Today is Bela Lugosi's birthday, so, as per usual, I try to watch at least one of his movies in his honor. First up is Black Friday (1940) which sounds like he and Boris Karloff should be racing for hot ticket items at one of the big box retail stores on the day after Thanksgiving. Really though, Karloff plays a doctor who attempts to save his friend, a kindly literature professor, by transferring the brain of a dying gangster into his head. The professor suffers from a few back and forth Jekyll and Hyde moments as the dead gangster's personality takes over set on revenge against the criminals who killed him, including Bela Lugosi in a small role (even though he gets second billing). There's also the matter of a lot of hidden money, which Karloff's character wants to get his hands on for his own experiments.
This is an okay movie with some really wonky logic in it, but it plays pretty well if you're willing to completely suspend disbelief and go along with it. This movie is really a showcase for actor, Stanley Ridges who plays both the professor and his Hyde character as two very distinct characters, even physically. He does a real good job, too. If you're looking for some classic Lugosi/Karloff chills, this isn't going to be the movie to provide them.
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