(Some Spoilers) 1940 turned out to be a bumper year for Boris Karloff with him staring in eight movies mostly as a kindly misunderstood man of science. In "Before I Hang" Boris is at it again as the meek and sensitive Dr. John Garth who's life long quest for the secret of eternal youth and excellent health has lead him to face the hangman in the murder, or mercy killing, of one of his patients.
Condemned to death and sentenced to be hung for his crime Dr. Garth nevertheless is allowed to conducted his experiences behind bars. Hours before he's to be executed Dr. Garth has himself injected with a serum that would forever keep his cells from decaying and keep him both healthy and youthful. It also turns out that Grath has become infused with the blood of a triple murderer who's been executed the day before. That serum that was to help the future of humanity in fact created a monster who will kill anyone who stand in his way, in his mad and misguided attempt too save the human race, even his sweet daughter Martha played by Evelyn Keys.
Garth despite him murdering fellow scientist Dr. Ralph Howard, Edward Van Sloan, and prison orderly Otto Krone, Frank Richards, is overlooked in their murders only because he left no eye witnesses to his crimes. It's later-moments before he was to be hung- when Dr. Garth's death sentence was commented by the state Governor that he really went to work on his experiments. Later granted a full pardon and being reinstated back in the medical profession Dr. Garth, feeling invincible, goes bonkers in him murdering any one who refuses to under go or rejects his "youth" treatment even his best and most trusting friends! One of Dr. Garth's very talented and elderly friends the world renowned concert pianist Victor Sondina, Pedro de Cordoba, who in fact, against his better judgment,consented to his crazy experiment ended up not being cured from the aging process, like Garth promised him, but being strangled by the crazed scientist who just lost control of his senses!
It was when the helpless Dr. Garth almost ended up strangling his own daughter Martha, who only survived her father's insanity by almost dropping dead from fright, that he finally realized what a complete nut and psycho killer he really was. It was then that Dr. Garth decided to let the law exact justice on his troubled soul and also ended up, in again losing control of his actions, having the state save the expense of hanging him!
Condemned to death and sentenced to be hung for his crime Dr. Garth nevertheless is allowed to conducted his experiences behind bars. Hours before he's to be executed Dr. Garth has himself injected with a serum that would forever keep his cells from decaying and keep him both healthy and youthful. It also turns out that Grath has become infused with the blood of a triple murderer who's been executed the day before. That serum that was to help the future of humanity in fact created a monster who will kill anyone who stand in his way, in his mad and misguided attempt too save the human race, even his sweet daughter Martha played by Evelyn Keys.
Garth despite him murdering fellow scientist Dr. Ralph Howard, Edward Van Sloan, and prison orderly Otto Krone, Frank Richards, is overlooked in their murders only because he left no eye witnesses to his crimes. It's later-moments before he was to be hung- when Dr. Garth's death sentence was commented by the state Governor that he really went to work on his experiments. Later granted a full pardon and being reinstated back in the medical profession Dr. Garth, feeling invincible, goes bonkers in him murdering any one who refuses to under go or rejects his "youth" treatment even his best and most trusting friends! One of Dr. Garth's very talented and elderly friends the world renowned concert pianist Victor Sondina, Pedro de Cordoba, who in fact, against his better judgment,consented to his crazy experiment ended up not being cured from the aging process, like Garth promised him, but being strangled by the crazed scientist who just lost control of his senses!
It was when the helpless Dr. Garth almost ended up strangling his own daughter Martha, who only survived her father's insanity by almost dropping dead from fright, that he finally realized what a complete nut and psycho killer he really was. It was then that Dr. Garth decided to let the law exact justice on his troubled soul and also ended up, in again losing control of his actions, having the state save the expense of hanging him!