The Brute Man (1946)

Curiosità

The Brute Man is a 1946 American horror thriller film starring Rondo Hatton as the Creeper, a murderer seeking revenge against the people he holds responsible for the disfigurement of his face. Directed by Jean Yarbrough, the film features Tom Neal and Jan Wiley as a married pair of friends the Creeper blames for his deformities. Jane Adams also stars as a blind pianist for whom the Creeper tries to raise money for an operation to restore her vision. The film is a prequel to House of Horrors (1946).

Production

The screenplay for The Brute Man was written by George Bricker and M. Coates Webster based on a story by Dwight V. Babcock. An author of pulp fiction stories and novels, Babock started writing for Universal Pictures in 1943, where he worked primarily on horror films. The Brute Man marked the last of nine films Babcock wrote for Universal before he left for a job at Columbia Pictures.

The Brute Man is a quasi-prequel to House of Horrors, in which Hatton played a deformed madman named "the Creeper" who kills people by breaking their backs. In The Brute Man, Hatton also plays "the Creeper", while the story explains how he became deformed and why he has a murderous personality.

The film's setting, which appears to be a major city, is never identified in The Brute Man, but it has been suggested to be Manhattan, since that is where House of Horrors took place. Commentators have noted similarities between The Brute Man and other films, including the Charlie Chaplin silent comedy City Lights (1931), and the Universal horror film Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

The Brute Man marked one of several films in which Universal cast Hatton as a murderer, taking advantage of his natural deformities for shock value. As a result of his acromegaly, Hatton had abnormally enlarged and shaped bones on his head and hands, and the Universal publicity department often promoted the fact that Hatton did not need make-up for his roles.

Jan Wiley was cast as Scott's wife, Virginia. Although Wiley had appeared in several movies throughout the 1930s and 1940s, The Brute Man marked one of her final film performances before retiring from the film industry in 1947. It was also recalled as one of her most memorable film appearances along with another Universal B horror film, She-Wolf of London.

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