The Mad Doctor [Blu-ray]

Director: Tim Whelan, Tim Whelan, Sr. Tim Whelan

Overview

Basil Rathbone is the batty physician of the title, a sophisticated gentleman who woos and weds several of his wealthy women patients. Unfortunately the ladies have a bad habit of dying prematurely, with the above-suspicion doctor diagnosing these deaths as the result of disease. Given the film's title, it isn't hard to figure out that the doctor has been knocking off his wives himself through sophisticated medical methods. An intriguing plot twist involves the doctor's loyal male assistant (Martin Kosleck), who tampers with the buried bodies of the victims to hide the evidence; though it's never made obvious by the script, it is implied that the doctor and his assistant have a strong sexual bond between them. The ex-fiance of Dr. Rathbone's latest bride (Ellen Drew) saves the woman from suffering the fate of her predecessors, leaving Rathbone no recourse but a suicidal plunge off a skyscraper.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/02/2021
UPC:	0738329256500
Original Release:	1941
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:30:00
Sales rank:	30,923

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Basil Rathbone	Dr. George Sebastian / Dr. Frederick Langamann
Ellen Drew	Linda Boothe
Vera Vague	Actor
Ralph Morgan	Dr. Charles Downer
Martin Kosleck	Maurice Gretz
Kitty Kelly	Winnie the Housekeeper
Hugh O'Connell	Lawrence Watkin
Hugh Sothern	Hatch
George Chandler	Elevator Operator
Douglas Kennedy	Hotel Clerk
Harry Hayden	Ticket Agent
Billy Benedict	Copyboy
Howard Mitchell	Butler (uncredited)
Charles McAvoy	Officer Riley (uncredited)
Henry Victor	Furber (uncredited)
John Howard	Gil Sawyer
Victor Young	Composer

Technical Credits

Howard Green

George M. Arthur	Producer
Tim Whelan	Director
Tim Whelan Sr.	Director
Howard Green	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Perhaps it is the pulp fiction title, but The Mad Doctor has been lumped in with Universal's latter-day monster rallies and gone down in history as something of a B-movie. Nothing could be further from the truth, alas. The appearance alone of Basil Rathbone in one of his most deliciously naughty roles -- complete with plenty of homoerotic undercurrents -- ought to persuade even the most skeptic viewer that this is no mere shock fest. Long in gestation, The Mad Doctor was originally titled "A Date With Destiny," a much more appropriate title since that is exactly what is in store for lissome Ellen Drew, and was at one point or another planned as a vehicle for John Barrymore, and, believe it or not, Noel Coward. Traces of the latter's personality remain in the final script, which offers some choice dialogue between Rathbone and his aide, the eminently watchable Martin Kosleck. In his first assignment after returning to Hollywood from Great Britain, Tim Whelan directed with much more deliberation than afforded most films of this genre (at least until MGM remade Gaslight in 1944) and the result is an atmospheric thriller that ought to be much better-known today than seems to be the case.

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein