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Fantasy-News, v. 6, issue 9, whole no. 140, March 2, 1941

Page 3

FANTASY NEWS  Page Three

SCIENTIFILMS by Mario Racio, Jr.
     The new COLUMBIA Karloffilm, "The Devil Commends", opened at the
RIALTO in N.Y. on Feb 13, Karloff plays the pert of a scientist seeking a method of communicating with the dead.   His method consists of placing several corpses stolen from a local cemetery in metal suits looking like those used by
deep sea divers and exposing them to electric discharges of terrific intensity. One of the "corpses" is not a corpse at all but the living body of a spiritual medium whom Karloff has exposed as a charlatan
but who, he finds, is able to withstand extremely high voltage electricity. Slightly overdone to the point of absurdity In some scenes,
this weirdly depressing melodrama is nevertheless well worth viewing.
     Your scientlfllm editor, and
Miss Frances Sykora, Mr. and Mrs,Will Sykora,  Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sykora  recently formed a theatre party and saw Walt Disney's remarkable new artistic composition,
"Fantasia*, the former two for the second time.   They all attest to the opinion that this work of Disney's is not a concert, nor a photoplay, nor a cartoon, but that it partakes of all three.   You hear pictures and see music Is about the
only way it can be described.
     WARNER BROS, will film "Arsenic and Old Lace", the current Karloff play,  Erlc Von Stroheim has been signed for the Karloff role when the play reaches Chicago.
Bela Lugosi was a previous candidate. This will be von Stroheim's first appearance on the American stage, though he was an old silent film favorite and has been making movies in France for several years.
     A possible weirdrama is PARAMOUNT's, "The Mad Doctor", starring Basil Rathbone   The film opens at
the CRITERION in N.Y . on Feb 26.
     "King Of the Zombies", starring Bela Lugosi, has been scheduled as the forthcoming MONOGRAM production. Howard Bretherton has been signed to direct with Lindsley Parsons producing. 
     Bela Lugosi, in his (next col.)

SCIENTIFILMS Cont'd; first film for UNIVERSAL since "Black Friday", the horror hit of a year ago, will play a featured role in ""The Black Cat",
with Hugh Herbert, Brod Crawford, and Anne Gwynne.    In "The Black Cat', a mystery comedy, Lugosi will essay the role of a dim-witted, cat-faced gardener, with appropriate
make-up by UNIVERSAL's facial wizard Jack Pierce, production started Feb 20, under direction of Albert S. Rogell, with Burt Kelly as
associate producer.
     Man-Made Monster", the Lon Cheney, Jr. horror-science film, Is apparently the final title. The picture has been successively called "The     Mysterious Dr. R", and "The
Electrical Monster". Chaney, Jr. has been signed to an exclusive long-term contract by UNIVERSAL, under whose banner his late great father flourished in the silent film days. This may mean the production, soon, of more science-fantasy films by UNIVERSAL, such as "One  Million B.C." and "Man-Made
Monster", with Cheney, Jr. in important roles.
The 5th AV. PLAYHOUSE (which incidentally should be watched constantly for fantafilms) recently had
an interesting psycho-analytlcal film program. The double feature Included "Secrets Of a Soul", produced In republican Germany In
1926 under the supervision of Dr. Hans Sachs and the late Dr. Karl Abraham, collaborators of Dr. Sigmund Freud. Critics have called this picture "A triumph of sheer
imagination...this FREUD picture combines pictorial effect with scientific accuracy..." and "it is stirring stuff, replete with symbols so erotic, that children will not be permitted entrance to the  theatre during Its run." and "The dream scenes are triumphs of ingenuity in the picturlzation of fantasies." The second feature was the well known "Eternal Mask", an enormously absorbing studv in madness of a doctor's journey beyond sanity.
     "The Face Behind the Mask" is a new Peter Lorre film which promises to be fantasy.

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FANTASY NEWS Page Three SCIENTIFILMS by Mario Racio, Jr. The new COLUMBIA Karloffilm, "The Devil Commends", opened at the RIALTO in N.Y. on Feb 13, Karloff plays the pert of a scientist seeking a method of communicating with the dead. His method consists of placing several corpses stolen from a local cemetery in metal suits looking like those used by deep sea divers and exposing them to electric discharges of terrific intensity. One of the "corpses" is not a corpse at all but the living body of a spiritual medium whom Karloff has exposed as a charlatan but who, he finds, is able to withstand extremely high voltage electricity. Slightly overdone to the point of absurdity In some scenes, this weirdly depressing melodrama is nevertheless well worth viewing. Your scientlfllm editor, and Miss Frances Sykora, Mr. and Mrs,Will Sykora, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sykora recently formed a theatre party and saw Walt Disney's remarkable new artistic composition, "Fantasia*, the former two for the second time. They all attest to the opinion that this work of Disney's is not a concert, nor a photoplay, nor a cartoon, but that it partakes of all three. You hear pictures and see music Is about the only way it can be described. WARNER BROS, will film "Arsenic and Old Lace", the current Karloff play, Erlc Von Stroheim has been signed for the Karloff role when the play reaches Chicago. Bela Lugosi was a previous candidate. This will be von Stroheim's first appearance on the American stage, though he was an old silent film favorite and has been making movies in France for several years. A possible weirdrama is PARAMOUNT's, "The Mad Doctor", starring Basil Rathbone The film opens at the CRITERION in N.Y . on Feb 26. "King Of the Zombies", starring Bela Lugosi, has been scheduled as the forthcoming MONOGRAM production. Howard Bretherton has been signed to direct with Lindsley Parsons producing. Bela Lugosi, in his (next col.) SCIENTIFILMS Cont'd; first film for UNIVERSAL since "Black Friday", the horror hit of a year ago, will play a featured role in ""The Black Cat", with Hugh Herbert, Brod Crawford, and Anne Gwynne. In "The Black Cat', a mystery comedy, Lugosi will essay the role of a dim-witted, cat-faced gardener, with appropriate make-up by UNIVERSAL's facial wizard Jack Pierce, production started Feb 20, under direction of Albert S. Rogell, with Burt Kelly as associate producer. Man-Made Monster", the Lon Cheney, Jr. horror-science film, Is apparently the final title. The picture has been successively called "The Mysterious Dr. R", and "The Electrical Monster". Chaney, Jr. has been signed to an exclusive long-term contract by UNIVERSAL, under whose banner his late great father flourished in the silent film days. This may mean the production, soon, of more science-fantasy films by UNIVERSAL, such as "One Million B.C." and "Man-Made Monster", with Cheney, Jr. in important roles. The 5th AV. PLAYHOUSE (which incidentally should be watched constantly for fantafilms) recently had an interesting psycho-analytlcal film program. The double feature Included "Secrets Of a Soul", produced In republican Germany In 1926 under the supervision of Dr. Hans Sachs and the late Dr. Karl Abraham, collaborators of Dr. Sigmund Freud. Critics have called this picture "A triumph of sheer imagination...this FREUD picture combines pictorial effect with scientific accuracy..." and "it is stirring stuff, replete with symbols so erotic, that children will not be permitted entrance to the theatre during Its run." and "The dream scenes are triumphs of ingenuity in the picturlzation of fantasies." The second feature was the well known "Eternal Mask", an enormously absorbing studv in madness of a doctor's journey beyond sanity. "The Face Behind the Mask" is a new Peter Lorre film which promises to be fantasy.