Before I Hang (1940)

USA,
62m
35mm film, black and white, 1.37:1
mono, English

An American horror film directed by Nick Grindé.

Plot Summary

A doctor sentenced to death for a mercy killing is allowed to experiment on a serum using a blood donated by fellow inmates. He's pardoned and released but the serum has turned him into a Jekyll-and-Hyde killer.

Credits

* = uncredited

Crew
Directed by: Nick Grindé
Copyright MCMXL [1940] by Columbia Pictures Corporation
Columbia Pictures Corporation presents
Produced by: Wallace MacDonald *
Screen Play by: Robert D. Andrews
Story by: Karl Brown, Robert D. Andrews
Assistant Director: Milton Carter *
Director of Photography: Benjamin Kline
Film Editor: Charles Nelson
Stock Music: Leigh Harline *, Ben Oakland *, George Parrish *, Karol Rathaus *, Gregory Stone *
Musical Director: Morris Stoloff
Sound Recordist: J.S. Westmoreland *
Western Electric Mirrorphonic Recording
Art Direction: Lionel Banks

Cast
Boris Karloff (Dr John Garth)
Evelyn Keyes (Martha Garth)
Bruce Bennett (Dr Paul Ames)
Edward Van Sloan (Dr Ralph Howard)
Ben Taggart (Warden Thompson)
Pedro de Cordoba (Victor Sondini)
Wright Kramer (George Wharton)
Bertram Marburgh (Stephen Barclay)
Don Beddoe (Captain McGraw)
Robert Fiske (District Attorney)
Kenneth MacDonald (Anson)
Frank Richards (Otto Krone)

Alternative Titles

Prima che m'impicchino – Italian title
The Wizard of Death – working title

References

Books
Fantastic Films of the Decades Volume 3: The 40s Part 1: 1940-43 by Wayne Kinsey pp.9-10 – illustrated article
Horror and Science Fiction Films: A Checklist by Donald C. Willis p.42 – credits
by Walt Lee p.29 – credits