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Rating: 6.5 stars

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shout factory box set universal horror college professors gangsters brain transplant revenge greed black and white execution electric chair dual personality

All movies seen on 03/05/2023

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Black Friday (1940)

Directed by Arthur Lubin

Crime | Drama | Film Noir

Overview

University professor George Kingsley is struck by gangsters while crossing the street, leaving him with brain damage and one of the gangsters, Cannon, paralyzed. Kingsley’s friend Dr. Sovac attends to both men, and when Cannon offers him a reward for aiding his recovery, Kovac transplants part of Cannon’s brain into the dying Kingsley’s skull, creating a dual personality.

Rated NR | Length 70 minutes

Actors

Stanley Ridges | Boris Karloff | Bela Lugosi | Anne Nagel | Anne Gwynne | Virginia Brissac | Edmund MacDonald | Paul Fix | Murray Alper | Jack Mulhall | Raymond Bailey | Joe King | John Kelly | Jessie Arnold | Elfriede Borodin | Tommy Conlon | Franco Corsaro | James Craig | Kernan Cripps | Eddie Dunn | Edward Earle | Harry Hayden | Frank Jaquet | Ellen Lowe | Jerry Marlowe | Wallace Reid Jr. | William Ruhl | Frank Sheridan | Edwin Stanley | Harry Tenbrook | Emmett Vogan | Russell Wade | Dave Willock | Victor Zimmerman | Robert Morgan

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Not really a horror at all, more of a film noir with a sci-fi element if you include the wacky brain transplant premise. the idea that a brain transplant would give one dual personalities is silly but interesting and sets up the rest of the movie for lots of fun. Despite the billing, both Karloff and Lugosi take a back seat to Stanley Ridges who gets to play the man with dueling personalities: that of a harmless, gentlemanly college professor and that of a ruthless, revenge-driven gangster. His performance is great and really makes this worth watching.

And that wraps up volume one of Shout Factory’s Universal Horror box sets. Only five more to go!

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