The Brute Man
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jean Yarbrough
Tom Neal
Jan Wiley
Jane Adams
Donald Macbride
Peter Whitney
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A mysterious murderer known as "The Creeper" stalks a college town, killing first Professor Cushman and then socialite Joan Bemis. Hiding from the police, The Creeper, a frighteningly deformed man, takes temporary refuge in the apartment of Helen Day, a blind piano teacher. Because Helen shows no fear of The Creeper and treats him kindly, he spares her life. Later, Jimmy, a grocer's clerk, delivers groceries to the dockside room where The Creeper lives. Hoping to earn the reward for the killer's capture, Jimmy spies on him and is killed when The Creeper discovers him. When Jimmy fails to return, the police investigate and find a photograph of three college friends. The police then visit Clifford Scott, one of the two men in the photograph, and his wife Virginia, the third person in the snapshot. Clifford identifies the other man as Hal Moffat and tells his story: In college, Clifford and Hal are both in love with Virginia Rogers. Clifford tutors Hal, a football star, and one day, gives Hal a series of incorrect test answers so that he will not be able to keep a date with Virginia. In order to further torment Hal, Clifford walks Virginia by the laboratory, where Professor Cushman has given Hal an extra assignment, and the furious Hal drops a test tube and is badly burned in the ensuing explosion. Afterward, Hal disappears from the hospital. Convinced that Hal is The Creeper, the police warn Clifford and Virginia that they may be in danger and post a guard outside their house. When The Creeper again visits Helen, he learns that an expensive operation might restore her sight. He then evades the police guard outside the Scott's house and demands that Virginia give him her jewels. After Clifford pulls a gun on The Creeper, the two men struggle. Although he is slightly wounded, The Creeper strangles Clifford to death. The Creeper then returns to Helen's apartment and gives her the jewels to finance her operation. When Helen tries to sell the jewels, however, the police are notified, and horrified to learn that her friend is a murderer, she helps the police capture him. Later, the police arrange for Helen to have the operation.
Director
Jean Yarbrough
Cast
Tom Neal
Jan Wiley
Jane Adams
Donald Macbride
Peter Whitney
Fred Coby
Janelle Johnson
Rondo Hatton
Beatrice Roberts
Oscar O'shea
John Gallaudet
Pat Mcvey
Peggy Converse
Joseph Crehan
John Hamilton
Lorin Raker
Charles Waggenheim
Tristram Coffin
Jack Parker
Jim Nolan
Margaret Hoffman
Alan Foster
Cy Schindel
Warren Jackson
Martin Skelly
Danny Jackson
Jimmy Clark
Joyce Stuart
Carl Anders
Gabrielle Windsor
Paula Gray
Larry Wyle
Mary Ann Bricker
Rodney Bell
Karen Knight
Perc Launders
Norma Gilchrist
John Roche
Crew
Dwight V. Babcock
George Bricker
Bernard B. Brown
Philip Cahn
Carmen Dirigo
Russell A. Gausman
Maury Gertsman
John B. Goodman
Abraham Grossman
Raymond Kessler
Joe Lapis
Jack P. Pierce
Ben Pivar
Edward R. Robinson
Ralph Slosser
M. Coates Webster
Vera West
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Rondo Hatton, who played the monstrous Creeper in this film and in House of Horrors, was actually handsome as a young man, but later in life became disfigured by acromegaly, a form of gigantism brought about by unnaturally high levels of human growth hormone produced by a disease of the pituitary gland.
Rondo Hatton passed away before the film was released. Universal was so embarrassed by its shameless exploitation of Hatton's disfiguring illness (that led to his death), they sold all rights to the finished film to PRC.
In England, the rating of H (Horrific) was created specifically for this film, and no one under 16 was allowed to see it.
Notes
The character of "The Creeper" first appeared in the 1946 Universal feature House of Horrors. The story of House of Horrors, however, actually takes place after the action in this film. The Brute Man was purchased for $125,000 by PRC, according to an October 18, 1946 Variety news item. According to the Variety review, Universal sold the picture as part of its new policy to stop releasing "B" films. Although the Variety review states that the film was previewed on October 17, 1946, contemporary sources give the release date as October 1, 1946. The Brute Man was the last film Rondo Hatton made before his death in February 1946.
