Showing posts with label robert cornish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label robert cornish. Show all posts

Monday, October 27, 2025

I Don't Think He Ever Got Old

 

 (imdb)

YOUNG DILLINGER-1965-John Dillinger's (Nick Adams) girlfriend Elaine (Mary Ann Mobley) convinces him to rob her father so they can get married. John beats up the justice of the peace (Gene Roth) and they lam it. He's arrested later on. Elaine's father (Ted Knight) convinces him to plead guilty and not involve Elaine. Despite dad's promises, the judge (Walter Sande) gives John the maximum sentence. In jail, he meets Pretty Boy Floyd (Robert Conrad), Babyface Nelson (John Ashley) and Homer van Meter (Dan Terranova). They help John become a model prisoner so he can help them from the outside. When he's transferred to a state work farm, Elaine helps him escape. Outside, John meets Floyd's friend, mob boss Joe Rocco (Anthony Caruso) and gets beat up. He kills Rocco and his goons, then breaks his pals out of jail. Prof. Hoffman (Victor Buono) gets them an armored car to rob. That's fairly successful though John gets shot. He gets plastic surgery but the sleazy surgeon (John Hoyt) tries to rape Elaine. For some reason the surgery doesn't work so John drowns the doc. When the gang goes to the professor again he's being used by a federal agent (Reed Hadley) to set a trap. Joy Harmon plays Nelson's moll and Art Baker, Emile Meyer and Frank Gerstle are in it. 

Violent, mostly fictional crime drama directed by Terry Morse whose was mostly a film editor but did make some interesting movies like BRITISH INTELLIGENCE (1939) with Boris Karloff, TEAR GAS SQUAD (1940) co-starring George Reeves, 2 Sidney Toler Charlie Chan mysteries and was credited with the US filmed scenes in GODZILLA-KING OF MONSTERS (1956).

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Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Raise The Dead

 



LIFE RETURNS-1935-Three young doctors Robert Cornish (Robert Cornish), Louise Stone (Lois Wilson) and John Kendrick (Onslow Stevens)
 conduct experiments with a potion to bring the dead back to life but the obsessed Kendrick accepts a grant from The Arnold institute. After rising in his medical practice, marrying a socialite (Valerie Hobson) and doing many experiments, the director (Frank Reicher) and Arnold himself (Richard Carle) see no commercial or beneficial use for his research. They refuse to buy him an expensive piece of equipment. Since he's obviously a self absorbed bastard who's used to getting his way, neglecting his practice and family, feeling his research into bringing the dead back to life is much more important this comes as quite a blow to him. When he explains his theory he's ridiculed. 


Years later he's toiling away and getting nuttier. His wife dies and his young son Jimmy is going to be hauled off to juvenile court. Jimmy runs away and hides out with some tough kids. Later when Jimmy's dog is gassed to death Kendrick gets the body and has Cornish perform the operation to reanimate him. (Real operation footage is shown). While several doctors look on the dog is restored to life. 


This is just a tedious promotion disguised as a human interest story and advertised as a horror film. It's based on the actual experiments of co-star Robert Cornish. For more on Cornish and, in my opinion, his dubious experiments go here:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Cornish


LIFE RETURNS was produced by Universal Pictures who pulled it from general release after they thought it was too gruesome. This is only one of four movies director Eugene Frenke made. In 1958 he produced THE BARBARIAN AND THE GEISHA with John Wayne.


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