The Soul of a Monster

Last updated
The Soul of a Monster
The Soul of a Monster poster.jpg
Directed by Will Jason
Screenplay byEdward Dein [1]
Produced by Ted Richmond
Starring
Cinematography Burnett Guffey [1]
Edited by Paul Borofsky [1]
Music by Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Production
company
Columbia Pictures [1]
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • 17 August 1944 (1944-08-17)
Running time
61 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States [1]
LanguageEnglish

The Soul of a Monster is a 1944 American horror film directed by Will Jason and starring Rose Hobart, George Macready, Jim Bannon, Jeanne Bates and Erik Rolf. [1] [2] The film involves the near-death of George Winson, leading to Anne Winson to call upon the devil to keep her husband alive, which leads to a hypnotist named Lilyan Gregg making an appearance as Winson recovers. Upon his recovery, the previously kind-hearted Winson turns evil, following Gregg's spell. But Ann and her friends are not susceptible to Lilyan's mesmerizing prowess, enabling them to launch a counteroffensive against the Dark Prince.

Contents

Plot

As the nearly dead physician Dr. George Winson grows closer to death, his wife Ann fails to get help from Dr. Roger Vance or their pastor Fred Stevens and prays to any source that she thinks could help. This leads to the arrival of a strange woman, Lilyan Gregg, who starts caring for George. He miraculously recovers, but becomes cold, cruel, and estranged him from Ann. Gregg begins to manipulate George for her needs, including having him murder Stevens.

Meeting with Vance, he finds that George has no pulse and after an operation, he accidentally cuts George and finds he has no blood. Vance then confronts Winson but is later run down by Gregg. In critical condition, Vance calls George to his side as Gregg tells him to let Vance die. Later, Stevens approaches George to tell him to break the hold Gregg has on him. George confronts Gregg, which leads to her deciding to murder him and make it look like a suicide. Gregg shoots George as he continues to advance towards her, finally pushing her through a window to her death. George's entire experience turns out to be a dream, as he awakens to find Ann praying for his recovery.

Cast

Production

The Soul of a Monster was developed under the title Death Walks Alone. [1] [3] It was in production between May 25, 1944 and June 13, 1944. [1]

Release

The Soul of a Monster was released on August 17, 1944 by Columbia Pictures Corp. [1]

Reception

From contemporary reviews, The New York Times declared that the film "was "an entry for the all-time looney prize! A preposterously foolish film." [3]

From retrospective reviews, Gen Blottner, the author of Columbia Noir, praised Burnett Guffey's "brilliant photography" but stated that Edward Dein's screenplay "causes the film to come up empty" and that "The copout-ending reduces a fairly entertaining horror-noir to a bunch of hooey." [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Leave Her to Heaven</i> 1945 film by John M. Stahl

Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American psychological thriller film noir melodrama directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her. It is based on the 1944 novel of same name by Ben Ames Williams, adapted by screenwriter Jo Swerling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Savage</span> American actress (1921–2008)

Ann Savage was an American film and television actress. She is best remembered as the greedy cigarette-puffing femme fatale in the critically acclaimed film noir Detour (1945). She featured in more than 20 B movies between 1943 and 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne Bates</span> American actress (1918–2007)

Jeanne Bates was an American radio, film and television actress. After performing in radio serials, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1942 which began her career in films both in bit parts and larger roles in a series of horror films and noirs, including The Return of the Vampire (1943) and Shadows in the Night (1946).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Bannon</span> American actor

James Shorttel Bannon was an American actor and radio announcer known for his work on the I Love a Mystery and Red Ryder series during the 1940s and 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenne Duncan</span> Canadian-American actor (1903–1972)

Kenne Duncan was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, but he also did occasional forays into horror, crime drama, and science fiction. He also appeared in over a dozen serials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Zucco</span> English actor (1886–1960)

George Zucco was an English character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave villain, a member of nobility, or a mad doctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Lowe</span> American actor (1890–1971)

Edmund Dantes Lowe was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Meeker</span> American actor (1904–1984)

George Meeker was an American character film and Broadway actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Paige</span> American actor, newscaster (1911–1987)

Robert Paige was an actor and a TV newscaster and political correspondent and Universal Pictures leading man who made 65 films in his lifetime: he was the only actor ever allowed to sing on film with Deanna Durbin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobart Cavanaugh</span> American actor (1886–1950)

Hobart Cavanaugh was an American character actor in films and on stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Irving (American actor)</span> American actor

George Henry Irving was an American film actor and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramsay Ames</span> American actress (1919–1998)

Ramsay Ames was a leading 1940s American B movie actress, model, dancer, pin-up girl and television host. As a dancer, she was billed as Ramsay D'el Rico. She appeared in the film The Mummy's Ghost (1944), where she played Princess Ananka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Wilcox</span> American actor (1907–1974)

Frank Reppy Wilcox was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Megowan</span> American actor (1922–1981)

Don Megowan was an American actor. He played the Gill-man on land in The Creature Walks Among Us, the final part of the Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy.

<i>The Medico of Painted Springs</i> 1941 film by Lambert Hillyer

The Medico of Painted Springs is a 1941 American Western film produced by Columbia Pictures. Based on the novel of the same name by James Lyon Rubel, the film stars Charles Starrett, Terry Walker, Ben Taggart, Wheeler Oakman, and the Simp-Phonies in a cameo appearance. It was directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Wyndham Gittens and Winston Miller. In the film, Starrett's character, Dr. Steven Monroe, travels to a tumultuous Painted Springs and attempts to resolve a raging conflict between two camps – the cattlemen and the sheep ranchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Elliott (actor)</span> American actor (1876–1956)

John Hugh Elliott was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in over 300 films during his career. He worked sporadically during the silent film era, but with the advent of sound his career took off, where he worked constantly for 25 years, finding a particular niche in "B" westerns.

<i>Dangerous Blondes</i> 1943 film by Leigh Jason

Dangerous Blondes is a 1943 American comedy film directed by Leigh Jason and written by Richard Flournoy and Jack Henley, from the story If the Shroud Fits by Kelley Roos.The film stars Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes, and was released by Columbia Pictures in September 1943. Alternate titles for this film were Reckless Lady and The Case of the Dangerous Blondes. A review in Vanity Fair review characterized the film as a "laugh-packed session here via the antics of Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes."

The Missing Juror is a 1944 American film noir mystery film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Jim Bannon, Janis Carter, George Macready and Jean Stevens.

<i>The Son of Rusty</i> 1947 film by Lew Landers

The Son of Rusty is a 1947 American drama film directed by Lew Landers and starring Ted Donaldson, Stephen Dunne and Ann Doran. It was part of Columbia Pictures' eight-film Rusty series about a boy and his valiant German Shepherd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clegg Hoyt</span> American film and television actor

Clegg Hoyt was an American film and television actor. He appeared in over 100 films and television programs, and was perhaps best known for his silent role as the Sportscaster's sidekick, George, in the 1963 film Son of Flubber, appearing in a scene with actor, comedian and game show panelist Paul Lynde. Hoyt also played the recurring role of Mac in 13 episodes of the American medical drama television series Dr. Kildare. He died in October 1967 of a stroke in Woodland Hills, California. Hoyt was buried in Babylon Cemetery.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "The Soul of a Monster". American Film Institute . Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  2. Erickson, Hal. "The Soul of a Monster (1944) - Will Jason". AllMovie . Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Blottner 2015, p. 210.

Sources