Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)

A young doctor (Shepperd Strudwick) arrives in France to meet his fiancee's (Lynne Roberts) uncle (George Zucco) who has been conducting some unethical scientific experiments. His assistant is a strange, simple minded simian like man called Noel (J. Carrol Naish). Loosely based on BALAOO by Gaston Leroux (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) and directed by Harry Lachman. This minor Fox programmer is barely an hour long which is just as well as it's not very good. It's suggestive of H.G. Wells' ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU and it doesn't take us long to connect the dots. The most interesting aspect of the film is the affecting and touching portrayal of Naish's Noel, who is a sympathetic figure rather than of horror, sort of like Quasimodo. The film features an early score by David Raksin (LAURA). With Mike Mazurki, Ann Codee and Arthur Shields.