utgard14 Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) and his assistant are performing an experiment on reviving recently deceased people through use of an artificial heart. Unfortunately, the assistant's girlfriend is scared and runs to the police. They arrive before Savaard can complete the experiment and the assistant dies. Savaard is convicted and executed for murder. However, another assistant uses the artificial heart to bring him back to life. But the good doctor is batspit crazy and out for blood. So he starts killing off those he holds responsible for his death one by one. The first of several movies Karloff made for Columbia where he played a mad scientist type out for revenge. It's formulaic but it works. Karloff carries the movie as always.

JoeKarlosi THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG (1939) is the first of a few films in the Columbia canon which have been dubbed Karloff's "Mad Doctor Series". Directed by Nick Grinde, here we have Boris as the well-meaning Dr. Savaard, who has developed a method for restoring the dead back to life after temporarily stopping their hearts, which may then allow surgeons to more successfully operate on their patients before bringing them back. Unfortunately, when the local police burst into his laboratory as he is working on his first volunteer, he is accused of murder and is then sentenced to be hanged. But after the execution is carried out, Savaard returns via his own procedure and then seeks revenge on the judge and jurors who convicted him. Karloff is at his menacing best in one of the more fulfilling horrors in this series. *** out of ****

Scarecrow-88 Hell hath no fury like Dr. Saavard! Boris Karloff stars as Dr. Saavard, a scientist condemned to hang for killing a volunteering subject whose artificial heart transplant procedure is interrupted by police. He and assistant Lang(Byron Foulger)had induced death by using gas to stop the test subject's heart when the dead man's fiancé,and Saavard's nurse Betty Crawford(Ann Doran), afraid for her boyfriend's well-being, goes to the police hoping to save him before he is put out. The police and doctor on call would not allow Saavard one hour to save his guinea pig's life and is put on trial for murder. When the jury sentences Saavard to hang, he has one last chance to tell those who ultimately had his life in their hands that they would pay for killing such a scientist who could do good for humanity instead of bad. Once he is dead, assistant Lang resurrects Saavard with the artificial heart..Saavard, full of rage and anger towards those blind with disbelief in the human advancement of science in saving others through medical achievements too narrow-minded to see the future, will see that six of those jury members who were adamant in his execution would die the way he did. Then he tricks the judge, attorneys, coroner, & Betty into meeting at his house, locking them into a living room with booby traps killing them at an appointed time while he torments them across an intercom. Booby traps include an electrical grid that holds them in the room, a poison-needled phone receiver, and plans to shoot Betty with a rifle when he cuts out the lights. The only escape for the group is Saavard's daughter, Janet(Lornay Gray) who arrives to find what her father has done..she had not know that her father was actually alive and will push for the madness to stop.Moves at such a fast pace, I wished it would continue. The premise is really spectacular considering Karloff could lock away those he deemed a threat to medical progress. I think his Dr. Savaard was more enraged about that than his being executed. In a sense, he wasn't on trial(in his mind anyway)as much as his desire to see the advancement of life for future generations..yet, here are these cynics who believe this isn't feasible and condemn him to death, eliminating a bright mind that could possibly advance human life. I think what was thrilling to me was how Savaard not only proves them wrong using his mere presence as the example, but his having them cornered like rats with no escape. Karloff has two scenes with dialogue he delivers so soundly and painfully, I shuttered. It's so convincing, his argument regarding what they were doing..and did..to him. Great little B-movie that deserves to be seen by Karloff enthusiasts. Yet, in honesty, he was quite mad and any argument he could've made regarding his miracle of science was lost when he decided to seek retribution. I think the final scene was perfect..if they wanted him gone, there was no way in hell the community would benefit from his genius.

julian kennedy The Man They Couldn't Hang: 6 out of 10: The title is a bit of a misnomer after all they do hang him (and break his neck in the process) he just doesn't stay dead. I figure a man they couldn't hang would be morbidly obese or have a thick neck or something.The movie has Karloff as a mad scientist experimenting with his artificial heart gizmo (That is a dead ringer for a modern dialysis machine) and when the experiment goes wrong he is sentenced to death. (Karloff's characters really need better lawyers he is always getting a capital sentence for what is basically accidental manslaughter) The doctor now mad seeks revenge on the jury that convicted him by inviting them to his house and trying to kill them off one by one. The movie really gets good at this point but it ends much too soon. Another half an hour in the house with various traps would have done wonders.Foreshadowing both modern medical technology and House on Haunted Hill, The Man They Couldn't Hang is a good movie with a disappointingly truncated ending.