The Face of Marble (1946)

That was an excellent one.

Powerful

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

"Dr. Charles Randolph" (John Carradine) is a scientist who is working on a personal project at his home concerning bringing the dead back to life. Assisting him is a young doctor by the name of "David Cochran" (Robert Shayne). Also present in the house is Dr. Randolph's wife, "Elaine" (Claudia Drake) and her maid "Maria" (Rosa Rey). Anyway, because Dr. Randolph is so devoted to his work Elaine develops a crush on David. However, David doesn't share the same feelings toward Elaine due to his betrothal to another woman named "Linda Sinclair" (Maris Wrixon). So when Linda comes to visit this upsets both Elaine and Maria—who is devoted to Elaine and also happens to be a practitioner of voodoo. Now, rather than reveal any more of the story and risk ruining the film for those people who haven't seen it I will just say that it was a mildly entertaining B-movie for the most part. Although it had a good cast and they all played their parts well enough I didn't especially care for the ending at all. Likewise, the special abilities demonstrated by both "Brutus" (the dog) and Elaine defied the "normal" characteristics attributed to this particular genre. This is possibly explained by the combination of science and voodoo but it certainly wasn't made clear enough. That said while I don't consider this to be a bad movie by any means it certainly had some faults and as a result I rate this film as slightly below average.

Dr. Charles Randolph (a fine performance by John Carradine) is so obsessed with reviving the dead that he neglects his wife Elaine (an appealing portrayal by the pretty Claudia Drake), who gets involved with Randolph's assistant Dr. David Cochran (a likable turn by Robert Shayne). Meanwhile, creepy old housekeeper Maria (essayed with fairly sinister menace by Rosa Rey) uses her voodoo powers to make Maria happy. Although hampered by sluggish pacing, an overly talky script by Michael Jacoby, a rather plodding and uneventful narrative, and perfunctory direction by William Beaudine, this film nonetheless manages to remain reasonably watchable and enjoyable thanks to Carradine's surprisingly restrained acting in a rare lead role, a resurrected Great Dane named Brutus who walks through walls, Dr. Randolph being presented as someone who's more driven than mad, and some decent special effects considering both the modest budget and era this movie was made in. However, the spooky atmosphere is minimal at best and there's precious little tension to speak of. In addition, Willie Best is saddled with a degrading racial comic relief role as a pop-eyed cowardly servant. That said, the terse 72 minute running time ensures that this flick doesn't overstay its welcome and it's fun to watch Carradine carry a picture for once. Okay fright fare.

I thought I read somewhere that this was the last Monogram production, but whether that's true or not it doesn't matter, because if it wasn't, then it should have been. It's a deadly dull affair starring John Carradine with some gray in his hair to make himself appear like an older scientist who is experimenting with the aid of his young apprentice (Robert Shayne) in bringing the dead back to life. Every time their subjects are revived, they seem to have a whitish face like marble as they are lying strapped to the laboratory table (big deal). Carradine manages to restore his faithful dog to life after it's dead, and the mutt gains an unusual ability to walk through walls in a ghostlike fashion (wooooooooohhhh). That's about all she wrote. For an ultra-cheap Monogram quickie, this thing at least actually utilizes a more fancy-schmancy lab setup than is usually allotted. The funniest running joke in the movie is that the "older" doctor Carradine constantly refers to his "young" assistant Shayne as "m'boy" when, in fact, Carradine was actually 40 and Shayne was 45 when they made this! * out of ****

While The Face of Marble will never be confused with a great horror film, it is a decent little movie from the infamously cheap Monogram Pictures and director William Beaudine. John Carradine plays a doctor intent on discovering the secret to bringing the dead back to life. In most scenes, he rises above the material given and delivers a first class performance. The less said about the rest of the cast the better. They can generously be described as wooden and unemotional.The movie begins with Carradine and his assistant attempting to bring a dead man back to life. After this fails, he tries the procedure on his wife's dog (Carradine's character kills the dog with little or no remorse or care for his wife's feelings). And finally, his wife gets the opportunity to experience the whizzing and sparking machines in his lab. There's also a housekeeper who practices voodoo and has some sort of control over the dog and wife. The housekeeper uses her power to have the dog and wife do her bidding. Under the housekeeper's control, the wife kills Carradine and attempts to kill everyone else in the cast.For the limited budget, there are actually some good special effects. Some of the scenes where the dog walks through the walls are especially effective. Also, much of the budget appears to have been spent on fancy lab equipment. Carradine has a room full of electronic gadgets similar to those in Frankenstein. The marble effect (from which the movies title comes) is, however, not especially good or memorable.If you can get past the lackluster supporting performances and the obvious budget constraints, The Face of Marble can be a somewhat fun little film. Not the best, but watchable.