Mad Doctor

A young clerk loses her account book. It is found by a young unemployed man with whom the clerk falls in love. The young man answers a classified advertisement and starts work at a doctor's surgery who has just completed his fourth vivisection. The young man is not aware that he is to become the next object of the experimentation. Having dressed up the last corpse in the clothes of the unemployed man, the doctor takes it to the railway track so that it can be run over by a train. Urged by the clerk, the police begin a search and the case is entrusted to the famous detective, Gordon, who is soon on the trail of the mad doctor. He manages to apprehend the doctor and then hands him over to the police. The young man is saved and finds love in the arms of the bank clerk.

Directed by Drahoš Želenský, Mad Doctor leans on a strong ensemble — Karel Želenský, Jaroslav Hurt, Laura Želenská — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about crime titles of 1920.