Main Cast: Janice Logan, Albert Dekker, Thomas Coley, Charles Halton, Victor Kilian
Release Year: 1940
Country: US
Run Time: 76 minutes
Plot
The first Technicolor horror film since Mystery of the Wax Museum, Dr. Cyclops was directed by Ernest Schoedsack, of King Kong fame. Albert Dekker chews the scenery as mad scientist Dr. Thorkel, who has developed a process that will shrink human beings to doll size. His first victims include mining engineers Bill Stockton (Thomas Coley) and Steve Baker (Victor Kilian) and biologists Mary Mitchell (Janice Logan) and Dr. Bullfinch (Charles Halton). At first willing to play-act the role of benevolent despot with his miniaturized captives, Thorkel reveals the more sinister side of his personality by abruptly murdering Bullfinch in cold blood (easily the film's most frightening sequence). The rest of the picture details the escape efforts of the three pint-sized protagonists as they hack their way through a jungle of gigantic foliage and do battle with oversized wildlife. Though the cheery Technicolor hues tend to dilute the "scare" quotient in Dr. Cyclops, the special effects are superbly convincing throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Ernest B. Schoedsack, who had earlier co-directed King Kong, once explained that the entire technical side of Dr. Cyclops had been "plotted on blueprints before shooting began," a common enough method today, but apparently unusual in 1940. The result is one of those early science fiction-thrillers that it is very hard to dislike. Although the once so frightening aspects of the tale may have been lessened by later explorations into the art of shrinking living tissue -- The Incredible Shrinking Man from 1957 immediately comes to mind -- Dr. Cyclops remains an entertaining treatise on the subject. It is still fun to watch a group of stock company players deal with the sudden dangers of giant-sized household items and one can still marvel at the obvious ingenuity that went into making the film, Albert Dekker's rather obvious mechanical hand notwithstanding. Unfortunately, the story that screenwriter Tom Kilpatrick concocted and the performances of the mostly unknown cast are routine at best, and the garish Technicolor seems an unnecessary addition. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
Frank Yaconelli - Pedro; Allen Fox - Cab Driver; Douglas Carter - Cab Driver; Paul Fix - Dr. Mendoza; Janice Logan - Dr. Mary Robinson; Frank Reicher - Prof. Kendall; Bill Wilkerson - Silent Indian
Three scientists — mineralogist Dr. Bill Stockton (Thomas Coley) and biologists Dr. Mary Robinson (Janice Logan) and Dr. Bullfinch (Charles Halton) — are summoned by Dr. Alexander Thorkel (Albert Dekker) to his laboratory in the Peruvian jungle. They are accompanied by a local miner, Steve Baker (Victor Kilian) who suspects that Thorkel is secretly mining ore. When they arrive they find Thorkel has brought them all the way there only to identify some crystals under his microscope, since his eyesight is too poor for him to see them himself. Their job done, he now wants them to leave. Insulted, they set up camp in Thorkel's stockade until he will tell them more about the experiments in which he is engaged. They discover that Thorkel is attempting to shrink living organisms using radiation. When he finds them snooping in his laboratory, he angrily locks them (along with his assistant Pedro (Frank Yaconelli)) inside his radiation chamber. When they emerge they find they have shrunk to twelve inches tall.
At first willing to play-act the role of benevolent despot with his miniaturized captives, Thorkel reveals the more sinister side of his personality by abruptly murdering Bullfinch in cold blood (easily the film's most frightening sequence) because the effects of the ray are wearing off. The rest of the picture details the escape efforts of the four pint-sized protagonists as they hack their way through a jungle of gigantic foliage and do battle with oversize wildlife. By morning, they attempt to cross a river via small boat but are interrupted by an alligator. Thorkel then comes in, killing Pedro and igniting the grass to kill the rest. The fugitives are able to hide in one of Thorkel’s specimen cases and are unknowingly brought back to his lab. While Thorkel goes to check on an apparatus he has set above an old mineshaft, Bill, Steve and Mary prepare to kill him with his own shotgun when he lies in bed. However, he instead falls asleep at his desk. Steve then attempts to steal Thorkel's glasses, without which he is nearly sightless. Accidentally alerted, Thorkel chases the shrunken trio to the mineshaft and nearly slips. The heroes take advantage of the distraction to cut his rope, causing Thorkel to plunge into the pit.
Months later, Bill, Steve and Mary are seen returning to the South American town, restored to their original size. Bill and Mary are in love.
Place in Film History
Dr. Cyclops is noteworthy for having been directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack of King Kong fame. Like that earlier film, it involves an expedition into the jungle in search of scientific discovery. Also like Kong, the film features elaborate sets and special effects, here used to convincingly depict the shrunken humans. The film is also memorable for the strong female character of Mary Robinson, who is depicted as intelligent, resourceful and self-willed. She is very different to the more traditional "damsel in distress" role played by Anne Darrow (Fay Wray) in Kong.
