The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)

hyped garbage

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

In the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood made a ton of amateur detective films...ones in which supposedly ordinary folk solve crimes because they are brilliant and the cops total idiots. Because of this, "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx" is very familiar. Despite a few unusual twists here and there, the story is all too familiar...especially with the inclusion of Mantan Moreland was his usual scared black man routine.There is a psychopath murdering people they think are worthy of death! And, these deaths are obviously related because with each victim is a letter from someone calling themselves 'Dr. Rx'. Jerry (Patric Knowles) is about to get married and keep his promise to his new bride--to give up crime-solving. But some of the baddies have a different idea.Overall this is just a fair film to watch. This is because it ended poorly with a 'scene missing here' portion that disappoints. Additionally, the usual cliches abound.

Outside of Lugosi, Karloff, Rathbone and Deanna Durbin...This B Universal thriller creates a mysterious new monster, an unseen allegedly doctor who decides to play judge and jury when the jury commits travesties of justice. Patric Knowles is a famous detective brought into the case when nobody else can find any clues as to who the guilty party is. "The most notorious case since Jack the Ripper", Sherlock Holmes would say, and while there's no Holmes and Watson, there is a brief appearance by Scottish Mary Gordon, not Mrs. Hudson here from the "Sherlock Holmes" films, but the mother of one of Dr. RX's victims who survived. This is initially intriguing, but quickly stagnates as talk takes over any suspense, giving either clues and suspects which are possibly red herrings. Anne Gwynne, as Knowles's wife, does nothing but fret, while Mantan Moreland and Shemp Howard provide low brow comedy. Other familiar faces pop up in needless roles, and it's surprising that they didn't include Lugosi, Karloff and Chaney in uncredited cameos. It's not hideous and flies by pretty quickly, culminating in a tense chase sequence, but I think most viewers can simply agree that this had been done before but better. The twist at the end makes really no sense and seems desperate to get chills when it really only provides groans.

Patrick Knowles plays private detective Jerry Church, who is recruited by the police to help solve a series of murders where wrongfully acquitted criminals were subsequently murdered by a mysterious vigilante calling himself Dr. RX. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Kit Logan(played by Anne Gwynne) pops back into his life, and they get married, though she will later get mixed up in the case itself. Who can the mysterious Dr. RX. be, and what does a locked up gorilla have to do with anything? Despite some brisk performances,(and Jerry's gorgeous Art Deco apartment and hallway!) this is a most dull, unfocused and ridiculous film, that feels much longer than its hour running time...

Strange Case of Doctor RX, The (1942) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Here's another forgotten thriller/mystery from Universal. A mysterious man is killing off client's gotten off of serious crimes by a local attorney. There's really not too much here but director William Nigh keeps things moving pretty pace even though this thing contains the worst red-herring in film history. Patrick Knowles, Lionel Atwill, Anne Gwynne and Shemp Howard star.This rare Universal film hasn't been released officially yet but there are 16mm copies floating around out there.