Watch The Strange Case of Doctor Rx For Free

the audience applauded

Absolutely Fantastic

Absolutely brilliant

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Private Detective Jerry Church (Patric Knowles) is asked to investigate the strange deaths of several recently acquitted men. The only clue is the mysterious calling card found on the body of each victim of a man known only as "Doctor Rx". Soon after taking the case, Church is on hand to see a man named Zarini acquitted, only to fall dead before he can leave the courtroom. To solve the series of murders, Church is kidnapped, his wife's life is threatened, and he is strapped to a table by Doctor Rx and prepped for an operation involving organ transplantation with a gorilla. Will Church survive this ordeal and unmask the killer? As far as the classic Universal horror (and horror is used very loosely here) films of the 30s and 40s go, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx is about as bad as you'll run across. I place it at the bottom of the heap with the unfortunate She-Wolf of London. I described The Strange Case of Doctor Rx to a friend as a Charlie Chan movie without any of the charm or interest of a Charlie Chan movie. Knowles' Church doesn't make for a very effective or interesting lead. He's just too bland. Lionel Atwill is billed second, but he has so little screen-time you'll forget he's even in the film. And when Atwill is on screen, he's reduced to playing the role of the most embarrassing red herring I've ever run across. Gwynne is okay as the love interest / wife, but she can't save the film on her on. The highlights of the cast are Shemp Howard and, especially, Mantan Moreland. They have a scene together involving shooting dice that's laugh-out-loud funny. Moreland, as usual, steals most every scene in which he appears. Other weaknesses: the films plotting is plodding, the direction is pedestrian, the mystery isn't very mysterious, and the horror is pretty much missing altogether. As most everyone who has written about The Strange Case of Doctor Rx has pointed out, the one scene of real horror feels like it was cut from another film. Other than Moreland, the one bright spot worth mentioning is the "look" of the film. Like most other Universal pictures from this period, the movie looks like a million bucks. Overall, a very disappointing affair that I'll be generous to and give it a 4/10.

Easily the worst Universal "horror film" I've ever seen, and it makes previous candidates of mine like SHE-WOLF OF London, THE FROZEN GHOST, and JUNGLE WOMAN look like thrill rides alongside it. Hell, I'd even watch LIFE RETURNS again over this one; at least that's bizarre enough in its badness and resembles an Our Gang short in spots. DOCTOR Rx doesn't make one bit of sense, with nothing going on but talk, talk, talk, and feels like it goes on forever despite that it's only just over an hour. The cockeyed plot seems to be about a series of murders against criminals who got off, committed by a mysterious doctor. Shemp Howard and Mantan Moreland are mixed up in all of this, but they don't even offer anything fun in the comical department. Anne Gwynne had always been the cutest Universal gal for me, but despite all her pep here it's all for naught. And Lionel Atwill is just wasted. The only somewhat decent thing I can say for this turkey is that it was semi-interesting to see Patric Knowles cast as an insensitive jerk for a change, and the 3 measly minutes we spend in Dr. Rx's laboratory with a chained gorilla is a tad unsettling ... even though I can't for the life of me see how it fits into the rest of this picture! A wretched movie. * out of ****

Detective Jerry Church returns of Rio after a year and immediately finds himself embroiled in the Dr Rx murders. It seems that some one is killing off the high profile defendants that have been acquitted and leaving a note signed Rx and a number. As the sixth victim falls, in the court room seconds after being acquitted Church finds himself pressed by the police to aide them as well as the defense attorney responsible for most of the acquittals (he fears the end to his career because who would hire him if you win only to die?).Sounds like a promising mystery? Well forget it its not. Its a mystery looking for some one to pay attention to it. This film is mostly concerned with Church, played a bit too cocksure by Patrick Knowles, and his relationship with Kit, a one time girlfriend who becomes his wife in the second scene she appears. She's a mystery writer who bugs his apartment for ideas. They bicker and quarrel and would be an interesting update on Nick and Nora Charles if they had a (better) script. The mystery comes and goes and is never really solved.In all honesty this film is a turkey. How can I tell? Because out of left field Church is tied to a gurney by a hooded villain who tries to use a gorilla in a cage to get rid of the detective. Normally I would find this fun, but here it just destroys any notion of credibility (and probably the series they were hoping to start). This is a bad bad movie.The only reason to watch this is the cast that includes Knowles, Montan Moreland, Lionel Atwill (a red herring with maybe five minutes of screen time) and Shemp Howard. The scene of Howard and Moreland gambling for a bottle of liquor is amusing.3 out of 10 for the cast and some witty dialog. This is a movie thats not worth your time- even if it is only an hour.

(possible spoilers) If you're looking for a lot of Lionel Atwill, you will be disappointed as he only has a few scenes playing the most obviously named red-herring in film history, Dr. Fish. However, if you're looking for a good little suspenser, this is a solid b-movie from Universal. The cast is generally good, only Patrick Knowles comes off as too brash and pompous as the hero. It's hard to root for him as his charm is very thin and his arrogance fat. It is nicely paced and directed. The best part about the film is Dr. Rx himself - a madman vigilante killer with an evilly raspy voice and a gorilla for a sidekick. It's a fun time-passer and one of the better horror/mysteries from Universal.