bensonmum2 While I enjoyed watching Dr. Renault's Secret, the movie has one serious flaw that keeps it from being a real winner. The problem with Dr. Renault's Secret is that there really isn't much of a secret. Anyone with half a brain would be hard pressed not to guess what's going on within the first ten minutes of the movie. I have a hard time believing that even the less jaded horror fans of 1942 would have been shocked by the revelations made toward the end of the film about Dr. Renault and his assistant, Noel. The movie all but beats you over the head with its supposed "secret".But even with this flaw, there's still a lot to enjoy here for fans of classic horror. To start with, J. Carrol Naish gives one of those wonderful performances that I'll remember long after having watched the movie. He's awesome as the strange Noel. The way he changes his body language as the movie goes on and his more animalistic tendencies start to come out is perfect. George Zucco gives his usual nice performance even though his role is limited. The film also very nicely shot. Dr. Renault's Secret features some top-notch cinematography, set design, lighting, and everything else that goes into make a movie look "good". It might have been a "B" film, but it doesn't look like it. Fox didn't make many horror films, but when they did, they did it right.One final note – it's odd to me that the movie is supposed to be set in France. While I don't necessarily have a problem with some of the British and American actors in the movie, there's just no way Arthur Shields could have ever been a French police inspector. He's way too Irish to ever be anything but Irish.

slayrrr666 "Dr. Renault's Secret" is a thoroughly unimpressive yet not completely worthless effort.**SPOILERS**Arriving in Paris, Dr. Larry Forbes, (Sheppard Strudwick) is told that he has to wait in town before traveling to see Dr. Renault, (George Zucco) as he has come to marry Madelon, (Lynne Roberts) his niece. Trapped in the hotel for the night, he is fingered as the main suspect for a murder during the night. Going up in the morning with handyman Noel, (J. Carroll Naish) the three are reconciled and meet up with each other. During the night, he is the target of several murder attempts, but none fall through. Determined to continue on, he decides to continue on with his life, only for another repeat attempt on his life. Now knowing the identity of the killer, he tries to stop him before he succeeds.The Good News: This one has very few good qualities. The film does have a few good chase scenes in here that really get this one interesting. The main one is a particularly long and fun chase that contains a lot right. This one has some really great moments, as it starts off with a great brawl in a laboratory basement that really gets brutal at times, followed by a lengthy and entertaining chase. Starting off with an excellent moment in the bedroom, it continues on into the surrounding woods, out into and completely through a lake and concludes with a simply spectacular confrontation at a windmill. From a nice brawl over the rooftop, to a really brutal kill and some big stunts going on, it has a lot to offer and becomes a lot more entertaining than it really should. This is a lot of fun, and along with the really fun carnival scene, really constitutes the film's good qualities.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot wrong, even though there wasn't a whole lot to it to begin with. The fact is that this is a thoroughly uneventful, dull and really short film. Even though the film is barely an hour long, the film feels much longer due to its inactivity. From the beginning, this one doesn't have a whole lot of action, and saves the few it does have for the very end of the film. Even the few attempts to do so beforehand are really weak and come off as simply dull. The whipping scenes take place mostly as shadows and ruin their brutality significantly, the murder attempts are all broken up through various means that only make them look lucky more than anything, and it all fails badly. The film's dullness is where it really fails, and for being as short as it is, this one becomes a really big flaw that sinks it.The Final Verdict: There's not a whole lot for this one either way, and in the end doesn't stand out or fail at much of anything. If it sounds interesting, give it a shot, but it won't mean much at all either way.Today's Rating-PG: Mild Violence

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** If anything else the film "The Secret of Dr. Renault" is a Tor de Force for veteran character actor J. Carrol Nash as Dr. Renault's, George Zucco, ape-like and super sensitive, about his looks, handyman Noel.Nash, or handyman Noel, steals every scene that he's in, with a minimum amount of lines, as he actually wins over the sympathy of the audience even though he ends up brutally murdering a number of totally innocent persons. Noel becomes madly protective of Dr. Renault's daughter Madeline, Lynne Roberts, not just because she's beautiful but because she's the only person in the movie who can bring the best, as well as human, side out of him. Being born and brought up as a wild ape in the Javanese jungle Noel despite Dr. Renault's many experiments into making him into a human being is still really a monkey at heart.It's when Madline's fiancée American brain surgeon Larry Forbes, Shepperd Strudwick, show up at Dr. Renault's country château outside of Paris that strange things begin to happen both at Dr. Renault's place and the nearby town. The evidence of the murder of American tourist Mr. Austin, Jack Norton, that happens in the beginning of the movie points to the sensitive but a bit overprotective, in regards to Madeline, Noel who was turned off by a remark that Austin made. It soon becomes very obvious to who murdered Mr. Austin very early in the film and it's not Noel. The police in investigating Dr. Renault's handyman in the Austin murder are sure to find out the real reason that the doctor keeps Nole employed and it doesn't have anything to do with his plumbing and electrical skills.Trying as much as humanly possible to keep the animal in him under control the half-man half-ape Noel in the end give into his animal instincts and goes bananas from the very negative reactions that he gets from the local townspeople. This is in regards to what the townspeople say about his appearance looking like a cross between Mafia Godfather Don Corleone, with his mouth stuffed with cotton balls or candy jaw breakers, and Apache Indian chieftain Geronimo. Noel is also very hurt over the snide remarks said about him in his inability to dance like Fred Astaire as he was plodding all over the dance floor with Madeline during the towns Bastille Day celebrations.In the end Noel makes up for all the bad that he did in the movie by saving Madeline from being kidnapped held for ransom and possibly murdered by Dr. Renault's gardener the also ape-like ,but still human, looking Rogell, Mike Mazurki. Dr. Renault hired the ungrateful Rogell, whom he testified for at his trial, despite him having a long and violent criminal record. Dr. Renault had a bad record himself in picking those whom he employed at his château. It was that sloppiness on his part that lead to Dr. Renault in having his neck broken when he got too overconfident in his pushing, with a bull-whip,the meek and obedient Noel around.Noel now completely taken over by his other self, the wild and uncontrollable ape, throws caution to the wind in going after Rogell who's making his getaway together with the kidnapped Madeline by boat. In the most exciting sequence in the film Noel and Rogell, who's at least a foot taller, slug it out at a deserted watermill with the lovely Madiline's life hanging in the balance.

dcole-2 Yes, this is a poor man's ISLAND OF LOST SOULS -- it can only afford ONE lost soul. But J. Carrol Naish is so amazing as the Ape-Man and he has such a marvelous supporting cast (including the always-solid George Zucco and Mike Mazurki) that it's absolutely watchable and compelling. Plus director Harry Lachman takes such care in creating each shot -- beautiful shots, every single one -- that it looks far more expensive than it must have been. They play the Man-Beast as more sympathetic and Pitiful than Frightening, which is a very good choice. So this doesn't have Big Scares but it has emotion and tenderness and care and wonderful attention to detail. I liked it quite a bit.