127 The Black Sleep ( 1956 )

This  film  was  a   deliberate   throwback  to  the  Universal  era  emphasised  by  casting  veteran  stars  in  minor  roles  such  as  Lon  Chaney, John  Carradine  and  Bela  Lugosi. Discounting  his  "appearance  " in  Plan  9  From  Outer  Space  , this  was  Lugosi's  final  film  and  gives  the  lie  to  the  common  view  that  only  Ed  Wood  would  cast  him  in  his  last  years. Wood  regular  Tor  Johnson  is  also  in  the  film.

Basil  Rathbone  plays  Dr  Cadman  a  mad  scientist  who  rescues   a  brilliant  young  doctor  Gordon  Ramsay  ( Herbert  Rudley )  from  the  gallows  by  faking  his  death  with  a  powerful   Indian  anaesthetic  known  as  The  Black  Sleep.  Although  wrongly  convicted , Ramsay  gratefully  agrees  to  become  his  assistant  in  a  series  of  brain  experiments  carried  out  in  Cadman's  sanatorium  which  is  populated  by  strange  characters. He  soon  learns  that  Cadman  is  not  as  benign  as  he  first  appeared.

Although  there  are  some  plot  holes  , particularly  around  Ramsay's  original  conviction  , this  is  generally  a  well-presented  yarn  which  builds  nicely  to  an  exciting  climax.

Patricia  Blake  (  as  Laurie  Monroe )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Patricia   was  a  former  teenage  model  who  had  a  brief  career  in  films  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifties  but  is  much  better  remembered  for  her  TV  work, first  in  The  Rifleman   and  then  Daniel  Boone. She  retired  at  the  end  of  the  seventies  and  later  arranged  trade  shows  on  the  East  Coast. She  died  of  breast  cancer  in  2013  aged  80.

Phyllis  Stanley  ( as  Daphnae  )

Sex : No

Death : Catches  fire  when  attacked  by  the  inmates

Phyllis  was  a  British  actress  coming  towards  the  end  of  her  film  career. She  died  in  the  US  in  1992  aged  77.

Sally  Yarnell  ( as  female  subject )

Sex : No

Death :  Survives

In  a  thirty  year  career  as  a  bit  part  player  this  is  Sally's  only  credited  film  role. She  died  in  1995  aged  80.

Claire  Carleton  ( as  Miss  Daly )

Sex :  Has  her  thigh  tattooed  by  Cadman's  henchman, Udu.

Death : Dies  from  the  anaesthetic  because  Udu  is  distracted  and  fails  to  apply  the  antidote  in  time

Claire  was  a  New  Yorker  who  specialised  in  playing  hardboiled  characters  such  as  prostitutes. She  died  in  1979  aged  66.

Louanna  Gardner  ( as  Angelina  Cadman )

Sex : No

Death : Dies  with  her  husband  when  they  fall  from  a  stone  staircase

This  undemanding  role  was  one  of  just  a  handful  of  screen  credits  for  this  obscure  actress. She  died  in  2012  aged  86.