Dr. Renault's Secret (1942)

Dr. Renault's Secret is one of those extremely economical 1940s b-movies that, produced with leftover sets and unused character actors, magically spins a moving tale filled with murder mysteries, mad scientists, crime plots, and romance in a mere 58 minutes. The final film of Charlie Chan director Harry Lachman, its economy is achieved through a series of interesting angles and deep focus shots. The sum creates an atypical apeman film of considerable emotional depth and compelling visuals.

Enter Larry, an American scientist come to the home of Dr. Renault in order to collect his fiancee, Mademoiselle Madelon Renault. A dangerous thing to do, as it turns out. From the moment he arrives at the hotel, where he must stay until the bridge is repaired, someone--or perhaps several people--starts trying to kill him. Could it be Noel, the melancholic, simian servant sent by Dr. Renault to bring him to the mansion? Could it be Rogell, the convict gardener Renault employs? Or could it be Renault himself? They all have motives and none of their motives explains every attempt.

1. Noel, an outsider from, he says, the island of Java, has only one friend in the world, lovely Madelon, whom he would do anything not to lose. He confesses as much to Dr. Renault. 2. Rogell cares only about money and spotted Larry's stuffed wallet. 3. Dr. Renault finds Larry's keen mind digging, question by question, dangerously close to his secret.

One particular murder attempt seems completely inexplicable. As Larry sits in the library reading a text on anthropology, a blade-wielding hand creeps toward him from a hidden panel. Rogell would be the first suspect, so it would be foolish for him to make such a brazen attempt. Noel never wields a weapon anywhere in the film, preferring his bare hands. And Renault has no reason to make an attempt on his future nephew-in-law's life over a few harmless questions. There are no answers provided in the film; it's just there to keep the mystery plot's momentum alive.

The point is that the murder mystery aspects of the film don't really matter. They're hopelessly muddled because the writers didn't care about them. They're a framework with which to explore the essential question of what distinguishes a human from an animal, or, more exactly, what makes a [i]person[/i]. Immanuel Kant was one of the first philosophers to separate the concept of personhood from humanity. For Kant, a person is a being capable of moral reason, rational thought. Any human without powers of moral reasoning isn't even a person; and should a dog be found to reason morally, that dog, Kant would have to admit, is a person. We might say, in colloquial speech, that the moral dog shows more human qualities than the brutish human.

Dr. Renault's titular secret, which isn't much of a secret from the moment we lay eyes on Noel, is Renault's efforts to make a person. Noel's clearly simian appearance, and a later reveal, lets us know he is indeed an ape. After several intensive surgeries involving the brain and nervous system, plastic surgery of the face, and extensive education by Madelon, Noel was 'born'. But it's clear from the secrecy and Noel's persistent melancholy that he is deemed a failure by his own 'father', Dr. Renault.

What makes Noel such a fascinating character, however, is just how much of a success he is. The character of Rogell is primarily in the film as a contrast to Noel. They are similar in that both of them are hampered from flourishing by their genetic and environmental backgrounds. Noel, of course, is genetically an ape. Rogell, we're told, comes from a long line of criminals. And as many children of criminals, he too turned to crime. Who knows what his upbringing was like? Of course, there's no 'criminal gene.' Rogell, despite his background, is not [i]determined[/i] to be a criminal; he can choose a righteous path. Noel, despite even more difficult handicaps, does strive to walk a righteous path. Genetically he is determined to be incapable of moral reasoning. However, the work of Dr. Renault gives him the ability to learn and adapt; and an environment of kindness and friendship provided by Madelon helps him become a person.

Despite committing murders in the film, Noel's sensitivity and humanity leaves him as much a sympathetic character as Karloff's monster in Frankenstein (doubtless an inspiration for the character). When we meet Noel, he is sullen and distant, seemingly lost in thought. He is, of course, thinking over how he is losing Madelon when Larry takes her away. And when Noel intuits the presence of a dog along the road, he sharply stops the car in order to save it. He's also very easily hurt, any ridicule or offense deeply troubling him. This, too, is a very human trait. One touching close-up, where Noel turns to Madelon and we see tears in his eyes, occurs after Dr. Renault suggests the animal mind is no different from the criminal mind. In short, Renault sees Noel as a failed person, hopelessly failed, no better than Rogell. But this is patently false.

What helps make Noel's murders a little more forgivable is what he seems to want to achieve by them. The two main murders Noel commits are against those who, through humiliations, make him feel different, Other. Many of the group scenes in which Noel participates are framed so that Noel is far in the background, emphasizing his outsider status. He feels left out of society, as though he doesn't belong. A few scenes where he's treated with dignity are touching: a lady takes him to dance, Larry and Madelon take him to the fair where he wins her a prize and takes a swan figurine for himself. Some men, jealous of being bested in the fair, say he dances like an ape. Reminded of his otherness, his difference, he murders them. As though murdering them would effectively murder the difference itself. Similarly, Noel's first kill, of a dog that bit him, is not out of revenge or anger over physical pain, but because the dog rejected him for no good reason. What he really longs for is to have friends, to be treated with respect. Unfortunately, murder, a deeply immoral act, all but confirms Dr. Renault's view that Noel is a failure, as it completely severs him from the moral community.

J. Carrol Naish's performance shares considerable credit for making Noel such a strongly sympathetic character. Like Karloff, Naish is able to express a depth of woundedness and loneliness through the make-up and general oddness of the character that is genuinely touching. His quiet manner of speaking and childlike cadence also gives him an innocent quality that makes one very much pity his circumstances. It also, on the other hand, makes his utterance to Dr. Renault, "I could kill you," all the more disturbing.

It is true that Noel is an animal and commits some awful crimes. However, he, in his anxieties, sensitivity, and sorrow, is perhaps the most human character in the film. Madelon is just too angelic, Larry too cardboard, Renault too egomaniacal; but Noel captures all the vulnerability and nobility we expect in a human person. The character of Noel is the film's greatest strength: once one meets him, one will never forget him.