From IMDB: 'The Death Ray' is not a comedy: it's a documentary film of what purports to be an actual demonstration of a genuine invention. Unfortunately, we'll never know how much of what occurs here is authentic science, and how much is hoax or outright fraud.UPDATE: I'm appending this addendum (or addending this appendum) three years after my original IMDb review. In the intervening time, I've learnt a bit about Harry Grindell Matthews, and I now believe that he was a flat-out fake ... worse than a fake, well and truly a fraud in the criminal sense. Apparently he spent most of his backers' funds on posh living for himself rather than R&D for his death beam. Also, to film 'The Death Ray' he engaged a director (Gaston Quiribet) whose background was in special-effects work and cinematic trickery: a strange choice if this movie were a straightforward documentation, but a very logical choice if the film was meant to deceive. I now suspect that deception was Grindell Matthews's intention all along. Well, movies ARE meant to be make-believe! Ah, well... Mastered from an original 35mm nitrate film print.
The Death Ray - Harry Grindell Matthews (1924) - YouTube | |
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Entertainment | Upload TimePublished on 1 Sep 2016 |
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