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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Life Returns (1935)

Starring Onslow Stevens, George Breakston, Lois Wilson, Valerie Hobson, Stanley Fields
Directed by Eugene Frenke & James P. Hogan
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientist is determined to find a formula to return the dead to life, ignoring everything else, leading to tragedy for his family.

Featuring documentary footage of an experiment that actually restored a dead dog to life, this film concocts a melodramatic backstory to lead up to that moment, and at times it's almost silly, but I can't say I wasn't entertained.  Breakston is earnestly likable as the scientist's son, and probably gives the best performance in the movie, as his travails and his unfailing dedication to his father and his dog are more compelling than Stevens' somewhat listless portrayal of the scientist.  Interestingly, Breakston and Richard Quine, who plays another youngster in the movie, went on to become film directors.

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