The Devil-Doll

Plot synopsis:
Paul Lavond (Barrymore), who was wrongly convicted of robbing his own Paris bank and killing a night watchman more than seventeen years ago, escapes Devil's Island with Marcel (Henry B. Walthall), a scientist who is trying to create a formula to reduce people to one-sixth of their original size. The intended purpose of the formula is to make the Earth's limited resources last longer for an ever-growing population. The scientist dies after their escape.
Lavond joins the scientist's widow, Malita (Rafaela Ottiano), and decides to use the shrinking technique to obtain revenge on the three former business associates who had framed him and to vindicate himself. He returns to Paris and disguises himself as an old woman who sells lifelike dolls. He shrinks a young girl and one of his former associates to infiltrate the homes of the other two former associates, paralyzing one.
When the final associate confesses before he is attacked, Lavond clears his name and secures the future happiness of his estranged daughter, Lorraine (O'Sullivan), in the process. Malita isn't satisfied, and wants to continue to use the formula to carry on her husband's work. She tries to kill Paul when he announces that he is finished with their partnership, having accomplished all he intended, but she blows up their lab, killing herself.
Paul tells Toto, Lorraine's fiancé, about what happened. He meets his daughter, pretending to be the deceased Marcel. He tells Lorraine that Paul Lavond died during their escape from prison, but that he loved her very much. Lavond then departs, to an uncertain fate.

Tags: revenge, murder, melodrama

Review:
Disguised as an old woman, an escaped convict uses the creations of a pair of mad scientists to further his schemes of personal revenge.Director Tod Browning, master of the macabre, had another winner with this little horror/science fiction film.
The actual story itself - with tiny, shrunken people being used to carry out dastardly deeds in Paris - is quite absurd, but the cast is so good and the direction so able that the viewer can simply sit back and enjoy the results.Lionel Barrymore, one of America's greatest character actors, has a field day in the lead role and is actually quite compelling dressed as an elderly lady, hobbling about like an authentic beldame.
Lionel Barrymore is great in this film as an escaped convict out for revenge against the three bankers who framed him for embezzlement and murder seventeen years before.
When the scientist dies, Barrymore devises to use these dolls to get revenge on his enemies.There are a lot of relatively good special effects in the film, and, like I said, Lionel Barrymore is fantastic.
While he managed to recover from this, he never had again the commercial success of "Dracula"; a real shame, because in 1936 he directed the film that finally proved that he had understood the benefits of the new sound era: "The Devil-Doll".In this film, Lionel Barrymore plays Paul Lavond, a former banker who was wrongfully accused of fraud and sent to prison for 17 years.
Now, disguised as an innocent old lady, Lavond returns to Paris with his devilish living dolls, decided to make those who send him to prison pay for every year he spent without his family.The story was written by Browning himself, giving his very own spin to the plot of Abraham Merritt's novel "Burn Witch Burn"; however, the screenplay was done by Guy Endore, Garrett Fort and Erich Von Stroheim, so actually very few remains from Merritt's novel in the movie, and it's truly more a Browning film.
This is definitely because the characters of the film are so very well developed that truly feel and act like real complex persons despite the fantasy elements of the story.Now, the true surprise of the film is definitely Tod Browning's effective direction of the whole thing.
Italian actress Rafaela Ottiano gives a very good and scary performance, although the fact that Barrymore's character is the focus of the film limits her screen time quite a lot.
While the story has that feeling of being taken straight from a pulp novel, it's very emotional and dramatic (without being overtly sappy), and it could be said that it's in this movie where Browning finally combines the best of both worlds.Like most people, I too used to believe that Browning's best days happened along Lon Chaney during the years of the silent era, however, "The Devil-Doll" is a film that has made me reconsider that thought as this movie has everything that made Browning great in the silents, as well as his full domination of the new technology.
The sci/fi & fantasy elements - a mad scientist's ability to shrink people and control their actions - are exciting plot devices that allows Barrymore to exact revenge on the men who destroyed his life and family.Director Tod Browning ("Freaks", the original "Dracula", and many Lon Chaney films) has created a great mix of suspense, action, light humor, & heart-tugging emotions in this tale of revenge and redemption.The efx are (mostly) ahead of their time, and as good as the later shrunken-people sci-fi movies of the 40s and 50s, such as "Dr Cyclops", "Attack of the Puppet People", and "The Incredible Shrinking Man".But the best part is the great acting of Barrymore.
Fans of the genre remember him as the director not only of that movie, but of 'Freaks' as well.But there is a great slightly campy classic that he directed near the end of his career, The Devil Doll.While it never hits the highs of those earlier films, it is certainly worth a watch.
The story concerns Paul Lavond (played by the always awesome Lionel Barrymore) - an escaped prisoner who learns a way to shrink humans to 1/6th their size, and rob them of their free will.
He uses this secret to enact revenge on the men who framed him and sent him to prison.Like his other films, this Tod Browning film also started a bit of a subgenre in the horror field - no, I'm not talking about creepy dolls (though a case could perhaps be made for that), I'm talking about the wronged individual that seeks redress in a vengeful manner (sure, earlier films danced around the concept - notably 'The Phantom of the Opera' - but here it is so straightforward.
For those who remember the word "camp," that description would apply to this film and especially the character played by lead actor Lionel Barrymore.He makes this movie really fun to watch, adding humor to the "horror" story, dressing up and talking like an old woman en route to satisfying his revenge.
After the death of Marcel, Paul Lavond sees the chance to use the miniaturization process as instrument of vengeance and he travels to Paris with the insane Malita disguised of Madame Mandilip, a nice old lady and owner of a dolls store.
"The Devil Doll" is an entertaining film by Tod Browning with a good story and special effects still impressive in 2011.
This could as easily have been given the name of Browning's previous movie: "Freaks."Lionel Barrymore demonstrates more range than we're accustomed to, playing an escaped convict and, much of the time, a sweet old lady.Ottiano is scary as the widow of his jail buddy, who has the patent on making live people into dolls.The print shown this week on Turner Classics is beautiful but seems to have gaps in its continuity, as if all that survives may be something cut up for commercials in the days when local stations showed old movies..
Looking at this film on paper would easily lead any sane person into thinking that its going to be a great big mess, but somehow Todd Browning has pulled together ideas including a criminal on the run, a mad science project to shrink every living thing in the world, transvestism and a story about a man wanting to reconcile with the daughter who hates him, and created a masterpiece out of it!
Lavond seizes an opportunity to use this discovery to get his own back on those who framed him; and at the same time clear his name so his only daughter won't hate his memory.The film is extremely entertaining to watch; Browning keeps things going with a real verve and since there's so much diversity on display, things simply don't have chance to get boring.
The lead character Paul Lavond at first appears to be a dastardly opportunist; but through this story of revenge and shrunken people, his character develops and by the end, we not only like the character - but actually understand and respect his actions throughout the film!
Browning made 4 awesome classic horrors in his time (Dracula, Freaks,Mark of the Vampire, and now the devil doll!) Very good movie with awesome eerie moody settings at the night of the streets of Paris!
This works for humans and animals and inexplicably the controller (usually Lionel Barrymore, the wronged banker), gets feedback somehow so he can direct the little people even when he can't see what's happening.Things are complicated by a slew of women: the newly dead scientist's wife who has the shrinking secret and who thinks everyone should be shrunk  to save food, you see.
His love for his daughter and mother comes through strongly, and with an actor as compulsively watchable as Lionel Barrymore in the lead, the movie is certainly easy enough to follow.Barrymore plays Paul Lavond, a banker framed by his partners and sent up the river, who at the beginning of the movie breaks out of Devil's Island prison in the company of a persecuted scientist, Marcel (Henry B.
The thing, Marcel and his wife Malita (Rafaela Ottiano) are clearly mad, and despite Pauls' own misgivings about their actions (yes, our antagonist does have some morals) he's still okay with using them towards his own ends.This leads to some fairly well realized sequences in which "miniaturized" dogs, horses, and people are controlled by masters such as Barrymore.
But getting to watch the interesting Mr. Barrymore at work is really the main reason to watch "The Devil-Doll", especially as he dresses in drag as Lavond masquerades as a doddering old character named Miss Mandilip.Set in Paris, and scripted by Garrett Fort, Guy Endore, and Erich von Stroheim, this does have solid atmosphere going for it, as well as an affecting, emotional ending.
While this is not as well-known as "Dracula" or "Freaks", "The Devil-Doll" is yet a highly memorable classic with an ingenious storyline and a very intense, often mesmerizing atmosphere.Paul Lavand (Lionell Barrymore), a formerly respected Paris banker, has innocently spent many years in a Devil's Island prison.
This was quite the different role for Lionel Barrymore, a respected, serious actor who appeared in films such as "Grand Hotel," "Dinner at Eight," & "Sadie Thompson."  He plays an escaped Devils Island convict who is bitter and wants revenge on those who wrongly sent him to prison.
An escaped Devil's Island convict (Lionel Barrymore) uses miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those that framed him.This story started out from a 1934 novel by Abraham Merritt called "Burn, Witch, Burn" and a 14-page article Merritt wrote with a Dr. Lowell.
The plan is to shrink everyone in the world down to this size and control the Earth's food supply, but when Marcel dies suddenly, Lavond convinces Malita to come to Paris with him to seek revenge on the three bankers that wronged him.The plot has no credibility at all.
But Tod Browning's solid, reliable direction (here still piecing together his career after 1932's Freaks) and Lionel Barrymore's excellent, if camp, performance, makes The Devil- Doll is a must-see curiosity for horror buffs.
Barrymore certainly doesn't shrink from the task, tackling this ludicrous plot device with gutso, and rather it coming across as simply preposterous, the film becomes memorable for it.The special effects deserve a mention also, as the three set-pieces where Lavond uses his miniature people dolls as instruments of death provide some nice moments.
Here it is Lionel Barrymore dressed as an old lady, posing as a Parisian toy manufacturer, when he is in fact hunted fugitive Paul Lavond, who was framed 17 years before by three associates and sent to Devil's Island for life.
The ending is left so open it's hard to know what Paul Lavond's final move will be.Kudos to Rafaela Ottiano as Marcel's crazed widow with that streak of white in her hair and that Mrs. Danvers of the Devil Dolls vibe going for her as she somewhat steals the show.
In fact, THE DEVIL-DOLL, with director/actor Erich Von Stroheim being one of the screenplay collaborators, is set in Paris, lifting themes to both Browning's THE UNHOLY THREE (MGM, 1925) featuring Chaney, and Alexandre Dumas' literary classic novel of "The Count of Monte Cristo." No doubt THE DEVIL DOLL might have served the great talent of the late Lon Chaney (1883-1930), especially during the silent era, but with Lionel Barrymore, the final result is just as good.Plot summary: Paul Lavond, a bank president who, seventeen years earlier, was falsely accused of embezzlement and the killing a night watchman.
Special effects revolving around the miniature people known as devil dolls are an asset, while Franz Waxman's soothing score played during its opening and closing credits give the movie some great distinction.
****** The Devil-Doll (7/10/36) Tod Browning ~ Lionel Barrymore, Rafaela Ottiano, Henry B.
The penultimate film from director Tod Browning, whose career was languishing after the release of the then highly controversial (and now legendary) "Freaks" (1932), the inaptly titled "The Devil Doll" finds escaped con Paul Lavond (Lionel Barrymore) seeking revenge on his former partners who framed him.
Barrymore is quite good, playing much of the film in drag as he evades the Gendarmes by disguising himself as an elderly female toymaker (Browning had previously directed the great Lon Chaney in a similar 'drag role' in the silent "The Unholy Three" (1925)).
Tod Browning's second-to-last film is campy as hell, and ya gotta love Lionel Barrymore in drag exacting revenge on enemies of his using miniaturized people he can control (but of course).
From Tod Browning, the director of horror classic Dracula (1931) and the infamous Freaks (1932), The Devil-Doll is a fun horror/fantasy that, while patently absurd, is very entertaining, with a great cast and some impressive special effects.Lionel Barrymore plays convicted banker Paul Lavond, who was sent to prison after being framed by his co-workers for embezzlement and murder.
And with some great visual trickery, using a combination of mattes and excellent oversized props, The Devil-Doll is a delight for anyone interested in the history of movie special effects.The film is also very touching at times, with Lavond desperately wanting to clear his name so that his daughter Lorraine (the lovely Maureen O'Sullivan) will no longer hate him.
The movie is preposterous, but elevated by impressive 1930s special effects along the lines of those in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).THE DEVIL-DOLL tells the story of a man bent on revenge who gets mixed up in the outlandish schemes of a mad scientist.
The scientist had hoped to shrink everyone in the world to make the food supply last longer, but having miniature mind-control zombies has its uses, too.Oscar-winner Lionel Barrymore stars and spends much of the film in his disguise as an old woman.
Todd Browning is so much seen in every shot , even the romantic sequences & it's overall casting and plot that one can only say that aside from stealing the idea of the miniature people from the prior year's The Bride Of Frankenstein that either it was Browning that either had a hand in creating the script or that another writer submitting said as a project for contractually clad MGM director Browning that it's premise oddities are the only element that gave Browning interest in bringing it to life as every & all of his other films, be them as Chaney Sr projects or atmospheric "Freaks" that needed a type of acute way of looking at the odd that only Herr Browning had & could offer to the studio system.
Upon learning of the formula, and disguising himself as an old woman, Lavond plans to wreak horrific revenge on those who framed him and sent him to prison.It's not very often that I actually wish myself to be older than I am, but this is one such case, I can't believe I wouldn't have been terrified back in 1936 as Todd Browning's little people went out bidding Lionel Barrymore's vengeful work!
Paul is also very interested to see both his old and infirmed mother Madame Lavond, Guck Beaumon, and his daughter Lorraine, Maureen O'Sullivan, whom he hasn't seen or even got a letter from since he was sent away.Being a wanted man Paul went undercover as the sweet and kindly Madame Mandelip the owner of the aforementioned toy store and when going to see Lorrine, as Madame Mandelip, where she's working at a local Laundromat Paul is shocked to hear what she really thinks of her long lost and concerned father: Not Much!Getting back to business and the real reason that he came back to Paris Paul then goes after the three criminal bankers who made his life a living hell by framing him for a crime that they committed.
Tod Browning directed a great film from 1936 with a story about two escaped prisoners from Devils Island, one was a banker who was framed by his fellow workers and another was a scientist who was experimenting with animals and being able to make them into miniature dolls.
Tod Browning directed this Science Fiction/Revenge film that stars Lionel Barrymore as Paris banker Paul Lavond, who was wrongfully convicted of robbery and murder(framed by two crooked associates) and sent to Devil's Island, where years later he escapes with a fellow prisoner who also happens to be a brilliant scientist who invented a technique to shrink people and animals!
The inventor dies in flight, but Lavond survives and makes his way home, where he begins a campaign of revenge against his enemies, though does take time to reunite with his daughter(played by Maureen O' Sullivan)in disguise as a woman, which is part of the overall plot.
Silly horror-melodrama is loads of fun, with Tod Browning ably directing a creepy story set in then-modern Paris, and Lionel Barrymore showing rather more range than usual as a wrongfully convicted criminal exacting terrible revenge on the bankers who set him up.
It seems like a simple (even silly) story, but director Tod Browning creates an chilling atmosphere that, coupled with solid trick photography, makes The Devil Doll into an effective, spooky horror movie.
A prisoner, Paul Lavond(Lionel Barrymore), a banker framed by three of his associated for a crime he didn't commit, escapes with another inmate who is in fact a scientist practicing experiments on shrinking animals to a doll size to increase the world's food supply.
And, Rafaela Ottiano is a blast as the loony mad scientist Malita, with the gray streak in her hair and eyes bulging in delight at what she has created.There's some pretty good special effects(regarding the doll-size characters doing their master's wishes)for a film made in 1936..
THE DEVIL DOLL calls to mind an earlier Tod Browning film, the Silent classic THE UNHOLY THREE- and the Sound remake (directed by Jack Conway); both featured Lon Chaney in drag, and Barrymore's performance here is a Carbon Copy thereof.