The Man They Could Not Hang
The Man They Could Not Hang | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Nick Grinde |
Produced by | Wallace MacDonald |
Written by |
Karl Brown George Wallace Syre Leslie T. White |
Starring |
Boris Karloff Lorna Gray |
Music by | R.H Bassett and others |
Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline |
Edited by | William A. Lyon |
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, the first of three similarly-plotted titles produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by Nick Grinde, and starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard.[1] The supporting cast features Lorna Gray and Ann Doran.[2]
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 Dist. Atty. 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 Clifford Kearney
- James Craig as Watkins
- John Tyrrell as 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.
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
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Man They Could Not Hang |
- ↑ Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomohawk Press 2011 pp. 246-247
- ↑ "The Man They Could Not Hang". FilmAffinity. filmaffinity.com. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Man They Could Not Hang. |