This guy is morose.
Before I Hang (1940) explores the researcher’s worst nightmare, the unexpected consequence. Dr. Garth is on death row because he helped a terminally ill patient, in terrible pain, kill himself. But the doctor at the penitentiary, Dr. Howard, has heard of Garth’s attempts to save that patient by inventing a serum which will stop death, and he persuades the institute’s warden to allow Garth’s research to continue, with Howard’s help.
They have one month before Garth is to be hung.
So they scurry about their business, and in the waning hours of Garth’s last night on Earth they have a serum, derived in part from the blood of an executed prisoner, that may work. Who better to test it on? Dr. Garth, scheduled to die in less than an hour. They administer the serum, take notes on how it should affect the body, and Dr. Howard will perform an autopsy to confirm their expectations.
Aaaaaaaaaaand then the phone rings. The governor has commuted Garth’s sentence to life in prison.
Garth collapses.
Next thing we know, Dr. Howard is observing that Garth appears to be aging in reverse in his hospital room, from his former age in his 60s to now his 40s. He no longer needs glasses, Even his hair is changing color. Naturally, the next test subject will be Dr. Howard himself, as he’s quite aged. But he never receives the serum, as Dr. Garth violently kills him and a prisoner who stumbles into their laboratory. Dr. Garth calls for help and collapses, and, conveniently, the dead prisoner is blamed for Howard’s death.
Garth is released from prison for his efforts towards the betterment of mankind, but all goes nauseatingly wrong, and soon he knows why: the blood taken from the nameless executed prisoner carries a taint that forces Garth to kill anyone who is a candidate for the serum. His friends start dying of strangulation, his daughter is endangered, and soon Dr. Garth dies, basically of shame.
It could have been a better movie. The various characters could have existed for reasons other than the plot. The plot could have had an interesting theme. I liked the acting and the cinematography was quite nice. So there were some good things going for it, but in the end it’s just a bit of fluff.
