Indestructible Man (1956 Crime Horror Sci-Fi film)

Indestructible Man is a 1956 American crime horror science fiction film, an original screenplay by Vy Russell and Sue Dwiggins for producer-director Jack Pollexfen and starring Lon Chaney Jr., Ross Elliott and Robert Shayne.

The picture was produced independently by C.G.K. Productions and distributed in the United States by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. The film was distributed theatrically in 1956 on a double bill with World Without End (and in some areas with Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Plot
Told in a narrative style, popularized by the television police series Dragnet, by police detective Dick Chasen, the story concerns a 72-hour period of horror for the city of Los Angeles. Charles "Butcher" Benton is a double-crossed convicted robber and murderer who was executed in the gas chamber. His body is unlawfully sold to a scientist who plans to move his experiments into the cause and cure of cancer to human subjects. Benton's corpse is subjected to chemical injection and massive jolts of high-voltage electricity in order to study the effect on human tissues. But Benton's heart is re-stimulated and he completely revives (though rendered mute due to electrical damage to his vocal cords), immensely strong and with skin virtually impervious to scalpels, police bullets, even to bazooka shells.

Cast
Lon Chaney, Jr. as Charles "Butcher" Benton
Max Showalter as Lt. Richard Chasen
Marian Carr as Eva Martin
Ross Elliott as Paul Lowe

Featuring:
Stuart Randall as Capt. John Lauder
Marvin Press* as Henchman "Squeamy" Ellis
Ken Terrell as Henchman Joe Marcelli
Roy Engel as the Desk Sergeant
Robert Foulk as Harry the Bartender
Robert Shayne as Dr. Bradshaw
Joe Flynn as Bradshaw's Assistant (uncredited)
Peggy Maley as Francine, a stripper
Marjorie Bennett as Floozie at Bar
* Marvin Press was misidentified as Marvin Ellis (the last name of his character) in all the film's publicity. Worse, his name was entirely omitted from the screen cast list.

Crew
Ted Holsopple as Art Director
John Russell, Jr. as Director of Photography
Fred Feitshans, Jr. as Film Editor
Albert Glasser as "Music"
Chris Beute as Production Manager
Production background

Chaney has almost no dialogue in the film. His character's emotions were shown through extreme close-ups of his face.
Angels Flight appears prominently in this film.
The Bradbury Building interior is featured prominently in this film.
Production stills exist of scenes not in the film as released. One shows "Butcher" Benton at a jail where a policeman's body lies on the ground as Benton carries off Eva Martin. The scene logically came after the police threatened to release Paul Lowe from custody if he does not reveal the location of Benton's loot, and before the scene where it is revealed Eva has checked herself out of a hospital, presumably after recovering from unspecified injuries. Presumably, this scene is where Benton made good on his threat to get Paul Lowe, breaking into the jail to do it.

Although Joe Flynn played a serious role in this film, he later specialized in comedic roles, most memorably as the irascible Captain Binghamton on TV's McHale's Navy (1962–66).

Bibliography
The full story of the making of the movie (complete with interviews with some of the participants) plus the script and pressbook are featured in the book Scripts from the Crypt: 'Indestructible Man' (BearManor, 2015) by Tom Weaver.