Warner Archive provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this article. The opinions I share are my own.
Sweeney Todd had a barber shop. In Tod Browning’s The Devil Doll, Paul (Lionel Barrymore) has a toy shop in which to plot his revenge against the three men who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. On the run from the police (having broken out of jail with another inmate, Marcel (Henry B. Walthall)), Paul soon realizes there’s a lot about Marcel he doesn’t know – like that Marcel and his wife, Malita (Rafaela Ottiano), are mad scientists who believe it’s their calling in life to make living things small. In their mind it’s the answer to world hunger, and while Malita kept the work going while her husband was away, there are some flaws in the shrinking process that they seem prepared to accept but which Paul finds rather disturbing.
Not disturbing enough to stop the couple, though, when Paul realizes he can use their shrinking process for his own devices – to clear his name and maybe convince his daughter (aka Mia Farrow’s mother, Maureen O’Sullivan) that he’s worth forgiving.
The Devil Doll is a film that has to be seen to be believed. It’s got drag. It’s got a mad scientist who stole her look from the Bride of Frankenstein and uses a crutch. It beats The Incredible Shrinking Man by a decade, when it comes to the special effects used for the characters who are made small.
As a post-code film, it also has to reckon with the morality of Paul’s actions and the results are fascinating, because Paul is far from innocent yet there are lines he won’t cross, and the moments when he chooses to draw those lines can be surprising (as well as self-serving).
While the film could’ve taken place anywhere, it’s also cool how much it commits to being set in France. Characters have French names and there are also some prominent scenes on the Eiffel Tower that feel as welcome as scenes on the Empire State Building in New York films.
Bonus Features:
Warner Archive isn’t always known for recording new commentaries for its Blu-ray releases (porting over old ones, yes, but not creating new ones), so the fact that one was commissioned for this release (a film that doesn’t come up all the time, even if its director is responsible for Dracula (1931) and Freaks) feels like a real show of confidence in the film.
Dr. Steve Haberman (who is wrongly credited on the main menu as Bruce) and Constantine Nasr are film historians who go into great detail about the many revisions that were made to the screenplay. In fact, it’s their main topic of discussion and while you wouldn’t think that would be enough to fill a commentary or that it would get repetitive after awhile, it doesn’t (which speaks to how many writers worked on this project and how prepared Haberman and Nasr are).
There are also two Looney Tunes cartoons. “Milk and Money” features a fairly old version of Porky Pig while “The Phantom Ship” makes a better pairing with the main feature and takes place on a haunted pirate ship.
The Devil Doll is available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive and to purchase from Movie Zyng.
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