The Man They Could Not Hang

This article is about the 1939 horror film. For the British man known as "The Man They Could Not Hang", see John Babbacombe Lee.
The Man They Could Not Hang

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Nick Grinde
Produced by Wallace MacDonald
Written by Karl Brown
George Wallace Syre
Leslie T. White
Starring Boris Karloff
Lorna Gray
Music by R.H Bassett and others
Cinematography Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by William A. Lyon
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • August 17, 1939 (1939-08-17) (North America)
  • November 1947 (1947-11) (North America rerelease)
Running time
64 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Man They Could Not Hang is a 1939 low-budget horror film produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by Nick Grinde, and starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Henryk Savaard.[1] The supporting cast features Lorna Gray and Ann Doran.[2]

Plot

Dr. Savaard is obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. A young medical student offers his services to him, but before he can bring him back to life, Savaard is arrested, convicted, and sentenced to hang. He vows revenge on the judge and the jury before his hanging. His assistant claims his body and revives him by using his technique. The vengeful Savaard goes on a killing spree.

Cast

Production notes

The fictional heart and lung machine prop presented an idea that was strictly sci-fi at the time, but later the central idea became reality as "Open-Heart Surgery." Later renamed "On-Pump" surgery due to the development of microsurgery that does not require stopping the heart, "On Pump" requires heart stoppage, then hook up to the pump, then operate on the repairs, then re-connect and revive the patient, exactly the basic theory presented by the film.

Release

The film has been released on VHS by Sony Pictures. It is also included in the "Icons of Horror - Boris Karloff" DVD, released in 2006.

See also

References

  1. Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomohawk Press 2011 p 246-247
  2. "The Man They Could Not Hang". FilmAffinity. filmaffinity.com. Retrieved 11 January 2016.

External links

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