Black Friday

if you found this film in your "Bela Lugosi Collection" or some other feature with Karloff and Lugosi, you will probably be disappointed the two horror stars were minor players. This movie is really about the Stanley Ridges character of a College professor who finds part of the brain of a gangster implanted in his head. You have some very nice transformational scenes where the actor changes personality by merely changing his hairstyle and mannerisms. It is said Karloff was supposed to play the professor/gangster, and Lugosi the doctor, but they changed casting at the last minute when Karloff balked at what he thought would be too complicated a role. Ridges pulls it off perfectly. And sadly, the guy is probably not remembered for much of anything else. Ruthless gangster by night, meek college professor by day. Really a B-movie, but fun to watch.

For those expecting a true Karloff/Lugosi collaboration, this will be a major disappointment. The two share no scenes together in this movie, and Lugosi's role as the gangster Eric Mornay is very limited - really not much more than an extended cameo. The movie really revolves around the friendship between Dr. Ernest Sovac (Karloff) and Professor George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges). Opening with Sovac about to be put to death in the electric chair, virtually the entire movie is a flashback which seeks to explain how he got into this situation. To boil it down to a couple of sentences, Kingsley is badly injured in an automobile accident, and to save his life Sovac performs an experimental brain "transplantation," putting the brain of gangster Red Cannon (also played by Ridges) into his body. Kingsley starts to take on more and more of Cannon's characteristics, and eventually even begins to physically transform into Cannon. Sovac, meanwhile, decides to exploit the situation to try to discover if, with his new brain, Kingsley might have knowledge of where Cannon hid $500,000. To be honest, I thought this was one of the weaker movies that either Karloff or Lugosi were involved in (at least until some of the sad movies both were reduced to at the ends of their respective careers.) Lugosi's role, as I said, wasn't that important and Karloff struggled valiantly against a weak story but didn't convince me. Ironically for what Universal obviously tried to sell as another Karloff/Lugosi movie, Ridges came off looking best in this, but his reasonably good performance couldn't save a bizarre and unbelievable story that never really managed to capture my interest from the moment it started. Generously - 2/10

Okay when I sat down to watch this film the other night it was with dread.All I had ever heard was how this wasn't a horror movie and it was a cheat because Lugosi & Karloff didn't have any scenes together. Guess what?It was a darn fine movie.This falls more into a gangster/mad scientist type of genre but is a lot of fun just the same. Stanley Ridges actually steals the movie with his performance as the teacher/gangster.Karloff is his usual wonderful self.Lugosi does a great job in the allegedly thankless role of Varney the gangster. Rather than go into the details of this little gem why don't you see if you can find a copy of it and watch it.

Though this film is found on DVD in a Bela Lugosi box set, Lugosi has a supporting role. Boris Karloff is also in it in a much more major role, but the star is character actor Stanley Ridges. The fact is, Karloff was supposed to be in the Ridges part and Lugosi in the Karloff part, but Karloff was considered unconvincing in the dual role. Ridges plays a college professor who is harmed during a gangland shooting. Also injured is a gang boss, Red Cannon. Cannon is dying, as is the English professor, so Boris Karloff transplants half of Cannon's brain into the prof's head, which helps him survive. Later on, the prof starts exhibiting memories of Red Cannon. Karloff attempts to use that subliminal knowledge to get hidden gangster money. Unfortunately, the subliminal soon becomes the conscious. It's a moderately entertaining story. The wrap-around story kind of ruins it – the movie begins with Karloff about to be executed, and then the main thrust of the story is told in flashback. But when we get to why Karloff is about to be executed, it's just stupid.

"...And I'm going to give you the brain of the Wolfman" - whoops, sorry, wrong movie! The plot concerns Boris Karloff as a Doctor who partly transplants the brain of a dying gangster into the body of his friend, a kindly University Professor of English Literature, in the hope the gangster persona will take control and lead him to a cool half-million dollars he's salted away... Black Friday is the final Karloff/Lugosi film made for Universal Pictures, and first time viewers may be astonished to discover they don't share a single scene together. That's like making a Laurel and Hardy film where The Boys never meet. There was, however, a reason for this... Boris Karloff was originally down for the double role of the University Professor/Gangster, but grew worried he wouldn't be able to do it justice - Karloff would not have made a convincing gangster no more than James Cagney would have made a good Dracula, so his decision to go for the part originally to be played by Lugosi was probably wise. Stanley Ridges takes the lead role (though he's billed behind the gruesome twosome) and walks away with the acting honours. Ridges is terrific in both parts, and utterly convincing. Universal saddle him with an unnecessary make-up job, as he could have played both roles without any greasepaint. Poor Lugosi, though, is shunted to the lesser role of the gangster, Eric Marny, and I wonder if Karloff simply didn't want to be upstaged anymore - in all their previous outings together it's Bela who steals the show. He seems to be enjoying himself, but is given little chance to shine. I've always thought Universal treated him abominably. Karloff, however, is as good as ever as the cold fish scientist, and the film holds the interest and is very entertaining. Horror fans have always disliked this movie, but come to it with an open mind and you'll enjoy it. Stanley Ridges is utterly watchable and compelling, and makes a memorably ruthless gangster when his latent personality finally emerges. There isn't much horror stuff here, but Lugosi's murder by Red Cannon is rather nasty; Bela's anguished cries are truly spine-tingling. The production betrays some signs of hastiness, and the late role-switching left little time for a re-write;but Black Friday is a pacey and rewarding effort - the 70 minute running time just flies over... For the record here are the Karloff/Lugosi movies: The Gift Of The Gab (1934)(in which they cameo together), The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), Son of Frankenstein (1938), You'll Find Out (1940 - Boris, Bela and Peter Lorre in a comedy musical!), Black Friday (1940), The Body Snatcher (1945).

"Young Frankenstein" had the monster getting an "Abby Normal" brain while in the comic spoof "Soapdish", Sally Field volunteered to give up her brain to save a young girl. "Take the damn thing, I don't need it!", she cries. In this Karloff and Lugosi film (where the two never appear together), the genres of crime drama and science fiction are tied together, involving a dead criminal whose brain is planted in the head of a good professor (Stanley Ridges) so he can live, making the seemingly good Karloff turn somewhat wacky through a nefarious experimental operation that has to be seen to be believed. Karloff believes that he can get the brain of the dead criminal to tell him where the money he hid (stolen from Lugosi's gang of crooks) yet turn it back over to the owner of the body he's planted it into. The gangster though vows revenge on Lugosi and his gang, his former mistress and Karloff himself. The body count increases, Lugosi somehow ends up with the money, and the mild-mannered Ridges (whose body doesn't seem able to hurt a fly) heads after him for a sequence which is really never scary or resolved. Hokey even by early 40's standards, this ranks lower than Karloff's two Columbia "back from the dead" films, yet manages to not be as boring as his insipid "Mr. Wong" series at Monogram. Karloff isn't playing a character here, but really hamming it up with a series of mood swings that outweighs the two personalities of what lives through Ridges' body. Publicity had Lugosi being hypnotized for a scene where he's locked in a closet, but that's all it seems to be, nothing real to be evidenced on stage. Lugosi gets second billing above the title but really has little to do. Perhaps he would have been better off with the original intention which had him in the Ridges' role so he could show off his versatility in both a sympathetic and villain part.

In order to save a friend's life (Ridges), Dr. Ernest Sovac (Karloff) must perform a "brain transplantation" using the brain from a gangster (also played by Ridges). It is an illegal operation and one that has horrifying results. I must admit I had a hard time getting past the idea that a man who had a brain transplant would make up and still be himself (and not the person whose brain he now had), but once I did I enjoyed all the wonderful melodramatic hooey. Karloff is great in his role as the caring doctor with a sinister motive for saving his friend's life and Lugosi is super in his unusual role as a gangster (despite his European accents). But Stanley Ridges stole this show and did a perfect job with his Jekyll and Hyde personas.

After his close friend, an affable and absent minded college professor (Stanley Ridges) is critically injured when a gangster runs him down, Karloff does what any other doctor would do – he transplants the gangster's brain into Ridges' head. Incredibly, Karloff manages to do this by himself, with no one at the hospital knowing about it. What's more, he doesn't need prior authorization from Ridges' health insurance company. In fact, Karloff does such a great job, there are no scars on Ridges, and he also maintains his full head of hair. It seems the gangster has hidden 500 grand somewhere, so Karloff figures maybe he can coax the location out of Ridges, who is starting to act strangely. In short order, the gangster brain takes over, and Ridges (now looking about 30 years younger) goes on a killing spree, exacting revenge on his former gang. On occasion, he returns to his professor self. How will this all end? If you can ignore the stupidity involved, this is one of the most entertaining of the Universal horror flicks. Beautifully paced, never dull, the film benefits from a great Hans J. Salter score, with familiar themes he used over and over in multiple films. Karloff is fine as the doctor. But the real star is Ridges, who is outstanding in a dual role. Anne Nagel, as the gangster's girlfriend, is gorgeous. Murray Alper is very amusing as a confused bellboy. However, Bela Lugosi, billed second, is woefully miscast as one of the gangsters.

In Black Friday, Stanley Ridges delivers one of the most incredible performances I have even seen commited to celluloid.As the meek University professor who unknowing receives part of a dead gangster's brain, Ridges is amazing.When the gangsters personality surfaces, Ridge's speech and mannerisms are transformed.He is convincing as a brutal, homicidal gangster and seems like a different actor.He steals the film easily from Lugosi and Karloff (No simple task!) and leaves you spellbound throughout.This one is worth the rental!

source: Black Friday