Night Monster
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1942 |
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Dr. Lynn Harper, psychologist, has been called out to the old Ingston Mansion, a dark and mysterious place with a very bad reputation, in order to make an assessment of the sanity of Margaret Ingston, daughter of patriarch Kurt Ingston. She claims to be sane, but she is clearly very disturbed; we can't be certain, although the doctor gives her a clean bill of health. But then Dick Baldwin shows up on the scene, just when Dr. Lynne has been receiving thinly veiled threats from the inhabitants of the house. He's our hero. Three medical doctors have been invited out to the mansion as well, Dr. Timmons, Dr. Phipps and the sleazy Dr. King (Lionel Atwill). One by one the doctors are mysteriously murdered. Dick Baldwin must figure out who is doing the killings, and he must do so before whoever it is can kill his new love interest, Dr. Lynne Harper. But the only one he can trust is Kurt Ingston himself, since Ingston has no legs and can't have perpetrated these murders.
Cast:
Bela Lugosi .... Rolf (the butler)
Lionel Atwill .... Dr. King
Leif Erickson .... Laurie (the chauffeur)
Irene Hervey .... Dr. Lynne Harper
Ralph Morgan .... Kurt Ingston
Don Porter .... Dick Baldwin
Nils Asther .... Agor Singh
Fay Helm .... Margaret Ingston
Frank Reicher .... Dr. Timmons
Doris Lloyd .... Sarah Judd (the housekeeper)
Francis Pierlot .... Dr. Phipps
Robert Homans .... Const. Cap Beggs
Janet Shaw .... Milly Carson (the maid)
Eddy Waller .... Jed Harmon
Cyril Delevanti .... Torque (the gatekeeper)
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Irene Hervey was born Irene Herwick on July 11,
1910 in Los Angeles, CA.
Likeable blonde leading lady Irene Hervey entered
films as an MGM contract player in 1933. For her first few years
before the camera, she did yeoman work as a bit player in features
and supporting actress in MGM's short subjects. Free-lancing in the
mid-1930s, Hervey worked her way up to leads; one of her more offbeat
performances was as a Gilbert and Sullivan actress in 1936's The Girl
Said No. From 1938 through 1943, Hervey worked at Universal, where
she seemingly did everything she was asked: she appeared opposite
James Stewart in the big-budget Destry Rides Again (1939), was
top-billed in such "B"s as Frisco Lil (1942), looked
frightened in the bottom-bill horror film Night Monster (1942), and
even did a stint as a dauntless serial heroine in Gangbusters (1940).
She took several years off to devote herself to her family, then
returned before the cameras in supporting parts in the late 1940s. In
1965, Hervey was featured on a weekly basis as meddlesome Aunt Meg on
the tongue-in-cheek private eye TV series Honey West. Married for
several years to film star Allan Jones, Irene Hervey is the mother of
singer Jack Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide Died: December 20, 1988
Fay Helm was born on 9 April 1909 in Bakersfield, California. One of the last players to survive from Universal Studios' "Golden Age," actress Fay Helm, appeared in 64 films between 1936 and 1946. Even in her twenties, American actress Fay Helm exuded a clear-minded maturity that enabled her to avoid traditional ingenue roles. Signed by Columbia in 1938, Helm played Mrs. Fuddle in several of the early "Blondie" entries. One memorable example is her part as Jenny Williams, the woman bitten by werewolf Bela Lugosi -- who later passes his curse onto Lon Chaney -- in the Universal classic, "The Wolf Man." Two years later, she was the frosty, elusive title character in the film noir classic Phantom Lady. Also for Universal, she appeared in such shockers as "Captive Wild Woman" with John Carradine, "Calling Dr. Death" with Lon Chaney and "Night Monster" with Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. Other notable parts include the comic-thriller "One Body Too Many" with Lugosi, Jack Haley and Jean Parker. Her final film was 1946's "That Brennan Girl." She retired from films shortly thereafter. Fay helm died on 27 September 2003 in California. She was 94 years old.