Monday, October 20, 2014

Doctor X (1932) and Warner Archive Instant


Several months ago I was somewhat interested in Warner Archive Instant, the streaming service for several classic and hard-to-find Warner Brothers films, but felt the selection was too limited. I recently decided to check back - mainly due to some folks I follow on Twitter who sing its praises - and found a pretty impressive list of films. However, once I read a review of Doctor X from The Nitrate Diva, I went ahead and signed up for a one-month trial. 


I'm glad I did. I decided to make Doctor X (1932) my first film to watch, viewing half the film on my TV through my Roku and the other half on the iPad. (Both devices were easy to navigate, which is always appreciated.) I certainly can't improve on The Nitrate Diva's excellent review, but will note a few things of interest:  


First, Doctor X is a pre-code mystery/horror film that really has a great creep-out factor over 80 years after its release. Even though it contains several comedic elements, I found the atmosphere and the tension quite impressive. 


The early Technicolor process adds an additional element of the German Expressionism that's clearly already there in the film. (I would love to see a Blu-ray edition of this film!) 

Doctor X is the first of three movies that featured both Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray (the others being The Mystery of the Wax Museum and The Vampire Bat, both from 1933). 

One of the waterfront policemen is played by Harry Holman, who would years later play the high school principal in It's a Wonderful Life

Now... what to watch next? 

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