Lionel Atwill 1885-1946 by Jim Coughlin

A familiar face to all horror film fans, Lionel Atwill was equally proficient when cast as a mad doctor, police inspector, or merely a red herring. The road that led him to fantasy films was a colorful one, having participated in numerous theatrical successes, co-starring with such great actresses as Lily Langtry, Grace George, Alla Nazimova, Katherine Cornell, and Helen Hayes. On screen, Atwill rapidly established himself as one of the most evil and detestable of villains. He never had that one great role that would cause him to be spoken of in the same breath as Lugosi or Karloff, but one need look no further than such films as The Mystery of the Wax Museum, Murders in the Zoo, The Vampire Bat, Dr. X, Son of Frankenstein, Man Made Monster, Ghost of Frankenstein, etc., to realise what a significant contribution Atwill made to the horror genre.

Lionel Alfred Wiliam Atwill, the son of Ada Emily (Dade) and Alfred Atwill, was born in Croydon, England on March 1, 1885. Young Lionel attended the Mercer School in Holborn and was also instructed by private tutors. He once related (in "Motion Picture Classic"), "I happened to come from a family unconnected with theatricals. My grandfather was an architect and I was properly educated and played cricket like every other English boy." Atwill, himself, spent three years working in the office of an architect and surveyor before deciding that the commercial life was not for him. On the side, Atwill began participating in Shakespearean recitals in the London area and the feedback as to his stage presence was quite positive. While appearing in various amateur productions, Lionel studied elocution under S. L. Hasluck.

Pleased by his apparent potential as an actor, Atwill gave up on his career in architecture and made his first professional stage appearance in the role of a footman in "The Walls of Jericho" during the Fall of 1905. Lionel then joined the H. V. Neilson Company, which specialised in plays by Ibsen, and was featured as Dr. Horster in "An Enemy of the People" and Johann Tonnesen in "The Pillars of Society". Courtenay Thorpe engaged him to play Dr. Rank in "A Doll's House", also by Ibsen, and Philip Selwyn in "A Fool's Paradise". Atwill spent 18 months during 1907-08 touring the English provinces as Michael Sunlocks in "The Bondman" and remained on the road the next year in "The Flag Lieutenant", as Dicky Lascelles, and "The Prisoner of the Bastille". Atwill later remarked on this experience, "For five years I toured the provinces, working like a dog for that success which would give me an opening in London theatres, the goal of every English actor's ambition".

Atwill portrayed De Mauprat in "Richelieu" at the Strand (2/10) and then sailed for Australia under engagement with J. C. Williamson, Ltd. There he played Henry in "Henry of Navarre", the Earl of Brancaster in "The Whip", and Lt. Sommers in "Via Wireless", among other roles. Upon his return to London, Lionel secured the part of Arthur Preece in "Milestones" (3/12), which he played over 600 times, thus attaining his first real theatrical notice.

During its run, he was seen as James Kynaston in "Kynaston's Wife" (5/12). Atwill followed his success in "Milestones" with performances as Michael Doyle in "Years of Discretion" (9/13), the father in "The Poor Little Rich Girl" (12/13), Paul Romaine in "The Story of the Rosary" (4/14), Prinzevalle in Maeterlinck's "Monna Vanna" (7/14), Captain Halliwell in "The Little Minister" (9/14), and Leonard Scribner in "The New Shylock" (10/14).

In January 1915, Lionel's career received a boost when he was recruited by Miss Horniman to join her Players at the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester as the associate director, as well as performer. He helped stage and acted in many productions, including "She Stoops to Conquer", as Young Marlowe; "The Blue Stockings", as Clitandre; "The One Thing Needful", as Hylton Leverson; "Whimsies", as Rupert Liffayne; and "The Walls of Jericho", as Jack Frobisher.

The famed Lillie Langtry called Atwill to London to play opposite her in "Mrs. Thompson" (7/15). The play was a flop and Lionel returned to Manchester. However, Langtry was convinced that although the production failed in England it was the ideal play for an American audience. Atwill agree to accompany her to the States and recreate his role of Dick Marsden, but "Mrs. Thompson" proved to be an even bigger bomb in America. Langtry, Atwill, and Leo Stark, another company member, played in a vaudeville piece called "Ashes" for the balance of 1916.        

Lionel then made his New York stage debut in the title role of "The Lodger" (1/17), with Phyllis Relph, whom he had married in 1913. The marriage, which had been performed by Lionel's cousin, Rev. Herbert King, in Bloomsbury, England, would end in divorce in 1919. A bright note, however, was that the union had produced a son, John Anthony Atwill. "The Lodger" only lasted a week, so Atwill joined George Foster Platt's repertoire company based in Milwaukee. Here, Lionel played in Masefield's "Nap", was Valentine in "You Can Never Tell", Dick Gurvil in "The Tragedy of Man", and Nicola in "Such is Life".

Returning to New York, Atwill played opposite Grace George in both "Eve's Daughter" (8/17), as the Hon. Courtenay Urquhart, and "L'Elevation". He was then featured as James Ordway in "The Indestructible Wife" (1/18). His theatrical reputation now firmly established in the U.S., Atwill was signed by Arthur Hopkins to co-star with Alla Nazimova in three works by Ibsen. Lionel was Hjalmar Ekdal in "The Wild Duck" (3/18), George Tessman in "Hedda Gabler" (4/18), and Torvald Helmer in "A Doll's House". "Another Man's Shoes" (9/18) had Atwill as Dick.

Around this time, Atwill made his first three screen appearances. He recreated his stage role in Eve's Daughter (1918), played in Pathe's For Sale (1918), and co-starred with Elsie Ferguson in The Marriage Price (1919). Atwill was not that sold on the medium of film at the time, remarking, "I honestly think pictures have possibilities, but not until some of these old-fashioned ideas are combed out of them. For instance, to the picture director a character is either a hero, who is all good, or a villain, who is all bad." "The worst person in the world", he continued, "has some good in him, the best individual has moments of weakness and wrongdoing. No one is wholly good or evil, and by trying to make them so, the screen is all wrong. I, for one, will never play in pictures again until I am assured that the director is broad-minded enough to present a villain who has lovable qualities, or a hero who has a few weaknesses."

"Lionel Atwill gives a capable performance as the M.P.," the "N. Y. Star" wrote of his role of Clive Couper in Belasco's "Tiger, Tiger!" (11/18). Now under the management of the great David Belasco, Lionel enjoyed perhaps his greatest theatrical success as Jean-Gaspard Deburau in "Deburau" (12/20). Also in the cast of this hit were Fred Bickle (later Frederic March) and Elsie Mackay, whom Atwill made his second wife in early 1920. This marriage was destined for trouble and in 1925 Atwill had detectives raid an apartment on Manhattan's 68th Street, where Mackay was found with actor Max Montesole. A divorce was finally granted in 1928.

In 1921, Atwill starred as Feodor Michaelovitch in "The Grand Duke". He was also featured in two New York-made films, The Highest Bidder and Indiscretion, that year. For a change of pace, Lionel then went on the vaudeville circuit with "The White Faced Fool" for a season. It was back to Belasco in 1923 to play the title role in "The Comedian".       

Atwill had another big hit on his hands when he starred with Katharine Cornell in "The Outsider" (3/24). He played Anton Ragatsky, a "quack" surgeon who cures a crippled girl after medial experts had agreed her case was hopeless. This foreshadowed many of Atwill's doctor characterisations on the talking screen, who were to be, admittedly, into far more offbeat endeavors. "The Outsiders" was later revived (4/28) with Lionel again heading the cast.

Now a top draw, Atwill was signed by the prestigious Theatre Guild to headline with Helen Hayes in Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" (4/25). Atwill went on to play such parts as Caton Beale Carrington in "Beau Gallant" (4/26), John Rigordon in "Slaves All" (12/26), Richard Voysin in "The Thief" (4/27), and Baron Reus in "The King Can Do No Wrong". He then starred as "the Little Corporal" in "Napoleon" (3/28), making news by hostilely castigating its critics.

In a brief cinematic sojourn in 1928, Atwill made two shorts for Fox, recreating previous theatrical successes. Lionel Atwill in the Actor's Advice to His Son had him enacting a scene from "Deburau" and The White-Faced Fool captured his popular vaudeville sketch on film. Most of Atwill's efforts around this time, however, were concerned with the production end of the theatre. He directed "The Squall" (11/26), "Lady Alone" (1/27), "The Thief" (4/27), and the revival of "The Outsider" (4/28), before appearing solely behind the footlights as Count Matteo in "Fioretta" (2/29), which was presented by Earl Carroll and featured Fanny Brice and Leon Errol. After directing "A Strong Man's House" (9/29), Lionel produced, directed, and played M. Lazov in "Stripped" (10/29) at the Ambassador Theatre. Atwill produced and directed "Seven" (12/29) and then ventured to Boston to portray Agatha Christie's famed detective Hercule Poirot in "Alibi". Back on Broadway, he produced and directed "A Kiss of Importance" (12/30), which starred Basil Rathbone.

Little did Atwill know when he accepted the role of Sir Austin Howard in "The Silent Witness" (3/31) that this part would be instrumental in drastically altering his career. After a successful run in New York, the company travelled to Los Angeles, where Atwill was induced by Fox to repeat his performance on screen. The Silent Witness (1932) involves Anthony Howard (Bramwell Fletcher, who had a memorable scene at the onset of The Mummy) who murders his supposed love (Greta Nissen), after discovering that she was anything but loyal. His father, Sir Austin (Atwill), finds himself a suspect and admonishes Anthony to remain quiet. The "N. Y. Times" found his portrayal to be "easy and convincing, particularly in a courtroom sequence in which he … is on trial for his life". In his excellent piece on Atwill for "Films in Review", Gregory Mank notes, "His portrayal of a man who rationalises courtroom perjury ironically foreshadowed a real-life drama a decade later".

Atwill decided to remain in Hollywood, explaining, "I've had my fill of art. It's all very well in its way, but there's an entirely different fascination to pictures that I haven't got over yet. No doubt I never will. It may be a little childish, but he sheer mechanical ingenuity of the whole thing gets under my skin the way a mechanical toy fascinates a boy. I've been having a tremendous time and I don't see why I should stop."

First National's Dr. X (1932) was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Lionel and the fantasy-horror genre. Atwill, as Dr. Xavier, is first viewed at a morgue where he has been asked by the police to perform an autopsy on a murdered scrubwoman. The condition of the body points to cannibalistic possibilities and the murder weapon, a surgical knife, leads the police to Xavier's research institute. All of Xavier's cohorts have bizarre backgrounds and only one, Dr. Wells (Preston Foster), is not suspect in that he is missing an arm. Xavier devises an elaborate scheme to unveil the killer by locking three fellow scientists to a special apparatus while the previous murder is re-enacted. Unfortunately, the lights go out only to reveal one of the suspects. Dr. Rowitz (Arthur Edmund Carewe), dead. Undaunted, Xavier takes the place of Rowitz and tries again. It turns out that the man operating the equipment, the apparently innocent Wells, is the demented killer, with the help of "synthetic flesh". Fortunately for the three trapped doctors, a nosy reporter (Lee Tracy) sets Wells ablaze with a kerosene lamp before Xavier's daughter Joan (Fay Wray) becomes the next victim. Although Atwill proves not to be the villain, he does an excellent red herring job, with such lines as, "Shall we be going - there are many other interesting things to see!", after the police observe Wells remove his artificial arm and display a human heart kept alive by "electrolysis".

Atwill pulled a reversal in The Vampire Bat (1933) as the seemingly benevolent village doctor of Kleinschloss. As Dr. Otto Von Niemann, he examines the victims whose deaths are blamed on simple-minded Herman Gleib (Dwight Frye), who has the disconcerting habit of carrying bats around in his coat. Actually, Von Niemann has been dispatching his helper, Emil (Robert Frazer) into the night to find "subjects" whose blood is drained and fed to a strange pulsating mass in the doctor's laboratory. After Gleib is drive to his death and impaled by a stake, the murders continue and Von Niemann's assistant, Ruth Bertin (Fay Wray) begins to suspect her mentor. The doctor reveals to her that "from the life of those who have gone before, I have created life!". Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) breaks into the lab to save Ruth, while Von Niemann is killed trying to escape by Emil, the very man who had committed the heinous crimes under the telepathic control of the doctor. Atwill gives an entertaining performance, particularly in humorous scenes dealing with the hypochondriacal Maude Eburne.                 

After playing Aubrey St. John, who drives his son to suicide by impeding his romance, in Secret of Madame Blanche (1933), Atwill rendered his most sensitive portrayal in horror films, perhaps in motion pictures in general. As Ivan Igor, the talented creator of wax figures, in The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), he is left burned beyond recognition when Worth (Edwin Maxwell) burns the waxworks to the ground to collect fire insurance. The fire also results in Igor going mad after watching his labors of love, not to mention his face, destroyed before his eyes. He murders and steals bodies from the morgue in order to fashion wax figures from them for his new museum in New York. After noting that Charlotte Duncan (Fay Wray, again) is the exact resemblance of Marie Antoinette from his incinerated London exhibit, Igor is determined to add her to his collection. There is an excellent scene near the climax wherein Duncan pounds at his face, actually a mask, which shatters revealing his hideous scarred features. The police intervene, of course, as Igor is about to prepare her for a trip into a vat of boiling wax. The "N. Y. Times" commented, "Mr. Atwill assuredly suggests as much horror as is well-nigh possible", but it is when Atwill eschews the ham sinisterness to poignantly display his feelings of loss during the fire that a rarely seen dimension to his acting is unveiled. 

Many critics were amazed that an accomplished man of the theatre like Atwill could be wasting his time appearing in such films. Lionel replied, "I don't mind tosh. I'd quite as soon play tosh as not, if there's something interesting about the character, some psychological twist. Like Murders in the Zoo, take that for instance, I tried to make the fellow a murderer through, in an indirect way, his love of animals". Atwill, as wealthy zoologist and sportsman, Eric Gorman, is seen at the opening of Murders in the Zoo (1933) sewing together the mouth of a man he suspects of having an affair with his wife (Kathleen Burke, the "Panther Woman" from Island of Lost Souls), to whom Gorman later relates, "He didn't say anything!" Gorman later does in another of her paramours with a poisonous mamba snake. To top it off, he dumps his wife off an ornamental bridge into a pool of crocodiles. After Gorman is found out, he takes refuge in a cage inhabited by a huge boa constrictor, to whom he pays the price for her perfidy. "If Atwill is to be remembered for any film or any performance," opines Ronald V. Borst, "it should be for his role of Eric Gorman in Murders in the Zoo, a characterisation which is not surpassed by even the most outlandish Lugosi mad doctor."

Atwill took "tosh" one step lower as he appeared in Monogram's The Sphinx (1933). This afforded him a dual role as wealthy philanthropist Jerome Breen and his deaf and dumb twin. Breen commits several murders, always making the point to ask someone in the vicinity of the crime for the time. He then substitutes his mute brother at his trial and is cleared of suspicion for the moment. A reporter (Theodore Newton), always a nuisance to Atwill, eventually tricks him into a confession. The "N. Y. Times" Review of Lionel's performance says it all: "As the Sphinx, Lionel Atwill looks enigmatic and talks with his hands." Not a stellar acting job by any standards.

In Song of Songs (1933), Atwill replaced ill Richard Bennett in the role of Baron Von Merzbach, the patron of Waldow (Brian Aherne), a sculptor. The Baron becomes infatuated with Waldow's love and model (Marlene Dietrich) and persuades the sculptor to give her up. The young lady finally accedes to Von Merzbach's proposal and becomes the Baroness, but later leaves him to avoid a scandal and is reunited with her true love.

Solitaire Man (1933) had Atwill as an alleged Scotland Yard inspector named Wallace and The Secret of the Blue Room (1933) featured him as Robert Von Hellsdorf, the father of Gloria Stuart and, once again, a red herring amidst a series of murders in a strange old house. Atwill's eloquent diction also enabled him to secure non-acting jobs, such as narrating the trailer for 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1933).

In an interesting role at Monogram, Lionel was legless John Dawson in Beggars in Ermine (1934). Nana (1934) had him as Col. Andre Muffat, the elder brother of one of Nana's (Anna Sten) lovers (Phillips Holmes). Muffat is a distinguished, but prudish man who in time is also seduced by the wanton woman. Atwill was Von Sturm in charge of German counter-espionage in Stamboul Quest (1934), starring Myrna Loy. As Mr. Brough in James Whale's One More River (1934), Atwill was Colin Clive's lawyer at the divorce proceedings against Diana Wynyard. Atwill played Beaufort in Age of Innocence (1934) and then replaced Colin Clive as John Pointer in The Firebird (1934).

The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934) presented Atwill with the wicked role of Henri Dumont, an ambitious publisher of a Parisian newspaper who is bribed to print stories favoring war with Germany. He uses and abuses writer, Claude Rains, who eventually goes insane, beheads Dumont, and carried his cranium around in a hatbox. "As the publisher, Lionel Atwill provides an admirable portrait of an unctuous and unscrupulous rascal", commented the "N. Y. Times".

Atwill had his first of many police official roles in horror films in MGM's Mark of the Vampire (1935), directed by Tod Browning. As Inspector Neumann, a non-believer in vampires, be brings Baron Otto von Zinden (Jean Hersholt) to the castle of the murdered Sir Karrell Borotyn (Holmes Herbert), where the dead man is observed playing eerie organ music. Bela Lugosi and Carol Borland role play vampires as well in this plot to expose von Zinden as the killer.

One of Atwill's most powerful portrayals was that of Don Pasqual in von Sternberg's The Devil is a Woman (1935). He was once a proud officer in the Spanish Civil Guard, but Don Pasqual has become a civilian derelict due to his masochistic love for Conca Perez (Marlene Dietrict). After his friend, Galvan (Cesar Romero), fails to heed his warnings about her, the two men duel and Don Pasquel is hospitalized. In the end Concha realises the evil of her ways, leaves Galvan, and erturns to the broken, wounded man.

In The Murder Man (1935), Atwill was homicide investigator Captain Cole. Rendezvous (1935) had him as a code specialist named Brennan who is eliminated by Binnie Barnes. Atwill was Colonel Bishop, the plantation owner and uncle of Arabella (Olivia de Havilland), in Captain Blood (1935). Bishop receives his come-uppance from Blood (Errol Flynn) after having earlier delighted in whipping the privateer. In Lady of Secrets (1936), starring Ruth Chatterton, Atwill played Stephen Whittaker, a domineering patriarch. He was financier G. A. Axton in Absolute Quiet (1936). Till We Meet Again (1936) had Atwill once more in charge of an espionage bureau as Ludwig.

Atwill returned to his native England in 1937 to make The High Command. He portrayed Sir John Savage, V. C., a military officer whose closely guarded life secret of having killed his lover's husband years earlier catches up with him. Atwill was the prosecutor in James Whale's The Road Back (1937), which featured bits by horror familiars Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, and Marilyn Harris (little Maria who is drowned in Frankenstein). The Last Train From Madrid (1937) had Lionel as Colonel Vigo, a "commandante" caught up in the Spanish Civil War. Atwill was again a Colonel, this time named Fenwick, in Lancer Spy (1937). He played Mike Roberts in The Wrong Road (1937), before appearing in yet another James Whale film, The Great Garrick (1937), as Beaumarchais, an egotistical actor. Three Comrades (1938), which also featured George Zucco, had Atwill as the affluent playboy Breur. Lionel then tackled the part of Count Hohenfried in The Great Waltz (1938), with Fernand Gravet as Johann Strauss.

Perhaps Atwill's most memorable role in fantasy films is that of Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939). It is difficult to forget the image that Krogh presents - refined, monocled, manipulating his artificial right arm - as he explains to Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone) how his childhood ambition to become a great general was destroyed during a visit by Wolf's late father's creation (Boris Karloff). Krogh relates, "One doesn't easily forget, Herr Baron, an arm torn out by the roots!" Atwill and Rathbone play off one another in fine fashion, with such dialogue as, "By heaven, I think you're a worse fiend than your father!" (Krogh to the Baron). The Inspector's investigation definitely points to the monster being loose again and he confronts the brute, who has just emerged from a hidden passageway with little Peter (Donnie Dunagan), with his gun blazing. The monster rips off Krogh's wooden arm, whirling it like a club, before Wolf swings down on a chain, knocking the field into a sulphur pit. Son of Frankenstein was also highlighted by Bela Lugosi's stellar performance as Ygor, whose condemning jurors were unfortunate enough to run into the monster. As a result, Atwill hestitantly explained, "The hearts of all the victims had ruptured. In fact … they had burst!"

Atwill then entered into a non-exclusive contract with 20th Century-Fox, for whom he would make nine films in the next two years. The first of these was The Three Musketeers (1939), starring Don Ameche and the Ritz Brothers! Lionel ate up his part as the evil de Rochefort. The next was a wonderful atmospheric piece, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), featuring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. As Dr. James Mortimer, Atwill recapitulates the legend of the Bakerville curse and looks rather suspicious behind thick glasses and a beard. Of course he's no the guilty party (Morton Lowry is), but Lionel certainly adds to the air of mystery and tone of the film in a splendid manner.

In April 1939, Atwill's third wife, whom he had wed on June 3, 1930, left him. Louise Cromwell Atwill, daughter of the late E. T. Stotesbury and former wife of Douglas MacArthur, felt that she could deal with her husband's "surly character" no longer. Lionel enjoyed his "freedom" for the time, indulging in his preferred activities - golf, tennis, yachting and, above all, throwing parties.

"Only Lionel Atwill as the French General Bazine conducts himself with authority and conceivable purpose", in The Mad Empress (1939), according to Bosley Crowther in the "N.Y. Times". Atwill appeared, as Walter Stevens, along with Bela Lugosi, in the Ritz Brothers' fiasco The Gorilla (1939). Lionel exhibited some mental slippage by hiring the three brothers as private detectives to protect him from the "beast". The Sun Never Sets (1939), with Rathbone and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., featured Atwill as megalomaniac Hugo Zuroff, who plans to start a world war with the dream of emerging from the rubble as dictator of the globe. Other roles in a busy 1939 were that of Professor Hildebrand in Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (starring Peter Lorre), Paul Messenger in The Secret of Dr. Kildare, and Marakov in Balalaika.

The year 1940 saw Atwill as merely a prime suspect in two Sidney Toler "Chan" entries for Fox. He played Cliveden Compton, a British mystery story writer, in Charlie Chan in Panama (1940) and Dr. Suderman in Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940). In Johnny Apollo (1940), Atwill was Jim McLaughlin, gentleman lawyer to Tyrone Power's Wall Street embezzler-father, Edward Arnold. Lionel portrayed Russell Woodruff in The Girl in 313 (1940) and tycoon Harry Compton, who "owns" Hedy Lamarr, in Boom Town (1940), starring Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. Atwill was Dr. Bruce opposite John Barrymore in The Great Profile (1940, the last film Lionel was to make at Fox.

Man Made Monster (1941), which starred Lon Chaney, Jr., was Atwill's first film after signing a non-exclusive pact with Universal. Lionel was at his insane best as Dr. Paul Rigas, assistant to Dr. Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds), who sees in Dan McCormick (Chaney), the sole survivor of a bus crash in which all the other passengers were electrocuted, the chance to prove his theories. Rigas believes that people can be motivated and controlled by electrical impulses and feels that a race of superior men can be developed "whose only wants … are electricity". With Lawrence away at a conference, McCormick is subject to increasing doses of current, with Rigas gleefully noting, "When I have completed this experiment, I shall have conquered destiny!" Lawrence returns and is horrified to see what is going on. McCormick, under Rigas' power kills the good doctor and is tried and sentenced to - the electric chair! Rigas is found out by Lawrence's daughter (Anne Nagel) and is about to see if the female is indeed "more sensitive to electrical impulse" than the male, when McCormick bursts in, stronger than ever following his supposed execution. Villains never seem to function well under pressure and Rigas is no exception, running into a closet and holding the metal door knob, only to be electrocuted when Dan does the same on the other side. The film, which was originally intended as a vehicle for Lugosi (in the Atwill role) and Karloff, gave Atwill a chance to play a classic mad doctor, heavy into intellectualisation, admitting his madness, but allying himself with other "lunatics" who "dared to dream", such as Galileo, Newton and Pasteur.

On April 28, 1941, Lionel Atwill was hit with the tragic news from the British Air Ministry that his son, Flying Officer John Anthony Atwill, had been killed in action with the R.A.F. two days earlier. To add insult to injury, Atwill's name was implicated with a wild party during testimony before a grand jury regarding a case of rape. Atwill returned to Los Angeles to clear his name, admitting to the party, but denying any lewd or pornographic activity had taken place. In June 1942, he was indicted on charges of perjury regarding his May 13, 1941 testimony, but Atwill pleaded innocent and was released on $1,000 bail. He was reindicted in August and, in the face of overwhelming evidence against him, Atwill admitted that he had lied because he was a gentleman and desired only to protect those guests who were present at the party. Superior Judge William R. McKay sentenced Atwill to five years probation, after Lionel pleaded guilty to perjury charges, on October 15, 1942. The judge commended the D.A.'s office for striking from the indictment testimony regarding morals offenses against a minor gilrl, after Atwill confess to showing "The Plumber's Daughter" and "The Daisy Chain" in his seaside mansion.

Meanwhile, back on the screen, Atwill made his first appearance in a serial in Universal's Junior G-Men of the Air (1942). He was the Baron, Japanese leader of a sabotage ring referred to as the "Order of the Black Dragonfly". The Baron's foul misdeeds, such as destroying oil wells, are put to a stop by, among others, former "Dead End Kids" Billy Halop, Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell.

In The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Ygor (Lugosi) and the monster (Chaney, Jr.) survive the destruction of Castle Frankenstein and find their way to a sanitarium in Vasaria run by Henry Frankenstein's second son, Ludwig (Cedric Hardwicke). Here we find Dr. Bohmer (Atwill), once Ludwig's supervisor, but now bitterly subservient because of a brain operation that failed due to "a slight miscalculation". Bohmer refuses to help Lugwig dissect the monster, calling it murder, even after the monster has slain another of Frankenstein's assistants, Dr. Kettering (Barton Yarborough). Ludwig reconsiders after seeing his father in a dream and decides to give the field Kettering's brain. Ygor, however, has other ideas and persuades Bohmer to substitute his brain instead with promises of position and power. After Ygor is crushed behind a metal door, Bohmer switches brains, and the monster is now heard speaking with Ygor's voice. Bohmer forgot to consider blood types and as a result the monster is left blind and furious, hurling Bohmer into some laboratory apparatus, thus electrocuting him. Atwill was ideal in this part of a man projecting his own misfortunes on others and begrudgingly awaiting the day that he would show them all, rising to his deserved prominence.

Atwill took part in Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), starring Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, playing Rawitch. The Strange Case of Dr. Rx (1942) had Atwill looking sinister behind a pair of spectacles as Dr. Fish, an in-joke perhaps, as he was only a red herring again. Crime expert Jerry Church (Patric Knowles) is called in after a series of underworld characters are murdered immediately following their acquittals by court of law. Dr. Fish is viewed in the courtroom and trailing Church in a car, but it turns out that he is merely helping to solve the case. Church intones, "Doc and I have unscrambled a lot of eggs, haven't we!" Surprisingly, Samuel S. Hinds is behind the killings.

Pardon My Sarong (1942) had Lionel as Varnoff, a foil for Abbott and Costello on a tropical isle, and he was a Teutonic gentleman in Cairo (1942), with Jeanette MacDonald. Atwill, as Dr. King, is done away with early on in Night Monster (1942) by crippled Kurt Ingston (Ralph Morgan). Apparently Ingston was not too appreciative when King and other physicians were forced to amputate his limbs to save the man's life. Bela Lugosi was along for the ride as Rolf, the butler.

It was only fitting that Atwill should have a stab at playing that arch villain Moriarty and his chance came in Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942). This was one of the entries where the setting was switched to contemporary Great Britain and Moriarty has come up with plans for a devastating bomb sight which he plans to sell to the Nazis. Moriarty traps Holmes (Rathbone) in his laboratory inside an old warehouse on the docks and decides to treat the famed detective to a painfully slow death, draining his blood drop by drop. Watson and Scotland Yard save the day and Moriarty plunges through a trap door into the sea (to his death?)

As Dr. Benson (alias Dr. Graham) in The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942), Atwill is forced to flee Philadephia for a South Sea island after his experiments with suspended animation result in death. The picture was far from a cinematic, let alone horror, masterpiece, with the "N.Y. Times" commenting, "The film seems to have been constructed from odd strips of celluloid on the cutting room floor". Benson is shipwrecked in the tropics with a number of others and, after seemingly reviving Princess Tanao (Rosina Galli) from the dead with a shot of adrenalin, is declared by the natives as their God of Life. Good things don't last forever and, before long, Chief Elon (Noble Johnson) realises Benson is no deity and he is carried off to his death, while the other marooned passengers escape.

Atwill had a minor role in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) as the mayor of Vasaria. He is seen leading a posse of villagers on the trail of the wolf man (Chaney, Jr.), politely conversing with Baroness Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey) during a festive celebration, and later trying to calm the townspeople, as Vazec (Rex Evans) sets out to blow up the dam, which washes away both monsters for the time being.

Aside from Universal, no other studio would touch Atwill because of the pornography-perjury scandal. Atwill returned to court imploring that the five-year probation be lifted so that he could obtain work once more. On April 17, 1943, Judge McKay agreed that "the ends of justice have been served" and exonerated Atwill of all charges. With this personal problem cleared up, Atwill's wife Louise proceeded with and obtained a divorce from the actor on June 18, 1943.

Taking a hiatus from Hollywood and his troubles, Atwill toured the East in the summer of 1943, performing in stock offerings of "My Dear Children", his 20's vehicle "The Outsider", and Molnar's "The Play's the Thing", as Sandor Turai. Atwill still maintained his sense of humor amidst the war and all that had happened to him, joking, "Here I am, in my mellow years, trouping like a beginner, roughing it in a suitcase and getting along without a valet". He added, "Wonderful land of opportunity, this America. That's why I became a citizen. But the war has worked havoc - especially for the poor maligned rich man."

Back in Hollywood, Republic hired Atwill to play Dr. Maldor, curator of the Drummond Museum, in their serial Captain America (1944). Maldor feels that he has been cheated out of prestige and wealth by the members of a Mayan archaeological expedition that he headed, so he systematically does away with each of them using a poison called "The Purple Death". Going by the name of "The Scarab", he secures the members' riches and scientific treasures, such as a life-restoring machine, for himself, before being caught and sent to the chair.

Atwill was seen as Charles Finch, the psychological investigator who cracks the case, in Lady in the Death House (1944). In another serial, Raiders of Ghost City (1944), he played Alex Morel, the leader of a gang of gold raiders who masquerade as Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Morel is actually involved with a group of Prussian spies. Sticking to the same deceitful vein, Atwill played Waterlow, a Nazi agent planted in a British decoding room, in Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944).

On July 7, 1944, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Atwill was married for the fourth time. This time he wed Mary Paula Shilstone, a radio producer and performer known professionally as Paula Pruter. In the latter part of 1945, she would present him with a son, Lionel Anthony Atwill.

House of Frankenstein (1944) had Atwill in the familiar role of a police inspector. Inspector Arnz plays chess with the burgomaster (Sig Arno) and tours the travelling chamber of horrors, now run by Boris Karloff and J. Carrol Naish, after murdering its owner (George Zucco). Karloff removes the stake in the heart of the exhibit of Count Dracula (John Carradine) and the vampire is dispatched to slay the burgomaster. Arnz and his mounted gendarmes are called in and pursue Dracula driving a coach with the captive Rita (Anne Gwynne). The coach overturns and Arnz comes upon the vampire as he is destroyed by the rays of the morning sun.

His part was quite similar in House of Dracula (1945). As Inspector Holtz, Atwill requests that Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) check out the peculiar man, Larry Talbot (Chaney, Jr.), in the Visaria jail. Later, when Siegfried (Ludwig Stossel, "the little old winemaker") is killed by what seems to be a wild animal, Holtz suspects the Wolf Man, but it was actually Edelmann, who has been infected by the blood of Dracula (Carradine). In true Frankenstein series tradition, Holtz leads a flock of angry villages to the doctor's castle. When he charges into the lab, Edelmann, who has just restored the monster's (Glenn Strange) full strength, throws Holtz into some electrical machinery and he expires in the same manner as Atwill did in The Ghost of Frankenstein.

Fog Island (1945) involved an elaborate plot for vengeance by George Zucco on a deserted island. Atwill was Richfield, who had murdered Zucco's wife and eventually kills George as well, before Zucco posthumously gains revenge as all the evildoers drown in a trap-rigged treasure room. In Crime, Inc. (1945), Atwill played syndicate boss Pat Coyle. Genius at Work (1946) reunited him with Bela Lusogi, but they were sadly reduced to providing the mayhem for comedians Wally Brown and Alan Carney. Atwill was the notorious "Cobra" and actually appears in drag, posing as Lugosi's wife near the finale.

Atwill's final screen venture was the Universal serial Lost City of the Jungle (1946). He was true to form as warmonger Sir Eric Hazarias, who is involved in a postwar quest for Meteorium 245, the only practical defense against the atom bomb. Hazarias finds the element in the mythical city of Pedrang and escapes with it on an airplane. Sir Eric and the treacherous Grebb (John Gallaudet) argue over the possession of Meteorium 245 and, in the ensuing struggle, the power of the substances is unleased and the plane explodes in mid-air.

Throughout the production of Lost City of the Jungle, Atwill had been battling pneumonia and the condition worsened, finally causing his death on April 22, 1946. Universal was forced to complete the serial photographing his double, George Sorel, from the back and sides.

Following his death at the age of 61, Atwill was waked and buried via Pierce Brothers' Mortuary, Santa Monica. His will bequeathed his 15 room Pacific Palisades home at 409 Ocean Ave. within the bulk of his estate, valued at a quarter-of-a-million dollars, to his wife Paula and his six month old son. Atwill's three brothers in England, Stanley, Clarence and Herbert, inherited his jewelry and personal effects.

As a man, Lionel Atwill was indeed an enigma. He deserted an illustrious stage career, having played opposite some of the greatest actresses of his time, to perform in motion pictures, then considered low-brow entertainment. Still held in high regard, however, Atwill was the only Hollywood figure invited to the wedding of the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Warfield Simpson (6/3/37). But as Atwill's screen escapades began to approach the ludicrous, his personal life definitely hit the realm of tragedy, with his broken marriages, the wartime death of his son, and the scandal that almost put him out of work for good.

Regardless of his complexities off the screen, Lionel Atwill has left movie viewers a legacy of excellent portrayals. And, like the little girl with the curl, when he was bad, he was very BAD! His film record speaks for itself. Atwill should be recognised as one of the all-time great depicters of villainy, a position long overdue.

The Films of Lionel Atwill

1918
Eve's Daughter (Paramount)
For Sale (Pathe)
1919
The Marriage Price (Paramount)
1921
The Highest Bidder (Goldwyn)
Indiscretion (Pioneer Film Corp.)
1928
Lionel Atwill in the Actor's Advice to his Son (Fox) - short
The White-Faced Fool (Fox) - A Movietone Number short
1932
The Silent Witness (Fox)
Doctor X (FN)
1933
The Vampire Bat (Majestic)
Secret of Madame Blanche (MGM)
The Mystery of the Wax Museum (WB)
Murders in the Zoo (Paramount)
The Sphinx (Monogram)
The Song of Songs (Paramount)
Solitaire Man (MGM)
The Secret of the Blue Room (Universal)
1934
Beggars in Ermine (Monogram)
Nana (Goldwyn-UA)
Stamboul Quest (MGM)
One More River (Universal)
Age of Innocence (RKO Radio)
The Firebird (WB)
The Man Who Reclaimed his Head (Universal)
1935
Mark of the Vampire (MGM)
The Devil is a Woman (Paramount)
The Murder Man (MGM)
Rendezvous (MGM)
Captain Blood (FN)
1936
Lady of Secrets (Columbia)
Absolute Quiet (MGM)
Till We Meet Again (Paramount)
1937
The High Command (Grand National - A.B.F.D.) - G. B.
The Road Back (Universal)
The Last Train from Madrid (Paramount)
Lancer Spy (20th Century Fox)
The Wrong Road (Republic)
The Great Garrick (WB)
1938
Three Comrades (MGM)
The Great Waltz (MGM)
1939
Son of Frankenstein (Universal)
The Three Musketeers (20th Century-Fox)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (20th Century-Fox)
The Mad Empress (WB)
The Gorilla (20th Century-Fox)
The Sun Never Sets (Universal)
Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (20th Century-Fox)
The Secret of Dr. Kildare (MGM)
Balalaika (MGM)
1940
Charlie Chan in Panama (20th Century-Fox)
Johnny Apollo (20th Century-Fox)
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (20th Century-Fox)
The Girl in 313 (20th Century-Fox)
Boom Town (MGM)
The Great Profile (20th Century-Fox)
1941
Man Made Monster (Universal)
1942
Junior G-Men of the Air (Universal) - serial
The Ghost of Frankenstein (Universal)
To Be or Not to Be (Korda-UA)
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (Universal)
Pardon my Sarong (Universal)
Cairo (MGM)
Night Monster (Universal)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (Universal)
The Mad Doctor of Market Street (Universal)
1943
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (Universal)
1944
Captain America (Republic) - serial
Lady in the Death House (PRC)
Raiders of Ghost City (Universal) - serial
Secrets of Scotland Yard (Republic)
House of Frankenstein (Universal)
1945
Fog Island (PRC)
Crime, Inc. (PRC)
House of Dracula (Universal)
1946
Genius at Work (RKO)
Lost City of the Jungle (Universal) - serial