Before I Hang (1940)

Starring Boris Karloff, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Edward Van Sloan, Ben Taggart
Directed by Nick Grinde
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An elderly doctor is imprisoned for euthanizing a patient, but is allowed to work with a prison physician to find a cure for the ravages of age, only to err in using a serum from a killer's blood. 

Karloff stars as the elderly physician in a return to old age makeup similar to what he used in Night Key, and his characterization is excellent, giving a very sympathetic portrayal.  Of course this changes, as does his performance when his blood is contaminated, which for me was not as interesting, and a bit too reminiscent of Jekyll & Hyde, and other films of the era that borrowed that formula, like Black Friday and Invisible Ghost.  Nevertheless I still enjoyed the picture and Karloff's supported by some fine character actors, including Pedro de Cordoba, very good as an aging classical pianist, and Edward Van Sloan as the prison doctor, who had appeared before with Karloff in Frankenstein and The Mummy.  Although about the same length as his other "mad doctor" pictures for Columbia, this one seems a bit more slow-moving and drawn out.

The Man With Nine Lives (1940)

Starring Boris Karloff, Roger Pryor, Jo Ann Sayers, Stanley Brown, John Dilson
Directed by Nick Grinde
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A doctor who has performed successful experiments in frozen therapy seeks out the scientist who inspired him, and finds him frozen alive in a tunnel beneath his home.

Another entry in the Columbia series casting Karloff as a series of "mad doctors," it follows the blueprint of the series in establishing the actor as a scientist performing dangerous experiments which the authorities try to stop, leading Karloff to take desperate measures.  The actor looks good in the goatee beard he's fitted with in this film, which is effectively showcased in silhouette under the opening credits, and although he's playing much the same character as in the other films in the series, he remains entertaining to watch.  Although much of the picture unfolds in a pair of rooms beneath Karloff's scientist's home, the screenplay is well-structured and Grinde's direction focused enough that it never seems dull or boring.

The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)

Starring Boris Karloff, Lorna Gray, Robert Wilcox, Roger Pryor, Don Beddoe
Directed by Nick Grinde
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A scientist puts a young man to death to prove that he can resuscitate him, but is arrested before he can, and when he's convicted of murder, he swears his condemners will pay with their lives.

This was the first in a series of "mad doctor" films Karloff made for Columbia Pictures, which were lower budgeted affairs not comparable to his early classic horror movies for Universal, but this entry's a worthwhile film tailored around a fine performance by the actor.  As Dr. Henryk Savaard, he's gifted with several passionate speeches stressing the benefits of advancing science to save lives, and he's compelling delivering them, well showcased in crisp photography from Benjamin Kline.  Of course, we know this will all be for naught, leading to a mad obsession to enact his vengeance, which is well-staged in a climactic meeting in his home that he's rigged with death traps.  The film's brief running time doesn't allow for sustained suspense while Savaard targets his victims, but Grinde delivers an efficient picture with plenty of dialogue for the distinguished actor, who sounds charming even while delivering his threats.