who is at his desk drinking coffee. Terror stricken Crespi thinks that Ross is a ghost but soon realizes that he is not. Thomas and Arnold rush in and Doctor Crespi, realizing that he has been exposed, shoots himself.
Doctor Arnold now become the new head of the hospital and drops his former girlfriend Miss Rexford. for Estelle and Estelle become interested in Doctor. Thomas who is now a respected doctor.
The film is still somewhat hammy basically due to the time period that the film was made (1935)
Erich Von Stroheim, who was a director and producer, and appeared several times as an actor gives a good performance.
I had seen him as Germans and Nazi's but never new he could talk without a German accent. His English was just fine.
However, the interest here is Dwight Frye. Instead of being a hunchback, an off beat horror character or a mad doctor's assistant, he plays a perfectly normal role and is one of the heroes of the film. When he performed on stage he generally played straight roles as well as having had played in musicals. It was refreshing to see this perfectly capable actor play against his normal film characterizations.
The rating on the IMDB was a 5.4 out of 10. This rating seems correct due to the age of this film. If it had been made in the 1940's, it would probably would have had a higher rating.
The film is available on DVD and also comes on television.
An unusual addition to a horror film collection.
Louie The Movie Buff