The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1942)
1h 5m | PG-13
A man believed to be dead and buried escapes from his grave and returns to the scene of the crime seeking revenge.
Director: Herbert I. Leeds
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Crime, Mystery
Video: 720p
Cast
Lloyd Nolan
as Michael Shayne
Marjorie Weaver
as Catherine Wolff
Helene Reynolds
as Anna Wolff
Henry Wilcoxon
as Dr. Haggard
Richard Derr
as Roger Blake
Paul Harvey
as Dudley Wolff
Reviews
We start with a sinister scene in the grounds on an eerie country mansion. A burial - but of whom, and why in the dead of night? Well, it doesn't take us long to find out why and soon daughter of the house "Cathy" (Marjorie Weaver) engages the services of the sleuthing "Shayne" (Lloyd Nolan) to find out just what is going on. Have Burke & Hare moved into the neighbourhood? Snag for "Cathy" - her wealthy father "Dudley" (Paul Harvey) is no fan of cops, so the two have to pretend that they are... married...! Maybe not the easiest of disguises but as the story gathers pace there develops quite a fun dynamic between the two trying to stay one step ahead of their increasingly sophisticated and menacing nemesis. It's quite a decent little crime-noir, with a gradually accruing sense of menace helped by the basic, but effective, dark photography and some quite clever close ups on the eyes of our perpetrator (almost Karloff-esque, at times). The denouement is a touch far-fetched, but there's enough in the story to keep in interesting for an hour.