The Professor-1958

We now move on to another "lost" pilot. A show that should have perhaps stayed lost unless you are easily entertained by nonsense (like me!). It's called THE PROFESSOR  (1958) and I have a hard time believing anyone could have made this thinking it could be sold as a series! It's too bad the director Tom McCain never made another movie. Who knows what hilarity he could have produced? Well...maybe it's just as well....

The story begins in the shoddy little lab of Dr. Wilmer, a dwarfish egghead with a funny voice. He's assisted by a nerdy guy named Mark who looks more like a bad Buddy Holly clone! Wilmer's daughter Betty also seems to assist him but she seems more interested in her newspaper reporter-boyfriend. A very weird government agent in a bow tie comes to visit. The dialogue and interaction between the characters during these scenes is incredibly goofy. The agent eventually relates the story of a Dr. Tristler who through some lab experiment gone awry has turned into a werewolf (his howl is pathetic) and is in fact prowling around the perimeter of Dr. Wilmer's lab! Wilmer and Mark do some experiments with a rabbit and a "shock ray" while elsewhere a "foreign commie" agent meets his (female) American contact in a library. He looks like something out of a silent movie with false moustace and eyebrows. The woman looks like a "typical '50's housewife"....

Meanwhile Wilmer and Mark continue their experiments while Betty waits for her boyfriend. The aforementioned werewolf prowls around outside. The boyfriend shows up for a quick make out session with Betty and a bawling out by Wilmer...

After more stilted dialogue, out of place close-ups and bad acting the two "commies" decide to invade the lab. The werewolf kills the guy and the lady (who is really an undercover reporter) is taken inside the lab. Wilmer gives a little speech about Dr. Tristler being his friend and it's over! Apparently, capturing and curing Dr.Werewolf would have to wait for the next episode!!!

This thing is crazy! Was this planned as some continuing series where the cast would try to cure the doctor? Near the end they do talk about curing him with a portable version of their "shock ray". Did the director know what he was doing? My guess is that this was suppose to be a two parter with the second part never made....

None of the cast ever went on to anything as far as I can tell with the exception of the actor who played the werewolf. Doug Hobart was his name and he was a stuntman and "live spook show" presenter. He also did make-up, SFX and production work on several low budget movies most notably two by director William Grefe: the eerie DEATH CURSE OF TARTU and the giant jellyfish drama THE STING OF DEATH (which featured Neil Sedaka). Pretty scary stuff.....

Thanks for reading!