mark.waltz Outside of Lugosi, Karloff, Rathbone and Deanna Durbin...This B Universal thriller creates a mysterious new monster, an unseen allegedly doctor who decides to play judge and jury when the jury commits travesties of justice. Patric Knowles is a famous detective brought into the case when nobody else can find any clues as to who the guilty party is. "The most notorious case since Jack the Ripper", Sherlock Holmes would say, and while there's no Holmes and Watson, there is a brief appearance by Scottish Mary Gordon, not Mrs. Hudson here from the "Sherlock Holmes" films, but the mother of one of Dr. RX's victims who survived. This is initially intriguing, but quickly stagnates as talk takes over any suspense, giving either clues and suspects which are possibly red herrings. Anne Gwynne, as Knowles's wife, does nothing but fret, while Mantan Moreland and Shemp Howard provide low brow comedy. Other familiar faces pop up in needless roles, and it's surprising that they didn't include Lugosi, Karloff and Chaney in uncredited cameos. It's not hideous and flies by pretty quickly, culminating in a tense chase sequence, but I think most viewers can simply agree that this had been done before but better. The twist at the end makes really no sense and seems desperate to get chills when it really only provides groans.

AaronCapenBanner Patrick Knowles plays private detective Jerry Church, who is recruited by the police to help solve a series of murders where wrongfully acquitted criminals were subsequently murdered by a mysterious vigilante calling himself Dr. RX. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Kit Logan(played by Anne Gwynne) pops back into his life, and they get married, though she will later get mixed up in the case itself. Who can the mysterious Dr. RX. be, and what does a locked up gorilla have to do with anything? Despite some brisk performances,(and Jerry's gorgeous Art Deco apartment and hallway!) this is a most dull, unfocused and ridiculous film, that feels much longer than its hour running time...

MARIO GAUCI This obscure Universal "B" horror flick is also included in that yet-to-be released Box Set I mentioned in my review of HOUSE OF HORRORS (1946) above and, unfortunately, while I would certainly say that this one is more readily enjoyable, my verdict overall is equally lukewarm. For one thing, much of the film's entertainment value stems more from the interaction between "master" Patrick Knowles (an insurance salesman moonlighting as a private dick!) and klutzy valet Mantan Moreland (who even devices a convoluted method for remembering his most basic instructions)! Also on hand are Knowles' girl Anne Gwynne, distinguished lawyer Samuel S. Hinds (whose guilty but off-the-hook clients are meeting sudden death at the hands of the enigmatic titular medico), the bumbling investigating duo of Edmund MacDonald and Shemp Howard (of "The Three Stooges" fame) and even a brief, thankless "red herring" cameo from a mousy(!) Lionel Atwill. As I intimated earlier, the surfeit of comic incident (not to mention the endless, dull chatter in which various parties, including Hinds' brother Paul Cavanaugh, try to talk Knowles out of taking on the case) – far outweighs the film's horror elements which are puzzlingly relegated to the last five minutes of the 66-minute movie – as if the screenwriter suddenly realized which genre he was supposed to be working in! What happens towards the end, however – with the belated "in costume" appearance of the raspy-voiced doc suddenly hard at work on transplanting the brain of his caged gorilla with that of Knowles?! – comes so utterly out of left field as to seem ridiculously far-fetched and, therefore, unable to redeem this would-be chiller. But, at least, Moreland and, to a lesser extent Howard, are funny

JoeKarlosi Easily the worst Universal "horror film" I've ever seen, and it makes previous candidates of mine like SHE-WOLF OF London, THE FROZEN GHOST, and JUNGLE WOMAN look like thrill rides alongside it. Hell, I'd even watch LIFE RETURNS again over this one; at least that's bizarre enough in its badness and resembles an Our Gang short in spots. DOCTOR Rx doesn't make one bit of sense, with nothing going on but talk, talk, talk, and feels like it goes on forever despite that it's only just over an hour. The cockeyed plot seems to be about a series of murders against criminals who got off, committed by a mysterious doctor. Shemp Howard and Mantan Moreland are mixed up in all of this, but they don't even offer anything fun in the comical department. Anne Gwynne had always been the cutest Universal gal for me, but despite all her pep here it's all for naught. And Lionel Atwill is just wasted. The only somewhat decent thing I can say for this turkey is that it was semi-interesting to see Patric Knowles cast as an insensitive jerk for a change, and the 3 measly minutes we spend in Dr. Rx's laboratory with a chained gorilla is a tad unsettling ... even though I can't for the life of me see how it fits into the rest of this picture! A wretched movie. * out of ****