Man-Made Monster

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Waggner directs. Elwood Bredell behind the camera. Hans J. Salter scores. Arthur Hilton cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 60-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 385 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Directed by George Waggner, shot by Elwood Bredell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Hans J. Salter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Arthur Hilton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Lon Chaney Jr. and Lionel Atwill and Anne Nagel carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "The most amazing monster the world has ever known.".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0033879 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Only 43 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 11Classified under 15 themes, including "mind control", "mutation", "death row", "mad scientist".

The technical file

Cinematography

Elwood Bredell

Original score

Hans J. Salter

Editing

Arthur Hilton

Costume design

Vera West

Makeup / hair

Jack Pierce

Runtime

60 min · 1h 0m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$86,000

Original language

EN

IMDB

Man-Made Monster (1941) ↗

Also by

George Waggner

• 
  The Phantom Stage

  1939 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Guilty Trail

  1938 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Western Trails

  1938 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Black Bandit

  1938 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Honor of the West

  1939 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Lone Wolf

  1954 · ★ 8.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Atomic Monster ≣ 1941 ≣ Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  MAN MADE MONSTER (1941) Clip

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  THREE MONSTER TALES OF SCI-FI TERROR (Eureka Classics) New & Exclusive Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2020-03-05
  ★ 7/10

  Dynamo Dan: The Electric Man. Man Made Monster is directed by George Waggner and stars Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr & Anne Nagel. It's adapted from an original story titled "The Electric Man" which is co-written by H.J. Essex, Sid Schwartz & Len Golos. It is notable for being the first horror venture for Chaney Jr who would make his signature horror movie "The Wolf Man" the same year. Plot sees Chaney as "Big Dan" McCormick, the sole survivor of an electric train wreck. That all the other passengers were killed by electrocution fascinates the sci-fi boffins, particularly diabolic Dr. Paul Rigas (Atwill), who coerces Dan into a series of tests. The outcome of which will spell disaster as Dan absorbs huge levels of electricity and becomes immune to it. Soon Dan will become the unstoppable Electric Man. Universal's "Man Made Monster" has no pretence what so ever, it is what it is, a short sharp shock shocker that plugs itself into the mains and lights up the screen for the 1 hour running time. Which in the case of the excellent Chaney Jr is actually the case, as he is transformed into a hulking, walking light bulb head that garners sympathy in the way that Universal's other man made monster did. The photography (Elwood Bredell) is moody and atmospheric, Hans J. Salter's musical score delightfully oozes familiar Universal values, while Waggner and his team, when one considers the short running time, do very good work on the characterisations - with Atwill given full license to be bonkers - real bonkers... It's all very conventional in the grand scheme of Universal horror. Monster elicits sympathy, a foxy lady in the mix (Nagel), mad scientist, dashing hero type (Frank Albertson) and here we even have the intelligent pet. There's some smarts in the writing as the makers observe capital punishment and note man messing with things he probably shouldn't be. But really just don't go too deep with it and enjoy a solid little chiller that's boosted by John Fulton's first rate special effects. 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Universal Pictures

  US

Key crew

• StuntsDavid Sharpe
• Art DirectionHarold H. MacArthur
• MusicCharles Henderson
• MusicFrank Skinner
• Music DirectorHans J. Salter
• Sound SupervisorBernard B. Brown
• OrchestratorCharles Previn
• Technical SupervisorEric Wybrow
• Art DirectionJack Otterson
• Costume DesignVera West
• Associate ProducerJack Bernhard
• EditorArthur Hilton
• Set DecorationRussell A. Gausman
• Makeup ArtistJack Pierce
• Special EffectsJohn P. Fulton
• SoundCharles Carroll

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• mind control
• mutation
• death row
• mad scientist
• trial
• murder
• laboratory
• reporter
• black and white
• electrocution
• scientist
• dog
• newspaper reporter
• woman in peril
• bus accident

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1941-03-28

Also known as

International titles

• Man-Made MonsterUS
• The Atomic MonsterUS
• The Electric ManGB
• El monstruo diabólicoMX
• Vom Menschen geschaffenes MonsterDE