MOVIES and MANIA rating:
‘Genius – or fiend?’
The Mad Doctor of Market Street is a 1942 sci-fi horror film about a scientist who flees after his bizarre experiments are revealed and becomes shipwrecked on a tropical island…
The movie was directed by Joseph H. Lewis (So Dark the Night; Invisible Ghost) from a screenplay written by Al Martin (Invasion of the Saucer Men; Invisible Ghost). The Universal Pictures production stars Lionel Atwill, Una Merkel, Claire Dodd and Nat Pendleton.
The movie was released on Blu-ray by Scream Factory on June 23, 2019, as part of the Lionel Atwill-focused Universal Horror Collection: Volume 2 box set along with Murders in the Zoo, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx and The Mad Ghoul.
Plot:
Doctor Ralph Benson (Lionel Atwill), a chemist who was “experimenting with suspended life” is forced to leave San Francisco when his human volunteer dies.
The passenger ship Benson escapes on catches fire and sinks. He lands on a tropical island, is celebrated as the “God of life” and takes control.
However, the other survivors of the shipwreck determine to free the natives from his rule…
Reviews:
“The main problem with Mad Doctor of Market Street is the inclusion of youthful Una Merkel as the heroine’s aunt, a role obviously intended for an older, less prominent actress. Obliged to radically alter and “beef up” Merkel’s part, the screenwriters were forced to shortchange the rest of the picture…” All Movie
“Lewis uses tight close-ups and shadows to hide the budget limitations, and almost (but not quite) succeeds. The opening scene in Benson’s office is probably the spookiest, but once we get to Universal’s backlot island things go steadily downhill. Lewis does employ a neat trick of having Atwill’s ether-soaked cotton pressed directly into the camera to transition from scenes…” Cracked Rear Viewer
” …it’s a pretty forgettable entry in Universal’s horror output, being more of a jungle adventure movie than anything else. You know you’re in for it when not only does one of the comic relief characters gets higher billing than the mad scientist, but both of the comic reliefs get higher billing than the romantic leads.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
“It does start to get interesting towards the end, as Doctor Benson plans to set up his own little Island of Doctor Moreau, but by that time there just isn’t enough film left to develop it into much of anything. And his final, inevitable end is ridiculously tame…” Rivets on the Poster
“Beyond Atwill and Lewis and the mutant fusion of horror, comedy, romance, and South Seas island picture (and it’s as messy as it sounds), The Mad Doctor of Market Street is sort of entertaining in a goofy, Poverty Row horror kind of way.” Shock Theater
“Certainly, Atwill is one of the underrated players of 1930s and 1940s horror […] On the downside though, the suspense in Mad Doctor is low burn at best, Merkel overacts to the hilt, and spunky Dodd seems woefully underused as a result.” The Terror Trap
“The film is so threadbare and haphazard it has a lot more in common with a Poverty Row product than the Hollywood B-unit sausage factory. That said, The Mad Doctor of Market Street isn’t lacking in verve thanks to Lionel Atwill’s irrepressible hamming and a director who has more on the ball than the average Monogram hack.” Universal Horrors: The Studio’s Classic Films, 1931 – 1946, McFarland, 2007 (second edition)
Cast and characters:
Una Merkel … Aunt Margaret Wentworth
Lionel Atwill … Mr Graham / Dr Ralph Benson
Claire Dodd … Patricia Wentworth
Nat Pendleton … Red Hogan
Anne Nagel … Mrs William Saunders
Hardie Albright … William Saunders
Richard Davies … Jim
John Eldredge … Dwight, Ship’s Officer
Mala … Barab (as Ray Mala)
Noble Johnson … Native Chief Elan
Rosina Galli … Tanao- Chief’s Wife
Al Kikume … Kalo
Milton Kibbee … Hadley
Byron Shores … Crandall
Tani Marsh … Tahitian Dancer
Billy Bunkley … Tahitian Dancer
Production:
Filmed over three weeks in July 1941 at Universal Studios. Released on 27 February 1942.
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