Black Friday (1940)

When the kindly professor Kingsley is severely injured, the good doctor Sovac (Boris Karloff) secretly transplants the brain of a gangster to save his life. Also, he wanted to prove he could transplant a human brain. But definitely not because the gangster knew the location of a half million in stolen loot.

More Sci-Fi Noir than horror, it is categorized as such because Karloff and Lugosi appear. Well, Karloff appears quite a bit but Lugosi has a rather small role as a gangster. The real star is Stanley Ridges in the dual roles as Kingsley and the dastardly gangster Red Cannon. Ridges Jekyll and Hydes between the two roles with surprisingly little makeup change. Kingsley has a little gray hair, glasses, and a bit of a milquetoast, while Cannon looks younger and very much a take-charge character. One of the best dual role transformations I've seen.

The story is told in flashback as a reporter reads Doc Sovac’s journal while he walks to the electric chair. The working title of the film was Friday the 13th, because some important thing happens on that day. The accident, the transplant, the execution, I forget what.

Despite some good performances, Black Friday isn’t much of a film. The story is a bit sloppy with the details and is rather forgettable. AMRU 2.5. This is the fourth of eight Karloff/Lugosi collaborations. Have I found another list to complete?