Even though Erich von Stroheim privately referred to this film as "The Crime of Republic," he delivers one of his most gracefully modulated early sound performances in this beguiling low-budget shocker. One of the better examples of the mad-doctor-gets-revenge-against-normal-man-who-stole-his-girl genre of the mid-thirties ("The Raven," "Murders in the Zoo," "Mad Love"), "Crespi" is made especially memorable by its low-key, dapper star, who wears designer lab coats, keeps a baby skeleton in his office as a sort of mascot/alter ego, and shows a refreshing lack of patience with the earnest, romantic idiots he's surrounded with.
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Anne_Sharp21 August 2000
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kitchent20 November 2009Although certainly not up to the standards of the competition over at Universal, this little horror film provides enough good moments to warrant at least a look. Stroheim is wonderful, and it's always a treat to see Dwight Frye in anything.
There are some great moments, all involving Stroheim, but some of the best scenes are ruined by sloppiness either in direction or editing. Stroheim's best scene is where he gloats above his paralyzed victim, but the scene is choppy and the edits are so jarring that it's simply a tribute to the actor that the scene works at all.
The funeral scene, however, is very well done. The intercutting between the funeral and the restrained Frye attempting to kick his way to freedom is very good, and continually reminds the viewer of the fate of the poor man in the coffin. The subjective camera angle as the dirt hits it was probably pretty strong stuff in 1935.
If your a fan of horror movies, especially 1930's films, this one should be on your list to view. -
planktonrules7 June 2018It seems rather ironic that Erich von Stroheim stars in this film considering it was shot in only 8 days. Why is this so ironic? Well, when von Stroheim was a director, he made "Greed"...a film that originally clocked in at 10.5 hours!!! The studio was irate to say the least and pared the film down to 2 hours....and Von Stroheim received very few assignments to direct after this and his next debacle, "Queen Kelly"...which he never actually finished!
Doctor Crespi (von Stroheim) is a well respected doctor. However, he's hiding his rage...rage at the man who he credits with stealing Crespi's girlfriend. So, when this same man needs an operation, Crespi agrees to do it...and now he finally can get his revenge. Using a formula he's created himself, he injects the patient...who appears to die and remains in a dead-like state for 24 hours. But Crespi knows that the man IS still alive...and he taunts the man and describes the agony he'll go through when he's buried alive! Is there any hope for the victim? Well, Crespi's assistant (Dwight Frye) doesn't trust him...and he begins to suspect that perhaps Crespi poisoned the man. What's next?
This is a well made and very effective B-horror film. Nothing to dislike about this one....very enjoyable and worth your time...particularly if you like the genre. -
BaronBl00d27 May 2001Wow! What a great performance by Erich Von Stroheim as a doctor who tries to get revenge on the man that took his girl away. Von Stroheim once again plays an overly obsessed man in a range of quiet meekness in one moment and tyrannical rage in another. His character of a lonely, frustrated man filled with nothing but hate at the loss of losing the girl he loved to another man is frightening and sympathetic at the same time. This film is very creaky, has little action, and almost no musical background, yet Von Stroheim's performance carries the film on his shoulders and delivers the goods. Some great scenes in the film show Von Stroheim's range as an actor from his thumping of a pencil for an half hour and finally snapping it to his corpse beside manner where he tells his captured prey his wicked, diabolical intentions. Dr. Crespi somehow makes his hated enemy appear dead but in reality leaves him alive only to be buried alive. The glee in Dr. Crespi's face glows and really turns what could have been a horrible film into a quite enjoyable one. Add to the fun the presence of Dwight Frye(who has a scene digging up a grave) and you have a wonderful horror picture from the heyday of horror. Above all, this film shows us just how good this man was at acting, and it shows us the loss we have that he was not utilized more.
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mark.waltz26 January 2017The middle of this Republic programmer has among it some of the most sinister and horrifying dialog in the history of horror films. Erich von Stroheim gets to recite a speech that will have you gripped to the edge of your seat. He is a well respected doctor and scientist who only takes the patients recommended to him by other doctors, but I'd turn that offer down even if it was my only alternative. Today, there are many names for the type of mental illness he has, but really, it all comes down to pure, undeniable madness. He's a total perfectionist and a genius, and in this case, he doesn't just have a touch of madness; he has an entire brain filled with it.
In love with Harriett Russell who chose to marry a close medical colleague of his (John Bohn), he goes completely bonkers when Russell begs him to operate on her husband. To say that the operation fails is an understatement; it doesn't go awry, it goes eerie. Von Stroheim's assistant (Dwight Frye) realizes something is wrong and makes the mistake of confronting him. The story is gripping but full of plot holes. But I just dare you to take your eyes off of von Stroheim. He goes between being calm, cool and collected to totally hammy, and in his big speech reminds me slightly of that British star of mayhem and murder, Tod Slaughter. How it concludes really might have you getting the willies, although certain aspects are quite funny too. -
Mike-76420 February 2007Famed surgeon Andre Crespi is called on the perform a life saving operation on Dr. Stephen Ross, a man who won the heart of the woman (Estelle) that Crespi had fallen for. Crespi manages to perform a successful operation, but during the recuperation, he gives a drug to Ross that gives him the appearance of death. When Ross is pronounced "dead", Dr. Thomas (a staff member at Crespi's hospital) suspects Crespi of killing Ross, but Crespi overwhelms Thomas, and locks him in a closet while Crespi attends the funeral and burial, with Ross still alive. Not sure of what Crespi did, Thomas and colleague Dr. Arnold dig up Ross' body for an autopsy, but when Ross "comes back from the dead", what will happen next? Intriguing film based on Poe's "Premature Burial" with a very sly, mad performance by Von Stroheim and very well done subdued performances by the rest of the cast. The film was shot in the Bronx, so production values are not the peak of excellence, but even the direction could have been better with many close-ups and shots of the actors that are a few seconds too long. A score to the film would have helped, and the romantic subplots w/ the doctors & nurses (2 of them) detract from the main story, but the story is enough to help this B movie. Rating, 6.
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hwg1957-102-2657048 November 2021A famed surgeon Dr. Andre Crespi tries to murder an injured fellow surgeon Dr. Stephen Ross to re-gain the latter's wife. Vaguely based on Edgar Allan Poe, but using only the premature burial trope. Taking place mainly in a hospital with minimal sets the film moves at a very slow pace with no background music to add tension. Playing Crespi is Erich von Stroheim who doesn't do much but sit at a desk, answer the telephone, smoke and drink. The best part is when Dr, Crespi talks venomously to the paralysed body of Dr. Ross, a scene well lit and photographed. Otherwise it's dull and unoriginal. The great Dwight Frye is in it but plays it disappointingly straight, Still it's always good to see him in a film,
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AlsExGal18 November 2021... that being Erich Von Stroheim and Dwight Frye. Von Stroheim plays Dr. Crespi, the chief surgeon at a hospital. Early scenes show him being dictatorial, like most of the parts he played. He bullies Dr. Thomas (Dwight Frye) when he doesn't know the exact time of death of a patient.
A woman that he loved who married somebody who was once Crespi's friend comes to Crespi and asks him to operate on her husband who has been in an accident and needs a skilled surgeon. Crespi agrees, but instead he has a hideous fate planned for the man that he feels stole the girl he loved and has had a more prominent career than Crespi.
Crespi discounts Frye's character as somebody he can bully into submission and keep quiet about what he has done, but he has perhaps watched Dracula and Frankenstein one time too many, for Frye is not playing the fool in this one. I think this is the only film I have seen - there may be others - where Frye plays a normal person, albeit in an abnormal situation.
The one thing that is done that almost seems like filler material is the insertion of a troubled romance between a random doctor and a nurse. It's the only real negative in the film as it just bogs the proceedings down with a situation that isn't even interesting.
The art design is very good for a poverty row product, with some kind of strange half skeleton half alien knickknack adorning Crespi's office. Maybe Erich Von Stroheim was a visitor from outer space all along? That would explain a lot! -
BA_Harrison17 August 2022Suggested by Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial, The Crime of Doctor Crespi stars Erich Von Stroheim as the titular chain-smoking surgeon, who wreaks terrible revenge on Dr. Stephen Ross (John Bohn), the man who stole the woman he loves. When Ross is injured in a car accident, his wife Estelle (Harriet Russell) begs Crespi to save her husband's life. Crespi successfully operates, but later administers an injection that puts the man into a cataleptic state.
Declared dead by Crespi, Ross is buried alive, much to the delight of the demented doctor, but two of his employees (one of whom is played by Dwight Frye of Dracula fame) suspect foul play and dig up Ross, the poor man sitting up just as they are about to perform an autopsy. Ross confronts Crespi, his wife and the two doctors arriving shortly after; realising that the jig is up, Crespi is left with only one way out...
Sloppily directed by John H. Auer, The Crime of Doctor Crespi is poorly written, badly structured, sluggishly paced and clumsily edited (many shots lasting far too long), with a monotonous, lifeless performance from Stroheim. It's so dull at times that I was in danger of slipping into a cataleptic state myself. Just occasionally, it proves so bad that it is funny (the funeral scene, with its choppy editing, extreme close-ups and urgent music is hilariously inept), but mostly it's no laughing matter. -
Bunuel197612 October 2013I only just realized this was an update of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Premature Burial" and, in fact, had been filed in my movie collection under the Thriller label! Indeed, I had acquired it on account of the star presence of the great Erich von Stroheim (tellingly, his baptism of fire within the fantasy genre came soon after his distinguished but infuriating directorial career ground to a definite halt!) but, watching the opening credits, was pleased to find Dwight Frye was in it, too. For the record, Stroheim's three other horror roles were in the superior THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1944) and the upcoming THE MASK OF DIIJON (1946) and the German-made ALRAUNE (1952). Now, back to the film proper, which is undeniably interesting in its borrowings: not merely Poe (incidentally, his middle name is lazily spelled Allen in the titles, just as the star's own loses the 'h'!) but, in Frye's incompetent (and grave-robbing) assistant, FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and, while the morgue scenes and modern setting are redolent of MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), the all-important funeral scene – in which the occupant of the coffin is aware of what goes on but is unable to do anything about it – obviously owes a lot to Carl Theodor Dreyer's VAMPYR (1931). However, I must say that I was disappointed by the slackness of the script: Stroheim (whose aristocratic mannerisms – especially his propensity for smoking and, in imitable fashion, drinking – are in full sway here) not only puts to a death-resembling sleep his amorous rival and former protégé in full view of the contended party but writes down the all-important time of 'demise' in advance on the certificate so that, when he signs it, Frye proves an unwitting witness. But, then, he also inexplicably fails to get rid of him (after amusingly spending much of their scenes together lambasting the junior doctor for something or other) thus effectively precipitating his own come-uppance – though not before being visited by the ghastly (and which he initially takes to be ghostly!) victim of his wiles. Being mostly set inside a hospital, with medical staff in white walking about in appropriately antiseptic surroundings, the detail sometimes gets lost in the fuzzy copy I watched! As for comic relief, an obligatory balancing ingredient in most films of its ilk (certainly at this point in time), we get an excited Italian (one Joe Verdi!?) speaking in broken English – another cliché – whose inordinately-delayed expectancy of parenthood eventually rewards(?) him with quintuplets.
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JohnHowardReid12 November 2017Erich Von Stroheim (Dr Andre Crespi), Harriet Russell (Mrs Estelle Ross), Dwight Frye (Dr Thomas), Paul Guilfoyle (Dr Arnold), John Bohn (Dr Ross), Geraldine Kay (Miss Rexford), Jeanne Kelly (Miss Gordon), Patsy Berlin (Jeanne Ross), Joe Verdi (expectant father), Dean Raymond (minister).
Director: JOHN H. AUER. Screenplay: John H. Auer. Story: John H. Auer, suggested by the short story, "The Premature Burial", by Edgar Allan Poe, as adapted by Lewis Graham and Edwin Olmstead. Photography: Larry Williams. Film editor: Leonard Wheeler. Art director: William Saulter. Make-up: Fred Ryle. Music director: Milton Schwartzwald. Production supervisor: W.J. O'Connor. Sound recording: Clarence R. Wall. RCA Victor Sound System. Associate producer: Herb Hayman. Producer: John H. Auer. A JHA Production. Executive producer: Max Hoffman.
Copyright 16 October 1935 jointly by Liberty Pictures Corporation and Republic Pictures Corporation. Filmed at the old Biograph Studios in New York. U.S. release through Republic: 21 October 1935. New York opening at the Rialto: 12 January 1936. 7 reels. 66 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Famous surgeon has a score to settle with his rival.
COMMENT: John H. Auer was certainly one of Republic's more imaginative directors, and here, in his initial venture for that studio (the film was actually purchased by the Herbert J. Yates combine after it was completed for Max Hoffman's Liberty Pictures), he displays an even greater inventiveness in creating an effectively eerie atmosphere and some wonderfully sinister effects on a minuscule budget.
His biggest expense was no doubt the hiring of Erich Von Stroheim for the title role. And Von Stroheim's services were certainly worth the money. The "Von" gives a captivatingly charismatic performance, using all the props and bits of business at his command to give extra power to his portrait. Whether bawling out an associate or evilly planning the demise of his rival, Von Stroheim is always in control. So much so, in fact, that the rest of the players, with the sole exception of Dwight Frye, have little chance to impress.
Never mind, it's "the man you love to hate" who attracted picture- goers and the other actors were well aware of that fact. Thus Crespi is Von Stroheim's movie. And Auer's. -
JoeytheBrit7 May 2020Nifty little horror-thriller in which Erich 'The Man You Love to Hate' von Stroheim stars as a mad doctor who paralyses his love rival in order to feign his death. It's inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial, but bears little resemblance to that work. Von Stroheim is great, especially when gleefully visiting his paralysed victim in the morgue to maintain the dosage and inform him of how it should wear off just as they're tamping down the last sod of earth on his grave.
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Coventry13 October 2022Horror movies from the 1930s don't get more basic and poverty row than "The Crime of Dr. Crespi. The film looks as if it didn't cost much more than the price of an apple and an egg to make, what with its limited number of sober sets and hardly any use of exterior locations, costumes, make-up, or whatsoever. And yet, most genre fans - myself included - seem aligned about this being a spine-chilling and effectively uncanny fright tale thanks to the involvement of some incredibly competent people. The plot, for starters, is inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. His tales, and specifically "The Premature Burial", automatically guarantee horrific atmosphere and grisly themes. Secondly, Erich von Stroheim as the titular Dr. Crespi. Wow, this man is good! His performance alone eliminates the necessity of expensive set-pieces and advanced special effects.
Von Stroheim stars as the brilliant titular surgeon called upon to rescue another doctor who got near-fatally injured in a car accident. This other doctor, however, is also Dr. Crespi's love-rival, so the wrathful doctor sees his change to get his revenge. Von Stroheim's charisma is diabolical, his evil stare is penetrating, his tone of voice is petrifying, and his unpredictable mood swings are menacing. Simply put, he turns this simple thriller into a scary horror film. If you then also have the versatile but criminally underrated Dwight Frye ("Dracula", "Frankenstein") running around in the supportive cast, you can safely conclude it's a hidden gem. -
vyxs-925143 December 2022It seems that there is no "bandwagon" for this film. Much, much worse horror movies get 10/10 reviews because reviewers know that they are regarded as classics. Here we have a story that could have been written by Poe himself. A sparse script with believable dialogue and a minimalist set that is a direct descendent of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" help concentrate the viewer's attention on the building horror of the idea of being buried alive. As with Poe himself there are no sudden frights, camp touches or over-the-top ham acting that modern audiences associate with horror movies. The New York Times in 1936 criticised the film as " "an almost humorously overstrained attempt at grimness". How can you criticise a horror film for being "grim"? Excellent acting by Erich von Stroheim and Dwight Frye (who my wife said reminded her of Renfield in Dracula without knowing that he had actually played that part in the 1931 movie) add polish. The only criticism I would make is the "American" ending that adds a short "happy ending" scene that would have been omitted by a "European" production. I suspect that most reviewers here have never read Poe and do not read horror stories or, like me, they would rate this movie as a small gem of the horror genre.
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Michael_Elliott29 February 2008Crime of Dr. Crespi, The (1935)
** (out of 4)
Ultra low-budget film based on Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Premature Burial' has Dr. Crespi (Erich von Stroheim) giving an enemy a serum that paralyzes the body so that he can torture him by burying him alive. I've heard a lot about this film over the years but just now caught up with it. The films 63-minute running time goes very fast, which is a big plus but the director doesn't do anything from the opening credits to the closing ones. The big "secret" that the enemy isn't really dead doesn't go anywhere and the ending is all too predictable. Von Stroheim must have really been down on his luck to do a film like this. I'm not sure what's up with his incredibly over the top performance but the director gives him a close up whenever he goes into one of his fits. Dwight Frye, of Dracula and Frankenstein fame, plays the hero, which is pretty hard to believe as he too goes over the top.