Man Made Monster

Man Made Monster
Poster for the film under its re-release title
Directed by	George Waggner
Produced by	Jack Bernhard
Written by	Harry Essex, Len Golos, Sid Schwartz, George Waggner
Starring	Lon Chaney Jr. Lionel Atwill
Music by	Hans J. Salter
Cinematography	Elwood Bredell
Editing by	Arthur Hilton
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	March 28, 1941
Running time	59 min
Language	English

Man-Made Monster (1941) is a science fiction horror film released by Universal Pictures. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr. in his horror debut. Man-Made Monster was re-released under various titles including Electric Man and The Mysterious Dr. R. In 1953, it was re-released by Realart Pictures under the title The Atomic Monster on a double bill with The Flying Saucer (1950).

Plot

A tragic accident when a bus hit a high power line has claimed the lives of all of the passengers on board, except for gentle Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.), who survived the accident because he was virtually immune to electricity. McCormick, who does a sideshow exhibit as Dynamo Dan, the Electric Man is taken in by good Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds), who wants to study him. However his colleague, mad scientist Dr. Paul Rigas (Lionel Atwill) wants to create an army of electrobiologically-driven zombies. He gives McCormick progressively higher doses of electricity until his mind is ruined, and he is addicted to the charge. This temporarily gives McCormick the touch of death, making him capable of killing anyone he touched by electrocution. After accidentally killing Lawrence, Rigas insures McCormick's conviction to see what will happen if he is sent to the electric chair. McCormick survives, and with a super charge in his glowing body he kills several people, including Rigas, before running out of electricity and dying.^[1]

Cast

• Lionel Atwill (Dr. Paul Rigas)
• Lon Chaney Jr. (Dan McCormick)
• Anne Nagel (June Lawrence)
• Frank Albertson (Mark Adams)
• Samuel S. Hinds (Dr. John Lawrence)
• William B. Davidson (Ralph Stanley, the district attorney)
• Ben Taggart (Detective sergeant)
• Constance Bergen (Nurse)
• Ivan Miller (Doctor)
• Chester Gan (Wong)
• George Meader (Dr. Bruno)
• Frank O'Connor (Detective)
• John Dilson (Medical examiner)
• Byron Foulger (Alienist)
• Russell Hicks (Warden Harris)
• Jessie Arnold (Mrs. Davis)
• James Blaine (Charlie the prison guard)
• Gary Breckner (Radio announcer)
• Lowell Drew (Jury foreman)
• John Ellis (Assistant D.A)
• Douglas Evans (Police radio announcer)
• Jack Gardner (Reporter)
• William Hall (Mike)
• Wright Cramer (Judge)
• Tom Quinn (Detective)
• Bob Reeves (Prison guard)
• Mel Ruick (Defense attorney)
• Francis Sayles (Frank Davis)
• Paul Scott (Prison chaplain)
• David Sharpe (Passenger on hay wagon)
• Victor Zinneman (Dynamo operator)

Production

• The film was shot in three weeks and was the cheapest film made by Universal in 1941 alone.^{[citation needed]}
• Boris Karloff was originally selected to play the role of Dr. Rigas but the studio scrapped the idea.
• When Realart rereleased the film under the title Atomic Monster, Alex Gordon had titled one of his films with the same title. He sent his attorney Samuel Z. Arkoff to meet the Realart representative James H. Nicholson to discuss the matter. The three men started their own film company that became American International Pictures.

References

1. ^ Internet Movie Database

External links

• Man Made Monster at the Internet Movie Database
• Man Made Monster at AllRovi