| Black Friday | |
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 Reprint of Black Friday movie poster |
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| Directed by | Arthur Lubin |
| Produced by | Burt Kelly |
| Written by | Curt Siodmak Eric Taylor |
| Starring | Boris Karloff Bela Lugosi Stanley Ridges Anne Nagel Anne Gwynne |
| Music by | Hans Salter |
| Cinematography | Elwood Bredell |
| Editing by | Phil Cahn |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | April 12, 1940 |
| Running time | 70 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Black Friday is a 1940 science fiction film starring Boris Karloff. Bela Lugosi, although second-billed, has only a small part in the film and does not appear with Karloff.
Plot summary
Karloff plays a famous doctor, Dr. Ernest Sovac, whose best friend, a bookish college professor (played by Stanley Ridges), is run down while crossing a street. In order to save his friend's life, Sovac implants part of another man's brain into the professor's. Unfortunately, the other man was a gangster who was involved in the accident. The professor recovers but at times behaves like the gangster, and his whole personality changes. Sovac is horrified but also intrigued, because the gangster has hidden $500,000 USD somewhere in the city. The doctor continues to treat his friend and, when the professor is under the influence of the gangster's brain, Karloff attempts to have the man lead him to the fortune. Bela Lugosi plays a gangster also trying to get his hands on the cash.
Cast
- Boris Karloff as Dr. Ernest Sovac
- Bela Lugosi as Eric Marnay
- Stanley Ridges as Professor George Kingsley / Red Cannon
- Anne Nagel as Sunny Rogers
- Anne Gwynne as Jean Sovac
- Virginia Brissac as Mrs. Margaret Kingsley
- Edmund MacDonald as Frank Miller
- Paul Fix as William Kane
The original script cast Lugosi as the doctor and Karloff as the professor. For unknown reasons, Karloff insisted on playing the doctor. Rather than a straight switch though, Lugosi was given the minor role of a rival gangster, while character actor Stanley Ridges was brought in to play the professor.
External links
 American films of the 1940s |
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