Dr. Renault's Secret

This wasn't something that happened very often for ole J.Carrol Naish but to get top billing, even if it was for a 58 minute B-movie with all the style and grace Twentieth Century-Fox could deliver. There's really no reason Dr. Renault's Secret should look this good, but I'm glad that it does. I'm glad that we get a nice chance to see Naish in a starring role that equips him well. He literally made me believe he was once a primate transformed into man. Naish was a multi-talented actor. See Beast with Five Fingers (with a deliciously gonzo Peter Lorre) as he plays a cheeky investigator. I thought he was actually the best part of House of Frankenstein, even though it featured Karloff out of makeup in a Universal picture as a--you guessed it--mad scientist. Anyway, Naish was an "ugly hunchback", a character Universal loved to put in their horror films as either a henchman heel or sympathetic, pitiable victim of circumstance. While I will address Naish's work in House at a later date, I thought he was a marvel in Dr. Renault's Secret. Zucco, of course, is given one of those diabolical scientist parts where he becomes quite unholy by film's end.

The mannerisms and the way he provides the character (a handyman of Renault's) with this awkwardness as he adapts to the way humans act and tries to co-exist the best he can despite being a "scientific experiment" that once was ape and now is a "proto-human" just left me stunned. He doesn't come off as a hokey, cheesy creation to giggle at...Naish brings a hybrid of animal and human in an imbalance that reveals itself over the running time. To be what he really isn't--an aberration concocted in a lab--shows in Naish's performance.

Here, Naish shows deep hurt after Barry Fitzgerald's inspector describes the criminal mind like the animal mind, in regards to savagery lying within and how someone so afflicted "bites the hand that feeds them". In one moment, Naish immediately earns sympathy because his Noel never asked to be evolved by Zucco's Renault. Savagely attacked by a hound that was in fear of him, Noel isn't even helped by those in Renault's home, so when he gains advantage and almost strangles the dog, he's expected to loosen his grasp. The movie from the beginning until the end shows us that he is in a losing battle with his true nature.

Renault's always in protective mode because his prize of evolution could be uncovered before he's ready. When his niece's fiance, an inquisitive surgeon, arrives, Renault must work especially hard at keeping Noel's history and identity a mystery which becomes harder and harder. Zucco is always able to play characters that might appear sophisticated, mannered, and respectable, but when his Renault scolds Noel for returning to his old habits as a primate and not "behaving like a man", his true nature is revealed. He's like a bad parent abusing an innocent child who knows no better.

During a festival, Noel has arrived, with a plan of retaliation towards Renault for using a whip against him and imprisoning him in a cage. Renault wants him to stay away from his niece, believing he might have been responsible for an attempted murder of her fiance, Dr. Forbes. With two locals describing Noel as a dumb monkey while trying to dance to some festival music (although he didn't want to), they spurn his rage and exacts revenge for them amusing themselves in front of Renault's niece. With superior strength, Noel is able to strangle humans easily. In a pitiful scene, Noel blames Renault for putting him in this whole situation. Renault is the direct opposite of Noel. He's a bastard. He did this for fame and eventual notoriety, but nothing about what he's created is he regretful for. He's one of those scientists that believes nothing is off limits and that no matter the repercussions or those that might be hurt, his work is most important. Like Frankenstein, Renault will eventually pay for his sins.

Eventually Forbes finds Renault's diary when he goes into the dungeon that holds a cage for Noel when he "misbehaves". Renault's detailed accounts of the transformation of Noel are read by Forbes and told to us. Renault is unapologetic and proud of what he has done as Forbes condemns him of committing such experiments. Considered a failure due to Noel's violent outbursts, Forbes accuses Renault of scientific barbarism. Renault wasn't about to allow Forbes to ruin what he felt he accomplished while Noel had been through enough of his "father's" abuse.

Maybe the subplot involving long-term criminal Mike Mazurski was unnecessary and than Zucco was enough of a villain to sustain the little horror oddity, but nonetheless the conclusion rids us of Renault and allows Noel to go out a hero, rescuing Mademoiselle Renault from the kidnapping of Mazurski's despicable lowlife, Rogell, expecting to get plenty of dough in exchange of her return, understanding that Forbes was rich. The old mill is a marvelous little set used for the final fight as Noel surprisingly out-muscles the towering brute, Rogell, a crook quite known for using his girth and intimidating stature to bully around those smaller and weaker than him. That Noel lifts him up with ease on several occasions is quite stunning. I think this will be best remembered for Naish's ability to not only express an ape and man internal and external struggle for supremacy, but the primate physical movements are also quite realistic and natural. He's simply amazing.