Movie Review: The Walking Dead (1936)
Synopsis: Nancy and Jimmy, a young couple working as medical assistants, witness a group of men murdering Judge Roger Shaw. When another man, recently released convict and musician John Ellman, is falsely accused of the murder, Nancy convinces Jimmy it is too dangerous for them to come forward and by the time she changes her mind, Ellman has already been convicted and executed. Seeking to right the wrong, their employer, Dr. Beaumont, brings Ellman back to life with a mechanical heart he has been developing. Ellman is alive but in an almost zombie-like state with no memory of what happened. However, a supernatural instinct lets him know who framed him and he begins to seek revenge.
Who's in it? The movie stars Boris Karloff, Edmund Gwenn, Marguerite Churchill, Warren Hull and Ricardo Cortez.
Review: As a general rule, I've found you can rarely go wrong with a Boris Karloff movie so, when I went in search of a film to watch this morning and saw The Walking Dead was available, it was an easy choice to make. After seeing it, I have zero regrets.
This turned out to be an intriguing movie, from start to finish. The plan to murder Judge Shaw (Joe King) and frame Ellman (Karloff) was complicated but also genius, especially when the man orchestrating it, Nolan (Cortez), ended up being Ellman's defense attorney (guaranteeing his conviction). The events that happened after Ellman was brought back to life, were also entertaining with just the right level of chills and mystery.
Karloff, as always, played his role perfectly. It was clear Ellman was alive but not quite human, staring into the distance, communicating very little and yet still had some humanity, shown whenever he played piano.
His relationship with Nancy (Churchill) was a bit unexpected. Her guilt made him the focus of her life, at the apparent expense of her relationship with Jimmy (Hull) and, for a while, I wondered if it would turn into something romantic. At the same time, I wondered if Ellman secretly considered her one of the people he needed to get revenge on. Whis all-knowing mind, he certainly would have realized she could have prevented his execution and chose not to do so until it was too late.
One intriguing and unexpected element in this movie was how Ellman technically doesn't kill any of his enemies and, instead, their deaths were self-inflicted. It made me wonder, if Ellman were to be tried for any of the deaths, how the jury would find him. I also thought it would have been extra intriguing had the movie explored the idea of a man being put on trial for murder after he was legally declared dead.
Another part of this film that I found interesting was Dr. Beaumont (Gwenn) and his obsession over learning what Ellman saw while he was dead. Since the lone obstacle seemed to be a blood clot in Ellman's brain, I wondered if the doctor would choose to put Ellman's life at risk in pursuing his goal. In other words, while he saved Ellman's life, I wasn't totally convinced he wasn't going to become one of Ellman's enemies by the end and that was just one more thing that kept the movie unpredictable.
Final Opinion: This is an interesting and entertaining movie that I enjoyed watching even though the hour runtime didn't give it an opportunity to delve deeper into some of the concepts it created. Of course, having the right actor in the right role did wonders as well.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other Boris Karloff films:
Movie Review: The Ghoul (1933)
Movie Review: Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
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