The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935)

Simply Perfect

i must have seen a different film!!

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It seems rather ironic that Erich von Stroheim stars in this film considering it was shot in only 8 days. Why is this so ironic? Well, when von Stroheim was a director, he made "Greed"...a film that originally clocked in at 10.5 hours!!! The studio was irate to say the least and pared the film down to 2 hours....and Von Stroheim received very few assignments to direct after this and his next debacle, "Queen Kelly"...which he never actually finished!Doctor Crespi (von Stroheim) is a well respected doctor. However, he's hiding his rage...rage at the man who he credits with stealing Crespi's girlfriend. So, when this same man needs an operation, Crespi agrees to do it...and now he finally can get his revenge. Using a formula he's created himself, he injects the patient...who appears to die and remains in a dead-like state for 24 hours. But Crespi knows that the man IS still alive...and he taunts the man and describes the agony he'll go through when he's buried alive! Is there any hope for the victim? Well, Crespi's assistant (Dwight Frye) doesn't trust him...and he begins to suspect that perhaps Crespi poisoned the man. What's next?This is a well made and very effective B-horror film. Nothing to dislike about this one....very enjoyable and worth your time...particularly if you like the genre.

Erich Von Stroheim (Dr Andre Crespi), Harriet Russell (Mrs Estelle Ross), Dwight Frye (Dr Thomas), Paul Guilfoyle (Dr Arnold), John Bohn (Dr Ross), Geraldine Kay (Miss Rexford), Jeanne Kelly (Miss Gordon), Patsy Berlin (Jeanne Ross), Joe Verdi (expectant father), Dean Raymond (minister).Director: JOHN H. AUER. Screenplay: John H. Auer. Story: John H. Auer, suggested by the short story, "The Premature Burial", by Edgar Allan Poe, as adapted by Lewis Graham and Edwin Olmstead. Photography: Larry Williams. Film editor: Leonard Wheeler. Art director: William Saulter. Make-up: Fred Ryle. Music director: Milton Schwartzwald. Production supervisor: W.J. O'Connor. Sound recording: Clarence R. Wall. RCA Victor Sound System. Associate producer: Herb Hayman. Producer: John H. Auer. A JHA Production. Executive producer: Max Hoffman. Copyright 16 October 1935 jointly by Liberty Pictures Corporation and Republic Pictures Corporation. Filmed at the old Biograph Studios in New York. U.S. release through Republic: 21 October 1935. New York opening at the Rialto: 12 January 1936. 7 reels. 66 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Famous surgeon has a score to settle with his rival.COMMENT: John H. Auer was certainly one of Republic's more imaginative directors, and here, in his initial venture for that studio (the film was actually purchased by the Herbert J. Yates combine after it was completed for Max Hoffman's Liberty Pictures), he displays an even greater inventiveness in creating an effectively eerie atmosphere and some wonderfully sinister effects on a minuscule budget. His biggest expense was no doubt the hiring of Erich Von Stroheim for the title role. And Von Stroheim's services were certainly worth the money. The "Von" gives a captivatingly charismatic performance, using all the props and bits of business at his command to give extra power to his portrait. Whether bawling out an associate or evilly planning the demise of his rival, Von Stroheim is always in control. So much so, in fact, that the rest of the players, with the sole exception of Dwight Frye, have little chance to impress. Never mind, it's "the man you love to hate" who attracted picture- goers and the other actors were well aware of that fact. Thus Crespi is Von Stroheim's movie. And Auer's.

Crime of Dr. Crespi, The (1935) ** (out of 4) Ultra low-budget film based on Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Premature Burial' has Dr. Crespi (Erich von Stroheim) giving an enemy a serum that paralyzes the body so that he can torture him by burying him alive. I've heard a lot about this film over the years but just now caught up with it. The films 63-minute running time goes very fast, which is a big plus but the director doesn't do anything from the opening credits to the closing ones. The big "secret" that the enemy isn't really dead doesn't go anywhere and the ending is all too predictable. Von Stroheim must have really been down on his luck to do a film like this. I'm not sure what's up with his incredibly over the top performance but the director gives him a close up whenever he goes into one of his fits. Dwight Frye, of Dracula and Frankenstein fame, plays the hero, which is pretty hard to believe as he too goes over the top.

Wow! What a great performance by Erich Von Stroheim as a doctor who tries to get revenge on the man that took his girl away. Von Stroheim once again plays an overly obsessed man in a range of quiet meekness in one moment and tyrannical rage in another. His character of a lonely, frustrated man filled with nothing but hate at the loss of losing the girl he loved to another man is frightening and sympathetic at the same time. This film is very creaky, has little action, and almost no musical background, yet Von Stroheim's performance carries the film on his shoulders and delivers the goods. Some great scenes in the film show Von Stroheim's range as an actor from his thumping of a pencil for an half hour and finally snapping it to his corpse beside manner where he tells his captured prey his wicked, diabolical intentions. Dr. Crespi somehow makes his hated enemy appear dead but in reality leaves him alive only to be buried alive. The glee in Dr. Crespi's face glows and really turns what could have been a horrible film into a quite enjoyable one. Add to the fun the presence of Dwight Frye(who has a scene digging up a grave) and you have a wonderful horror picture from the heyday of horror. Above all, this film shows us just how good this man was at acting, and it shows us the loss we have that he was not utilized more.