40 Films in Robotech: The Devil-Doll (1936)

 

I never thought I’d be so entertained by seeing Lionel Barrymore in a dress, but here we go…

 ROBOTECH MENTION:  

The following shot which mentions several films including The Devil-Doll (1936) is from Jack McKinney’s novelization Robotech: The Macross Saga - Genesis (1987)…

 SYNOPSIS:  

As written in TCM’s MGM Posters – The Golden Years by Frank Miller (1994): “…an escaped convict (Lionel Barrymore)…masquerades as an old woman to slip doll-sized killers into his enemies’ homes.”

 AWARDS & KUDOS:  

The Devil-Doll was part of the “Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection” nominated in 2007 for the Saturn Award for Best DVD Collection.

 OTHER COOL FACTS:  

Born in Philadelphia and the oldest brother of a prestigious acting family including Ethel and John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore is probably best known for playing Old Man Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). He also claimed to have invented the boom microphone – but that’s debatable. These facts came from a 2022 #classicfilmreading book I covered in this Digging Star Wars blog entry. Oh, and by the way, legendary actor/director Erich von Stroheim co-wrote this screenplay.

 ROBOTECH REASON:  

The idea of a human reducing one’s size to 1/6 of their original height is a major story point in Robotech: The Macross Saga. Except in Robotech, humans aren’t reducing themselves; their 50’ tall alien adversaries are reducing themselves to human size via a process called “micronization.” 

To read my ⭐⭐⭐ (out of a possible 5 star) rating for The Devil-Doll on Letterboxd, click here.