Black Friday (1940) is one of the odder entries in Universal's thriller canon. The film blends together a gangster drama with a mad scientist story, creating a tale of revenge with just a tinge of the weird and supernatural added, perhaps to back up the presence of studio golden boys Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Black Friday is neither here nor there when it comes to putting one of these genres at the core of its story, rather choosing to walk the line separating them, resulting in a flick that's a little on the inconsistent side but always intriguing and faithful to Universal's dark and atmospheric spirit.

Our story begins as the execution of disgraced doctor Ernest Sovac (Karloff) unfolds. After Sovac gives his diary and notes to one of the journalists in attendance, the film flashes back to one fateful Friday the 13th some long time ago. We're introduced to George Kingsley (Stanley Ridges), a fairly meek English professor on a small campus, who is tragically run down by mobster Red Cannon, who's being chased by double-crossing members of his own crew. It looks as if Kingsley is done for, until his good friend Sovac saves his life through a brain transplant - with Red Cannon as the donor.

Kingsley recovers well enough, but he starts to display some of the deceased gangster's old traits, inspiring Sovac to poke around this new part of his friend's psyche in hopes of learning the location of half a million dollars of Red Cannon's loot. Instead, he succeeds in turning Kingsley into a Jekyll/Hyde type of figure, with the minds of the professor and the gangster fighting for control of the same body - the latter of whom is itching to get revenge on his old gang.

Black Friday's quirky story sets off something of a chain reaction that effects other aspects of the film, altering them ever so slightly so that while the story does have a fairly predictable structure, you don't exactly know what might happen next. Karloff, whose whole image is synonymous with villainy (from playing the title character in Universal's The Mummy to, arguably his greatest performance, RKO's The Body Snatcher), plays a role that could be defined as a mad scientist by basic definition (playing God, using science for not-so-noble purposes, etc.).

Sovac is a character with a bit of complexity; his aims aren't completely evil, just misguided in how his actions evolved from saving the life of his best friend to getting his hands on the money he needs to build his dream laboratory. You're never sure of whether to like Sovac or not, but his journey through an ethical quagmire is part of what makes Black Friday such an intriguing watch - that, and the hook of showing him being led to the electric chair in the opening scenes is a great way of keeping the viewer wondering how he got to that point. Ridges fares well in switching between his character's two personas, that of the quiet Kingsley and tough-talking Red Cannon. His "transformation" scenes are perfectly in tune with Universal's lovably corny monster movie spirit, having Kingsley take off his glasses and slick back his hair while the score flares up dramatically to show that Red Cannon has taken over.

Alas, Karloff and Ridges emerge as the only two really interesting characters in Black Friday. Despite having second billing, Lugosi really has little to do in the story, awkwardly spouting out tough guy lines as he plays the main thug on Red Cannon's "to kill" list. Most of the other actors are also in the unfortunate position of playing a collective second banana to Karloff and Ridges' "Frankenstein and his monster" act (which is a shame, considering how Anne Nagel's turn as Red's torch singer flame could have been a really juicy part).

Considering Universal's knack for generating a foreboding aura and dark atmosphere out of little material to work with, it's surprising that Black Friday didn't play up the Friday the 13th angle more than they did. Sure, it's bad luck to have to share a body and brain with that of a cold-blooded mobster, but the idea's not really going to arouse feelings of fear and dread from the audience. In fact, in the end, Black Friday is more of a thriller than it is a horror movie, more weird and interesting to watch in a noir sort of way than it is a vehicle that serves up scares.

Still, when all's said and done, Black Friday has its weird little parts that work, all of which add up to a whole that does walk the beaten path, while the walk itself is enjoyably different.

Director: Arthur Lubin

Writers: Kurt Siodmak and Eric Taylor

Cast: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Stanley Ridges, Ann Nagel, Anne Gwynne

Rating: No MPAA Rating (fine for preteens and above)

Classic Movie Guide Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Run Time: 70 minutes

Studio: Universal Pictures

Format: Black-and-white, fullscreen