Review of The Neanderthal Man

1953's "The Neanderthal Man" emerged from the production team of Aubrey Wisberg and Jack Pollexfen, also responsible for "The Man from Planet X," "Indestructible Man," and "Daughter of Dr. Jekyll." Robert Shayne stars in the title role of Clifford Groves, a thoroughly belligerent and unlikable scientist wisely scoffed at for his theories on evolution, creating a serum than turns an ordinary housecat into a prowling saber tooth tiger. The escaped beast calls attention to his terrain in the High Sierras, and its death forces Groves to use himself as a guinea pig, having first used his mute housekeeper (Tandra Quinn, "Mesa of Lost Women"). Once he goes through the transformation at the midway point we hardly ever see him in human form again, killing men and assaulting women on the nearby mountain, with so much emphasis on the saber tooth early on that we forget there's supposed to be a monster too. Shayne's crackpot alienates his daughter (Joyce Terry) and drives away his fiancée (Doris Merrick), so perhaps it's no wonder that his monstrous self targets Beverly Garland's luscious waitress! Alternating shots of the tiger's stuffed head with footage of a real one utterly fail to convince, and though the makeup initially looks rather similar to John Chambers' work on "Planet of the Apes" (shaggy wig on top), the eyes look like a poor paint job, coupled with immobile mask, still a commendable effort for workhorse Harry Thomas ("The Unearthly," "Frankenstein's Daughter"). Nowhere near as much fun as Universal's "Monster on the Campus," which had Arthur Franz as a more sympathetic scientist rather than this total jerk. Robert Shayne had co-starred with John Carradine in Monogram's 1946 "The Face of Marble" but lacks the presence to carry a movie himself, Richard Crane essentially taking the reins.