Life Returns (1935)

Directed by

Eugene Frenke, James P. Hogan

Genre

drama film, science fiction film, crime film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 03m

Rating

4.6 of 10 from 8 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A doctor believes he can revive the dead and tests his theory on a dead dog. The film incorporates real footage of experiments that brought animals back to life.

clinicalspeculativeseriousmorbidearnestlow-budget

What happens

Life Returns is an American film directed by Eugene Frenke. The film stars Onslow Stevens, George P. Breakston and Lois Wilson with a plot that involves a doctor who is convinced that the dead can be brought back to life gets the chance to prove his theory on a dog that has recently died. Eugene Frenke created a film record of the operation and developed a film that would incorporate the footage of Robert E. Cornish who was doing experiments that successfully let him bring dead animals back to life. Following a preview screening of the film, Universal pulled the film from a general release after declared the film to be a "freak picture, not suitable for the regular Universal program". The film was pulled from any general release but appears to have received a roadshow release. Despite reviews appearing in trade papers in 1934 and 1935, it is not clear when the film was first released. In 1937, Frenke brought a $145,424 lawsuit against Universal, charging that the studio had not released Life Returns through regular channels. It was re-released theatrically by Scienart Pictures in 1938. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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