Thanks Metal. I also thought J. Carrol Naish was very good as Daniel in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.
I've seen a couple Rondo Hatton films, but it was years ago and would like to see them again. I remember enjoying them, but it seems a bit distasteful to me now thinking that Universal took advantage of his appearance. Never knew he had a disease when I originally saw the films.
From Rondo's IMDB listing:
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By all accounts a kind, sensitive man, Hatton was reportedly extremely unhappy at the crude, vulgar way Universal exploited his unfortunate disease, but, as he was under contract, he could do nothing about it. After his death, Universal--perhaps suffering a twinge of guilt--sold his last picture, "The Brute Man", to PRC. It was released as a PRC picture--Universal's name appears nowhere on it.
Rondo Hatton's legacy has endured far longer than even the best of his films. His likeness was the basis for the low-brimmed and brutish villain in "The Rocketeer (1989)." And in recent years, his memory survives in the fan-based Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, awarded each year for the best in horror research, appreciation and film restoration. Winners get a statuette based on the mammoth bust of Hatton as the Creeper, seen in Universal's "House of Horrors (1946)." The "Rondos" website can be found at
http://www.rondoaward.com.
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In the 1955 Universal classic, TARANTULA, acromegaly is addressed once again in the subplot. I love this film, and it's my favorite giant bug (in this case arachnid) film ever. John Agar to the rescue!!