Introduction
Welcome to my corner! This week, I'm diving into a movie I first mentioned in my November 6, 2024 column: The Walking Dead. I had just started writing these movie review columns, so I wasn't in the groove yet. That's why I'd like to revisit this movie and a few others from my column's past. This is, in my opinion, an underrated movie in Boris Karloff's movie collection. Enjoy!
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a 1936 American science fiction horror film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Boris Karloff, Ricardo Cortez, Marguerite Churchill, and Barton MacLane. The film portrays a wrongly executed man who is restored to life by a scientist. The film blends elements of the horror genre with the gangster film, and also features elements of a religious morality parable.
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, The Walking Dead premiered in New York City on February 29, 1936. It was a commercial success for Warner Bros. domestically, though it was subject to censorship in several countries, receiving numerous cuts by film censors in the United Kingdom, as well as being banned in Finland, Switzerland, and Singapore.
The film's portrayal of a physician using a mechanical heart to revive the patient is notable in that it foreshadowed modern medicine's mechanical heart used to keep patients alive during cardiac surgery.
Plot: An executed convict returns from the grave to revenge himself against the gangsters who framed him for murder.
Acting: My favorite title is The walking Dead for the following actors, if not stated otherwise.
Boris Karloff played John Ellman. A horror/monster movie icon. His eyes and voice are hypnotizing. Watching him on the screen is a great joy for me every October. His four most notable titles include Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Black Cat. Of all the Karloff movies that I have seen (currently more that I haven't), the ones I like to watch every year without fail are The Walking Dead (1936) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). He is a great narrator.
Ricardo Cortez played Nolan. His four most notable titles are The Maltese Falcon, Torrent, Wonder Bar, and Symphony of Six Million.
Edmund Gwenn played Dr. Beaumont. I swear this man was in every movie while he was alive. I've seen him in so many different titles, I can't even count them all. And honestly, it seems like he plays the same relative character in all of those movies. There are a few exceptions of course. His four most notable titles include Miracle on 34th Street, Them!, The Trouble with Harry, and Apartment for Peggy. My favorite is Miracle on 34th Street.
Marguerite Churchill played Nancy. Her four most notable titles are The Big Trail, The Walking Dead, Dracula's Daughter, and Riders of the Purple Sage.
Minor roles were played by Warren Hull as Jimmy; Barton MacLane as Loder; Henry O'Neill as Werner. Joseph King as Judge Shaw; Addison Richards as Prison Warden; Addison Richards as Prison Warden; Paul Harvey as Blackstone; Robert Strange as Merritt; Joseph Sawyer as Trigger Smith; Eddie Acuff as Betcha; Kenneth Harlan as Stephen Martin; Miki Morita as Sako; Ruth Robinson as Mrs. Shaw; and Frank Darien as Watchman (uncredited).
Background information from American Film Institute (AFI): Contemporary reviews mention real-life experiments in which Dr. Alexis Carrel and Dr. Robert E. Cornish attempted to revive victims of electrocution. According to a news item in Daily Variety (DV), the artificial, mechanical heart that aviator Charles Lindbergh is credited with inventing in collaboration with Carrel, is seen in the film. Modern sources credit Perc Westmore with the film's makeup.
Background information from Turner Classic Movies (TCM): Part gangster melodrama, part supernatural thriller, The Walking Dead was the second collaboration between director Michael Curtiz and Boris Karloff. Their first film together was The Mad Genius (1931) which was the result of a casting misunderstanding. Curtiz later told Karloff: "The reason I called you in was because I though you actually were Russian. Your name certainly sounded Russian! When you came in you seemed so anxious to get the job that I decided to let you have it!"
Other background information: The Walking Dead's executive producer Hal Wallis wrote to the production supervisor, Lou Edelman, on August 16, 1935, that he had sent him a six-page outline for a film titled The Walking Dead. The original story for the film was written by Ewart Adamson and Joseph Fields. On November 1, director Michael Curtiz was sent the draft of the film. A few days before shooting was schedules, actor Boris Karloff voiced problems involving his character John Ellman. These issues included Ellman's lack of speech, which he felt was too close to his role in Frankenstein (1931), and Ellman's Tarzan-like agility, which he felt would induce laughter. Wallis brought in three more writers for the film.
In addition to Karloff's stunted dialogue, this film's resemblance to Universal's Frankenstein is most obvious when Edmund Gwenn's character revives Karloff, including the dramatic change in music, the pulsating lab equipment, off-kilter camera angles, and, finally, Gwenn saying, "He's alive."
The Walking Dead was the first film Karloff made with Warner Bros. It was filmed at Griffith Park, California, as well as the Warner Bros. Studios and Burbank First National-Warner Bros. Studios between November 23 and December 1935. Dialogue director Irving Rapper worked on the film. He called it "a bad story" but enjoyed working with Curtiz.
Though released uncut in United States, The Walking Dead was banned in Finland, Switzerland, and Singapore, due to its "gruesome" content. In Australia, the film was released uncensored, but with a preface title card warning to audiences: "Censorship Warning; Nervous and Excitable People Should Avoid This Horror Picture."
In the United Kingdom, the film was censored to shorten footage to Ellman's walk to the electric chair, as well as eliminate shots of Ellman's pulsing heart in a test tube. Additionally, the dialogue in which Ellman and Dr. Beaumont say, "The Lord Our God is a jealous God" was truncated by British censors to "Our God is a jealous God.".
Final Thoughts: Despite it being a horror/crime film, The Walking Dead, never ceases to make me cry by the end of it, which makes it very unique in the horror/crime genre. Even if you're not a fan of old horror films, I'd still urge you to give this movie a watch. It's so good.
Side notes: Maybe that kind of trial would slide back then, but I'd like to think that more evidence would be needed to send a man accused of murdering a judge to the electric chair. It was obvious that the one(s) with more motive and clear intentions is the other defendant that the judge had literally just sentence to prison, from which the judge also got death threats from. Poor John Ellman got a raw deal. Nancy and Jimmy didn't do enough to save him, either; although I understand their fear. It was noble of the Doctor to try and bring him back to life, but as they say, "leave the dead to their maker".
I love that the music brought him back to his sense after being electrocuted and then brought back to life. Music played a key role in his life.
My favorite scene was Ellman's last scene, where he's finally at peace. I won't give any spoilers away, but it is the scene that makes me cry every time. His revenge scenes are also great. Pardon my French, but karma's a bitch.
Another good scene was when John Ellman is playing the piano in front of a crowd for the first time after coming back to life that inadvertently scares the group of people who caused his wrongful death. They all leave the room, basically proving their guilt because they can't stand his glares from the piano. The scene's cinematography is gripping.
My favorite quote is "You take away my life and offer me a favor in return. That's what I call a 'bargain'." —John Ellman
Rated: Not rated.
Where to watch it: According to Google, The Walking Dead is currently available on Hulu, The Roku Channel, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTubeTV with a subscription. You can also purchase or rent a digital copy for a few dollars. I've also donated a DVD copy of the film to the Emil M. Larson Public Library in Clark for you all the enjoy if you choose to.
