THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (1944)

Paramount Pictures, 92m 24s

One of the more obscure Hollywood productions to cover the topic of immortality, THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET made its official worldwide home video debut late in 2023. As marketed by boutique label Imprint, this cross-genre specimen incorporates both science fiction and film noir genre tropes. Frankenstein noir might sound like a winning combination, though to be honest I do not admire this title as much as I wish I did. Suspense comes in oddly small doses based upon the sensational subject matter; the plot summary on hand at Turner Classic Movies [SYNOPSIS] suggests more emotional heft than the film ultimately can provide. My disappointment notwithstanding, THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET offers solid production value, takes established genre tropes seriously and features actress Helen Walker, a name that should make film noir fans sit up straight. Still available as of this writing, the Imprint Blu-ray promises long-term collector value with its production limit of 1500 units.

Our preservation of youth story is set in London during the mid-1920s within a regimented society of class privilege. The featured protagonist is Dr. Julian Karell (Nils Asther), an amoral man with an eternal life mindset. A scientist with a penchant for painting portraits, his canvas depiction of Eve Brandon (Helen Walker) looks suspiciously like the work of an artist who was active a half-century ago according to a guest at the home of Sir Humphrey Brandon (Edmund Breon), Eve's father. Stranger still, Lady Minerva Aldergate (Aminta Dyne, uncredited) converses with Julian and recalls an affair she had with a man who could have been—must have been—Julian's grandfather. Julian would like to marry Eve, but first must endeavor to retain his appearance. He is 90 years old but claims he is 35 (actor Nils Asther was in his late forties at the time of the film's production and looks to be in exactly that age bracket). Julian's modified presentation of himself requires the surgical transfer of suprarenal glands from another human being every 10 years, which is to say a decennial murder is necessary to prolong his bid for immortality. He seems to have found his next guinea pig in the form of Alan Guthrie (Morton Lowry), a troubled young medical student with a gambling addiction, the sort of fellow that might go unmissed if he disappeared. Julian prevents Alan's suicide attempt and convinces him to participate in private scientific experiments, but the slightly belated arrival of endocrinologist and surgeon Dr. Kurt van Bruecken (Reinhold Schünzel) amounts to a huge setback. Julian recognizes Kurt no longer has the capacity to perform the 10-year surgeries on Julian as has become tradition since 1865. Kurt is actually younger than Julian, yet appears dramatically older as he hobbles about in an obvious state of decline. Despite the unforgiving encroachments of the aging process, Kurt's mind remains sharp as he admonishes Julian for arrogantly marching down the wrong path. Kurt is energized by a moral compass that Julian lacks.

After many years of practice...

A little too familiar?

"Men like us must always walk alone."

—Dr. Kurt van Bruecken

Though undoubtedly a science fiction film first and a film noir second, THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET possesses an indisputable noir soul. This Paramount title can be contextualized as dead-man-walking noir. As Julian witnesses his options to maintain his youthfulness disintegrating, the walking dead theme stands out as the most prominent of any of the film's themes and motifs. The walking dead man is one of the most unambiguous of film noir tropes, as emphasized repeatedly in DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), the most influential of all noir films in terms of prevailing themes. The walking dead man would wander through a wide assortment of important noir films that would follow DOUBLE INDEMNITY, as seen in SCARLET STREET (1945), THE DARK CORNER (1946), DECOY (1946), THE KILLERS (1946), OUT OF THE PAST (1947), RIDE THE PINK HORSE (1947), ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948), ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), D.O.A. (1950), NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950), SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) and TOUCH OF EVIL (1958).

A noirish night

The juice of life

A vivid illustration of the alienated noir protagonist, Julian has survived for decades as an outcast and criminal. His sense of displacement is grounded in the reality that he cannot live in the real world as an ageless man forever. Thus his sense of alienation is self-imposed, forever connected to the selfish choices he has made. The woman he would like to marry comes with a reminder of the impossibility of keeping his immortality quest a secret. A ladyfriend of any significance does not correspond well with such a plan; Kurt reminds Julian a woman could never be in the cards for such men of science. How can a man maintain a relationship with a woman if she ages normally and he remains the same age? Indeed Julian's interest in a woman sets his downfall in motion. That places Eve among the most unwilling and unaware of film noir femme fatales to bring about a man's downward spiral. She is both the cure for his lack of belonging and the catalyst for his destruction. If Julian's relationship with Eve amounts to an insurmountable long-term impracticality, then a traditional family life is an absolute non-starter. That theme comes deeply embedded in many films noir, characterized by suspect family values and downright hopeless marriages to be found in DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE SUSPECT (1944), SCARLET STREET, MILDRED PIERCE (1945), THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY (1945), THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946), ALL MY SONS (1948), SORRY, WRONG NUMBER (1948), WHIRLPOOL (1949) and GUN CRAZY (1950).

"All we are fated to learn we know already."

—Dr. Kurt van Bruecken

The film noir often is distinguished by a fixation on past events that cannot be undone, choices made in the past that prevent the major protagonist from moving forward in a positive way. It is not unusual to find evidence of that theme within noir title treatments, i.e. CORNERED (1945), OUT OF THE PAST (1947), THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME (1947), THE DARK PAST (1948), ABANDONED (1949), THE RECKLESS MOMENT (1949), TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1949), TRAPPED (1949), NO WAY OUT (1950), ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (1959). A closely related noir theme involves idealized images that embody an irretrievable past. How fitting that Julian enjoys painting portraits as a hobbyist, since the portrait is meant to preserve a moment in time. From the moment a portrait is completed, it represents a past that cannot be restored. As such, his artistic endeavors are at odds with the prospect of immortality. On another level, could the subject of the painting ever live up to Julian's expectations? Recall Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) falling for the framed woman in LAURA (1944). One wonders if Julian fell in love with Eve or her idealized, ageless likeness. Indeed his marriage proposal comes only after the unveiling of her portrait. Or maybe Julian's fondness for Eve and her inquisitive nature is best explained as fate. An atmosphere rich in fatalism is perhaps the purest of all film noir tropes, the support structure that gives rise to narratives engulfed in bitterness and cynicism like DETOUR (1945), SHOCK (1946), THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947), REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947), CRISS CROSS (1949), ANGEL FACE (1952) and THE KILLING (1956). Another related and crucial component of the noir equation is irony. One of the deep ironies at work in THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET is that a discredited surgeon like Dr. B.A. Vishanoff (Konstantin Shayne, uncredited) is necessary to continue Julian's life, a respected man like Dr. Henry Latimer (Paul Cavanagh) can be of no assistance. Deep in the noir underworld, sometimes the unprincipled social pariah is of more value than the man of integrity.

Kurt and Julian as pioneering men of science —
an idealized past that no longer exists

Youthful vanity versus aging frailty

The dead next door

The Thames gives up its dead

A tale of two paintings

Admittedly THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET does not adhere to all film noir traditions, especially in terms of what noir expert Eddie Muller calls "the break;" that moment when the lead character considers the moral choice and then decides against it. That milestone marks a major turning point in the life of the protagonist, who possesses at least some moral fiber to find himself at a moment of internal debate. If Julian ever had a moment like that, it must have occurred long ago. As he desperately schemes toward another life-extending surgery, his motivations are completely egocentric. Julian is concerned only about the preservation of his deceitful image, not the overall benefit to mankind his colleague Kurt had sought. Julian has more in common with the crazed noir psychos of the 1950s than the average people of 1940s noir who make bad decisions or trip over some rotten luck. Julian's obsession with self-preservation anticipates the misguided villainy that would invade film noirs like GUN CRAZY, SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950), ANGEL FACE, THE SNIPER (1952), THE HITCH-HIKER (1953), THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) and A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956).

Going downhill fast!

THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET is rooted in Barré Lyndon's 1939 West End play. Screenwriter Charles Kenyon had extensive writing credits in the 1920s and 1930s, and Garrett Fort, credited with the adaptation, contributed to DRACULA (1931, play), FRANKENSTEIN (1931, co-screenwriter), DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936, screenwriter), THE DEVIL-DOLL (1936, co-screenwriter) and AMONG THE LIVING (1941, co-screenwriter). As directed by Ralph Murphy, this adaptation views a little stagy in terms of coverage, with the level of intrigue kept to a frustrating minimum. The London setting fits this cross-genre exercise well, the fog of noir well captured on Hollywood soundstages by Henry Sharp, who also was responsible for the cinematography of some of film noir's more unrenowned entries such as JEALOUSY (1945), THE GUILTY (1947), HIGH TIDE (1947) and VIOLENCE (1947). My favorite visual conceit is the glowing elixir in the lab, which obviously recalls the mysterious glass of milk homme fatal Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) carried up the stairway in Alfred Hitchcock's SUSPICION (1941). I also like the imprisoning shadows that accompany the arrival of Julian's houseguest Alan, who would have been better off had he been left to drown. The impressive score was the work of Miklós Rózsa, who also composed the music for DOUBLE INDEMNITY, THE LOST WEEKEND (1945) and SPELLBOUND (1945).

Helen Walker's life story would provide immense subject matter for a lengthy biopic. The talented and uniquely attractive actress's career went off track irrevocably on New Year's Eve of 1946 after she picked up a trio of World War II veterans. A horrific accident killed one of her passengers and left everyone else with injuries. The men who survived said she was driving under the influence, recklessly at that. Though acquitted, she garnered a lot of negative press, which hurt her reputation. Her tarnished public image left her well suited to play femme fatales in noir films such as NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947) and IMPACT (1949). She also appeared in CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948) and THE BIG COMBO (1955). In 1968 she died of cancer. She was only 47.

This region-free, single-layered Blu-ray edition of THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET released by Imprint is the product of a fresh 2K scan. Framed at 1.37:1, the film looks respectable enough in motion, with scratches and artifacts infrequent and not at all distracting. A welcome supplement, and an appropriate reason to invest in this disc, is the audio commentary track by seasoned film historian Tim Lucas, who recognizes THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET as the last of Paramount's horror/sci-fi releases of the 1940s. He correctly notes the quality of Paramount genre product was a notch above what was churned out over at Universal in terms of production value, actor performances and layers of subtext. This genre film owes an obvious debt to Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 Gothic novella STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE and the screen versions it had inspired up to that point:  Paramount's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1920) and (1931), as well as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's interpretation (1941). Lucas also covers relevant films that broach the subject of immortality that preceded or followed THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET, including SHE (1935), THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945) and THE WASP WOMAN (1959). He also mentions episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE that revolved around immortality and everlasting youth such as “Walking Distance” (October 30, 1959), “Long Live Walter Jameson” (March 18, 1960), “Kick the Can” (February 9, 1962) and “Queen of the Nile” (March 6, 1964). The character Dr. Julian Karell was inspired by French surgeon and biologist Alexis Carrel, a pioneer in vascular suturing techniques, organ transplantation and thoracic surgery. Lucas points out that Dr. Julian Karell was much more of a sadist in the stage version of the story; in the play Julian preys upon youths and disposes of them in acid after he is through with them. Lucas also calls attention to the homoerotic subtext between Julian and his suitable glands donor Alan (Morton Lowry appeared in THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY later the same year). Homoerotic themes are prevalent in some of the most significant of noir productions, including THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), THE GLASS KEY (1942), GILDA (1946), THE BIG CLOCK (1948), THE LINEUP (1958) and THE BIG COMBO.

The 1959 Hammer Films remake, distributed theatrically by Paramount Pictures, was entitled THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH. The Hammer effort comes with its own strengths and weaknesses, but both films share the same thematic concerns. In each film, close attention is paid to a Frankensteinian hands motif. Human hands have the potential to both commit horrific murders and perform remarkable surgeries that halt the normal aging process. Interestingly, the hands also provide the first hint of aging when another surgery is overdue. The motif is given further emphasis with the trembling hands of an elderly surgeon who no longer can be depended upon to perform glandular transplants every 10 years. It seems the positive things human hands are capable of are cancelled out by the negative qualities. Director Terence Fisher keeps essentially the same material moving a little more briskly with his version clocking in at just under 83 minutes. But Anton Diffring gives an erratic performance in the lead role of Dr. Georges Bonnet, and I actually find the transformation sequences more convincing in the original filmed version of the story.

I have not seen the HOUR OF MYSTERY hour-long TV episode “The Man in Half Moon Street” that aired June 22, 1957 on British television. This interpretation also featured Anton Diffring in the lead role and Arnold Marlé as Dr. Ludwig Weisz. The anthology television series was produced by ABC Weekend TV and broadcast on the ITV network.