The Man They Could Not Hang

An executed scientist (Boris Karloff), brought back to life, seeks vengeance upon those who were responsible for his execution. Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox, Roger Pryor, Ann Doran, Don Beddoe, Byron Foulger. Competent Karloff creepiness. Nick Grinde directed., Boris Karloff plays a familiar role in this 1939 film, though he is the scientist in this one. He’s actually a heart specialist whose experiments with bringing the dead to life–on willing subjects–fall apart; he is hanged for murder, but his assistant brings him back from the dead to have his revenge on the jury that convicted him. Surprisingly, the movie was (loosely) based on the true story of a scientist who experimented with the reanimation of dogs during the ’30s.