THE NEANDERTHAL MAN-1953-In the Sierra
mountains a nutty anthropologist Prof. Graves (Robert Shayne) turns
his cat into a saber tooth tiger that escapes into the woods and
scares a hunter (Frank Gerstle). No one believes him but the game
warden George Oakes (Robert Long) convinces vacationing Dr. Ross
Harkness (Richard Crane) to help investigate. They go to see Graves
but he's off presenting his theory about brains to a group of
eggheads who wind up ridiculing him. He gets mad and insults them
(“small men, small minds”). Meanwhile Graves' daughter Jan
(Joyce/Joy Terry) invites Harkness to stay the night. He also meets
Ruth (Doris Merrick) who's somehow engaged to the moody eccentric
professor. Oakes and Ross kill a saber toothed tiger but when they
bring Graves to look at the body it has disappeared. Now it's Graves'
turn to laugh (he uses the phrase “vacuum of ego”). After he
jilts Ruth, he injects himself with a formula that turns him into a
simian like caveman and he kills a hunter and his dog. The local
sheriff puts together a posse. No sooner does Graves return to his
natural human form when he suddenly becomes a caveman again!
While snooping around the lab Ross develops some photos that show Graves' mute maid (Tandra Quinn; later in THE MESA OF LOST WOMEN) becoming a monster. Later professor caveman kills another local and ravages his date (Beverly Garland). The posse chases him down but Neander-Graves kidnaps his ex-fiancee and holds up in a cave. Ross saves her but the prehistoric man is mauled by another saber tooth which Ross created accidentally. Graves dies in bed and transforms back to his homosapien self.
THE NEANDERTHAL MAN was directed by EA Dupont, once a well respected director in his homeland of Germany (VARIETY, ATLANDTIK). Unfortunately his Hollywood career never took off and after spending several years as an agent was reduced to making low budget nonsense like this. His direction isn't anything special but Robert Shayne's intense but almost comical mad scientist performance holds it together despite the bad caveman make-up. The close-ups seem to be a time elapsed make-up job ala THE WOLFMAN but when he's running around terrorizing the countryside Shayne seems to be wearing a mask.
The writing team of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollenfex also wrote THE SON OF DR. JEKYELL and THE MAN FROM PLANET X.
Thanks for reading!
While snooping around the lab Ross develops some photos that show Graves' mute maid (Tandra Quinn; later in THE MESA OF LOST WOMEN) becoming a monster. Later professor caveman kills another local and ravages his date (Beverly Garland). The posse chases him down but Neander-Graves kidnaps his ex-fiancee and holds up in a cave. Ross saves her but the prehistoric man is mauled by another saber tooth which Ross created accidentally. Graves dies in bed and transforms back to his homosapien self.
THE NEANDERTHAL MAN was directed by EA Dupont, once a well respected director in his homeland of Germany (VARIETY, ATLANDTIK). Unfortunately his Hollywood career never took off and after spending several years as an agent was reduced to making low budget nonsense like this. His direction isn't anything special but Robert Shayne's intense but almost comical mad scientist performance holds it together despite the bad caveman make-up. The close-ups seem to be a time elapsed make-up job ala THE WOLFMAN but when he's running around terrorizing the countryside Shayne seems to be wearing a mask.
The writing team of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollenfex also wrote THE SON OF DR. JEKYELL and THE MAN FROM PLANET X.
Thanks for reading!
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