THE FACE OF MARBLE (1946)

Dr. Randolph (John Carradine) is your run-of-the-mill mad scientist, conducting experiments in bringing the dead back to life with the help of his somewhat less mad assistant Dr. Cochran (Michael Shayne)—though interestingly, for this kind of B-horror film, both doctors generally come off as fairly rational folks that you could actually imagine sharing a dinner with. This night, they have the body of a recently drowned sailor and they are able to re-animate him, but after his eyes flicker open, his face freezes and turns glowing white (the "face of marble" of the title, pictured at left) and he dies again. Meanwhile, we are introduced to the slightly odd domestic situation. Randolph's wife Elaine, who has a faithful Great Dane named Brutus, is trying to get Cochran to talk her husband out of his experiments. Cochran is reluctant to, so unbeknownst to Elaine, her servant Maria begins using what is referred to as "voodoo magic" to get Cochran to fall in love with Elaine so he will do her bidding. (It remained unclear to me throughout if Elaine was really in love with Cochran, though we do find out that her marriage to Randolph is something of a sham). One problem with Maria's plan shows up on the doorstep eventually: Cochran's girlfriend from back home, Linda, whom Randolph sends for in an effort to keep Cochran happy. But complications start piling up: Cochran finds Maria's voodoo fetish and destroys it, causing Maria to warn of violent death; Randolph kills Brutus in order to bring him back to life, but the dog returns as a ghost figure, able to walk through walls; the police discover that the body of the drowned dead sailor shows signs having been given an electrical shock and Randolph falls under suspicion; a "blood-crazed" dog begins attacking local livestock. And there is still a lot of movie to go.

This B-production is interesting if only for the way the writers throw everything and the kitchen sink into the plot. Crazy scientists, check; ghosts, check; dead bodies coming back to life, check; killer animal, check; voodoo, check; I even suspect that the "face of marble" guy at the beginning might have become a zombie if he'd stayed alive long enough. The title of the movie is strange, as the pale pallor of the faces of the reanimated is barely a plot element. "Hemomania" would have been just as appropriate—a word used to describe Brutus's blood craze. It's also interesting that the two doctors are much less "mad" in temperament than they would have been in any other horror film of the classic era. The romance element between Cochran and Elaine seems forced, but there is also little chemistry between Cochran and Linda. I had more emotional investment in the dog than in the romantic entanglements. Acting is OK—Carradine is his usual professional self, Shayne makes for a solid second lead, Rosa Rey does some nice skulking in the dark as Maria, and Willie Best is the comic relief black butler who plays a fairly important role in the wrap-up. An obscurity worth at least one viewing. [DVD]