Starring: Vera Ralston, Richard Arlen, Erich von Stroheim, and Helen Vinson
Director: George Sherman
Rating: Six of Ten Stars
A millionaire's mind is preserved after death through weird science... and he soon begins to telepathically force his will upon others in revenge and to carry on with his evil ways.
A millionaire's mind is preserved after death through weird science... and he soon begins to telepathically force his will upon others in revenge and to carry on with his evil ways.
.jpg "Richard Arlen, Erich von Stroheim, and Vera Ralston")
"The Lady and the Monster" is a great-looking film, with stylish sets and beautiful cinematography that takes full advantage of the black-and-white format. The excellent cast--headed by Erich von Stroheim, Vera Ralston, and Richard Arlen--give decent performances despite the fact that they are delivering some truly awful dialogue at times. The film is further undermined slightly by something of a tone-shift at the halfway point, but all in all, the good outweighs the bad here and it's a film that's worth your time.
And speaking of your time, we are happy to make it easy for you to watch "The Lady and the Monster" by embedding it in this very post, via The Screening Room on YouTube.
(If elements of the story and some of the characters seem familiar, it's possible you'll either read the novel upon which it was based, or seen one of the other two films based upon the same source--"Donovan's Brain" by Curt Siodmak. This was the first screen adaptation, however.)
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