The Return of Doctor X

Summary

“I won’t believe she’s dead ‘til I see it with my own eyes. Even then I won’t believe it!”

A few years back, Warner Archive released the Michael Curtiz directed film Doctor X (from 1932) starring the perfectly cast Lionel Atwill. Michael Curtiz would go on to direct the great Humphrey Bogart in his defining role in Casablanca a decade later. In a twist of fate, Humphrey Bogart only had one role of note in a horror-science fiction film and it was in 1939’s sequel in-name-only The Return of Doctor X from Vincent Sherman. The films are not related in any tangible way aside from Warner’s attempt to cash in on the name of Doctor X. The original Doctor X is the much better of the two films, but fans of Bogart are sure to be intrigued to find him in a big departure from his leading man work. Warner Archive has continued to release a steady stream of classic films and curios and The Return of Doctor X was certainly of interest to me.

As the film begins, prominent actress Angela Merrova (Lys Lys) receives a call from newsman Walt “Wichita” Barnett (Wayne Morris.) He asks her for an interview and she agrees. After hopping off the phone, someone grabs Angela from behind. Arriving at Angela’s hotel room, Walt stumbles through the door. It’s not locked. He walks into her bedroom and finds her dead body. He phones in the story without phoning the police. When the article comes out, the police meet Walt at the hotel room. They are incensed when they can not locate the body. Walt swears that she was dead on the ground, but there is no body. Back at the newsroom, Walt is called into his editor’s office. Walt is being fired because Angela, seemingly back from the dead, is also sitting in the office. She claims that she will sue the paper for printing the story of her demise. Walt goes to visit his friend Doctor Michael Rhoades (Dennis Morgan.) He explains that the corpse had a stab wound that was four inches deep and directly below the heart. Also, the corpse was white as if drained of blood. The plot moves forward from there and involves synthetic blood, a bespectacled scientist (John Litel,) and his strange assistant Marshell Quesne (Humphrey Bogart.)

The Return of Doctor X was directed by Vincent Sherman in 1939. Like Doctor X which preceding it, The Return of Doctor X is a mishmash of screwball comedy, and science fiction, with some horror attributes. The difference is that Doctor X was simply a much more satisfyingly done picture. The Return of Doctor X is not very cinematic because Sherman is not a match for Michael Curtiz. The plot is not going to blow away any cineastes, lacking in the thrills or chills it aims to inspire. The prior picture did a much better job of building up a mystery as different characters met their fates, whereas there is much less to the plot in this short film. The biggest reason to see the picture is to see Humphrey Bogart play in a strange role. He completely steals the film, but there simply is not enough going on here for it to make up for a middling script and bland supporting cast. It is a fun enough way to spend 62 minutes, but is certainly just a curio that will appeal to completists of Bogart’s film work.

Video

Warner Archive continues to shine with their restoration efforts. Warner has done a great job on the transfer of The Return of Doctor X using an MPEG-4 AVC codec in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The film was scanned in 4K and lovingly restored. The black and white cinematography by Sidney Hickok is cleaned up well and fine detail has been given good attention. Unfortunately, to my eyes this is not as interesting looking as some of the other black and white films from Warner, but fans should be ecstatic.

Audio

Warner has provided a good sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that capably replicates the original single channel sound design of the film. There are limitations to how good this can sound, but I can’t imagine fans of the film being disappointed by the work that Warner has given the track. 

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary – A DVD-era track features director Vincent Sherman and author/film historian Dr. Steve Haberman
• Classic Cartoons – A pair of Merrie Melodies shorts 
  • Doggone Modern 
  • Porky’s Hotel
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.25/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3/5

Overall – 3.25/5

1939’s The Return of Doctor X pales in comparison to the Lionel Atwill vehicle from director Michael Curtiz from 1932. The film blends elements of screwball comedy, science fiction, and horror elements, but it feels relatively bland in comparison to the prior unrelated film. That said, this was the only picture where Humphrey Bogart played in a horror-science fiction role. For that reason alone, it is a curio for film collectors. Realizing that, Warner Archive have done a great job of preserving and restoring the picture. The Blu-ray has good technical merits, and an archival commentary track with the film’s director.