# The Walking Dead (1936 film)

The Walking Dead is a 1936 film about a hapless pianist and ex-con John Elman is framed for murder, and is resurrected by a scientist after his execution.
    Directed by Michael Curtiz. Written by Ewart Adamson.

## John Ellman

* Why did you have me killed?
* [looking up to Heaven while being led to the electric chair] He'll believe me.

## Dr. Evan Beaumont

* [comforting Nancy who is sobbing over Ellman's death] He's happier now. It will never be known. The Lord thy God is a jealous God!

## Dialogue

    Jimmy: Imagine... Dr. Beaumont keeping this heart pumping for over twenty years!
    Nancy: Wish he could do something about making your heart pump!
    John Ellman: Last night I thought you were my friend. You took my life!
    'Trigger' Smith: [contemptuously] I'm gonna take it again unless you got cat blood in ya. No one's gonna bring you back this time.
    John Ellman: You can't kill me again!
    John Ellman: [in the prison as he awaits execution, hoping for a reprieve] But you can't kill me for something that I didn't do! You can't, I tell you, you can't! I don't want to die! I want to live!
    Prison Warden: Well, Ellman, it's within my power to grant any last request you care to make.
    John Ellman: [sounding slightly bitter] You take away my life and offer me a favor in return. That's what I call a "bargain."
    John Ellman: [responding to Beaumont's questions while dying] Leave the dead to their makers. The Lord thy God is a jealous God.
    Dr. Evan Beaumont: [feeling a sense of urgency] But John, what is death? Can't you put it into words? Tell me! Tell me! You must! What is death?
    John Ellman: I think I can... [after a pause] After the shock...
    Dr. Evan Beaumont: Yes?
    John Ellman: I seemed to feel...
    Dr. Evan Beaumont: Yes?
    John Ellman: ...peace and a... [dies]
    Dr. Evan Beaumont: All I know is that for a short time the spirit of life left his body. Now, what happened during that transition? What effect did the experience of death have on his subconscious mind. Can he remember?
    District Attorney Werner: Well, it's rather a large order, doctor, and I'm afraid a bit beyond the province of law...
    Dr. Evan Beaumont: ...and beyond the province of science too, but it's a challenge, and somewhere, I think, we'll find the key to all this.
    District Attorney Werner: If you do, I hope you'll let me know.

## Taglines

* THE BODY OF A GIANT! THE MIND OF A FIEND! RETURNED FROM THE DEAD TO WREAK VENGEANCE UPON HIS PERSECUTORS!!
* ETERNITY COULD NOT HOLD HIM!...A mystery drama that will raise goose pimples!
* BACK FROM THE DEAD!
* See science bring an electrocuted convict back to life...with supernatural powers to rub out one by one the killers who sent him to the chair!
* HOW CAN A MAN AVENGE HIS OWN MURDER?

## Cast

* Boris Karloff — John Ellman
* Ricardo Cortez — Mr. Nolan
* Edmund Gwenn — Dr. Evan Beaumont
* Marguerite Churchill — Nancy
* Warren Hull — Jimmy
* Barton MacLane — Loder
* Henry O'Neill — District Attorney Werner
* Joe King — Judge Roger Shaw
* Addison Richards — Prison Warden
* Paul Harvey — Blackstone
* Robert Strange — Merritt
* Joe Sawyer — "Trigger" Smith
* Eddie Acuff — Betcha
* Kenneth Harlan — Stephen Martin
* Miki Morita — Sako, Loder's Butler
* Frank Darien — Cemetery Caretaker

## External links

* The Walking Dead quotes at the Internet Movie Database