The Brute Man (1946)

The Brute Man has long been considered one of the lowest points of Universal's cycle of horror films, and this view rests soully on the use of Rondo Hatton as the films 'star'. Hatton was a handsome, college football hero who, according to most sources, after being gassed in WWI developed the disfiguring disease Acromalgy which cause slow, but relentless , abnormal growth giving him overly pronounced features. The man, it's fair to say was no beauty.




Because of these abnormailities he was billed as the monster that needs no make-up! Not very nice, more akin to something you hear at a carnival side show. He had made films before coming under contract from Universal but it was Universal who shamlessly brought him to the fore. The best known film he appeared in was the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes pic, The Pearl Of Death where he played the Hoxton Creeper, a character he would reprise in The House and Horror and The Brute Man, although subtley different each time. Quite what Hatton's thoughts were about these roles is up for conjecture. He was apparently a religious man who, through his beliefs, he probably came to terms with his condition, but being billed as The Monster Who Needs No Make-up must have hurt a bit. The Brute Man came out after Hatton had passed away following a heart attach, a direct result of his condition.

But what of The Brute Man? Well as you can probably imagine it's a low budget affair although directed with some flair by Jean Yarborough. Hatton plays Hal Moffett a former handsome, college football hero (art imitating life?) who through an accident in the science lab while he is in detention, gets disfigured and goes into hiding. He reappears years later bumping off all the people he blames for his being in detention in the first place, including his old best friend Clifford and Clifford's wife, Virginia who he fancied himself back at college. As he gets chased around the city he meets a blind pianist, who, in shades of Bride Of Frankenstein, does not cower in repulsion and he becomes sweet on her. A pretty straightforward plot and unfortunately Hatton isn't much of an actor, unable to draw both the menace and the pathos from his performance. In all fairness to the man it must be quite difficult to act when you have very little movent to your face, although Karloff had shown 15 years previously exactly how to do just that. In essence the film exists purely to showcase the disfigured Hatton which leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

The film does thow up a few interesting nuggets, such as the place where Moffat/The Creeper lives.



It's like a wharf version of railway arches where mechanics like to ply their trade. In the piuc you can even make out that it has a house number, The Creeper lives at number 23. Rather prone to a bit of flooding I would have thought. I wonder if people did let these places out for living or whether the producer just thought it was a good location, no doubt cheap also.

Happily Rondo Hatton's name lives on, most notably in The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Also, in Disney's The Rocketeer there is a character clearly based on The Creeper and I'm happy to say that the actor, Tiny Ron Taylor, had to use prosethetics.