Doctor X (film)

Doctor X
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Curtiz
Written by	Robert Tasker Earl Baldwin
Based on	Terror 1928 play by Howard W. Comstock Allen C. Miller as produced on the New York stage as Doctor X (1931)
Produced by	Hal B. Wallis (uncredited) Darryl F. Zanuck (uncredited)
Starring	Lionel Atwill Fay Wray Lee Tracy Preston Foster
Cinematography	Ray Rennahan (Technicolor version) Richard Tower (black-and-white version)
Edited by	George Amy
Music by	Leo F. Forbstein Bernhard Kaun
Production company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	August 3, 1932 (1932-08-03) (New York City)
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$224,000[1]
Box office	$594,000[1]

Doctor X is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery horror film produced jointly by First National and Warner Bros. Based on the 1931 play originally titled The Terror by Howard W. Comstock and Allen C. Miller,^[2] it was directed by Michael Curtiz and stars Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray and Lee Tracy.

Doctor X was produced before the Motion Picture Production Code was enforced. Themes such as murder, rape, cannibalism and prostitution are interwoven into the story. The film was one of the last produced, along with Warner Bros.' subsequent Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), in the early two-color Technicolor process. Separate black-and-white prints were shipped to small towns and foreign markets, while color prints were reserved for major cities.^[3]

In the film, there are a series of murders in New York City. Each murder takes place under the full moon, and each body has been cannibalized post-mortem. Dr. Xavier is asked to provide his medical insight into the crimes, though the police actually suspect him and other people in Xavier's medical academy. The Moon Killer is conducting his own experiments, in an attempt to collect samples from his victims.