Simply Perfect

How sad is this?

Excellent but underrated film

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

George Zucco plays a mad scientist who experimented on an ape and turned him into a (sort of) human, played by J. Carrol Naish. That's the secret in the title, by the way. I doubt I'm spoiling too much because you'll probably figure it out quickly given how Naish looks and acts. Nice production values from Fox keep this from being like any number of Poverty Row mad scientist cheapies from the time. George Zucco and Mike Mazurki are always nice to watch. But the whole show is really legendary character actor J. Carrol Naish, who gives a wonderfully sympathetic performance. He was an amazing actor who rarely got to shine in starring parts but always delivered in his many supporting roles. It's not as sophisticated as the Lewton RKO films or as fun as the Universal horror films. But it's a good time-passer that has enough things going for it to merit fans of classic horror films check it out.

"Dr. Renault's Secret" is a remake of "The Wizard" a lost film from 1927 that was in turn based on "Balaoo" a 1912 short story by Gaston Leroux. In "The Wizard" the plot involved a mad doctor (Gustav Von Seyffertitz) using an ape like creature to seek revenge on those he considers responsible for his son's execution. It was more of a comedy horror, with a couple of dumb detectives - a genre that was very much in vogue in the late 20s. "Dr. Renault's Secret" doesn't play it for laughs - in fact it tries to bring a lot of sensitivity to the distasteful subject matter.Dr. Larry Forbes (John Sheppard) arrives in France (the locale of the original Leroux story) to meet his fiancée Madelon Renault (Lynne Roberts), the niece of Dr. Renault (George Zucco) another scientist. He is greeted by Noel (J. Carroll Naish), a zombie like creature who has a strange affection for Madelon. He also meets Rogell (Mike Mazurki), Renault's gardener, who by intimidation keeps the villagers in fear. Next morning one of the guests at the inn is found murdered - he had accidentally fallen asleep in Forbe's room. Suspicion falls on Rogell and he does nothing to show he is innocent. Weird things begin to happen when Forbes arrives at Dr. Renault's. Noel almost has a car accident when he "senses" a dog on the road - the same dog who savagely attacks him before the evening is over.If you watch the original trailer (that is on the DVD I have) it gives almost everything away. Dr. Renault's secret is - he has captured an ape in Java and through experimentation and plastic surgery has tried to make him more human like. J. Carroll Naish engages your sympathy from the start, not only with his plaintive voice which is like a slow motion Peter Lorre but he also carries himself in a hunched fashion with a simian walk. George Zucco is the repellent Dr. Renault, who keeps Noel in a fearful, subservient state with the help of a huge whip. It is interesting that Rogell is part of an experiment as well - a failed experiment because Rogell, coming from a family of criminals, his bad character is ingrained in him and will never change. A spate of murders happen in the village and from the start it is not hard to figure out who it is - with shots of a concerned Noel looking at his hands!!!George Zucco was a British stage actor who earned the nickname at Universal "One Take Zucco". He appeared in so many monster flicks in the 40s ("The Mad Ghoul", "Voodoo Man", "Fog Island") usually for smaller independents that if you look up Mad Doctor or Mad Scientist in the dictionary you will probably find his picture.P.S. The print I viewed was so clear that I could even see strings used as a pulley when Rogell was thrown in the water.Highly Recommended.

Dr. Renault's Secret (1942) ** (out of 4) Dull horror film about Dr. Renault (George Zucco) and his little secrets including his mentally challenged assistant (J. Carrol Naish). For some reason this is a rather well known film among horror fans but I can't see why because the big "secret" is easy to see within the first five minutes and the rest of the film is slow and boring. The movie is somewhat hard to find so perhaps that's a reason for its cult following. Zucco and Naish are mildly entertaining but the film goes no where in the end and winds up wasting their talent.

I was surprised to see that 20th Century Fox had produced this B horror classic, it was the kind of thing that Universal Studios was known for at the time. Had it been done at Universal I could have seen a whole series of films based on this.George Zucco plays the title role her, he's certainly played many a sinister character in his day. He's from the Doctor Moreau school of science. But whereas Moreau was tucked away on a remote South Sea Island doing his experiments on a host of animals, Renault has brought his one great experiment back from Java to his château in France.J. Carrol Naish plays the experiment, a Java ape who's not got the human social graces quite down yet. Naish's characterization falls somewhere between Charles Laughton's Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Frankenstein monster of Boris Karloff. It's a brilliant piece of acting, gone unappreciated because it's in a B horror picture.Lynne Roberts is Zucco's niece, deliberately brought to his château to stimulate Naish's budding human libido. It's budding a little too well so her scientist boyfriend Sheppard Strudwick is brought in to get her out of the place and safely married. There's also a nice side story involving Zucco's retainers Mike Mazurki and Jean Del Val in a kidnapping scheme. The two parts of the story come together at the finish.I was lucky enough to see this as I got up earlier than expected today. Don't miss it if it's ever broadcast at a reasonable hour.