I have always remembered Lisa Gaye (sister of Deborah Paget and Teala Loring) as a prolific dancer, doing the twist and the bop in her 1950s films about rock n' roll. She is a very stunning woman with a figure to die for. This film has her using her assets to help tell the story.
It begins with a plastic surgeon (Fernando Rey) who has almost perfected a way to restore damaged human skin with a synthetic skin. He presents it to a board of surgeons at the local mental asylum where he wants permission to try it out there. The doctors reject his request so he continues on with his research. Meanwhile, a short time later a woman with a badly scarred side of her face approaches him and begs him to help her. He can see that she is a very beautiful girl who was severely burned by a lamp. What he doesn't see is that she is an escaped mental patient from the very hospital that rejected his request earlier. At first he asks her to come back another time but she is so desperate that he gives in to her and agrees to treat her. He then has her strip down to her slip and lie on the gurney in his laboratory. He has her take an oral sedative then injects her with more sedative as he begins to operate on her, alone. She emerges from the surgery heavily bandaged about her head and is kept in a room off the laboratory,her entire head swathed in thick bandages. Meanwhile, the local police are searching but are having no luck finding her. When her bandages are removed, her face is flawless with no sign of the burns. He advises her to apply a special fluid to the surgical site to keep the synthetic skin from hardening too quickly, something that he failed to address during his research. He then discovers that she is the escaped mental patient. When the doctor lets on that he knows who she is and goes to call the police, she then attacks him and runs off with his hat and coat and a load of money from his wallet, leaving him seriously injured and paralyzed. The police are notified and he is hospitalized. His assistant/fiancée (Alma) continues to research the liquid as per his instructions until he returns to the laboratory but now confined to a wheelchair. The police are on her trail when they find her gown that she wore in the asylum.
Norma gets a job as a waitress in a local upscale hotel restaurant where she meets a very wealthy playboy who comes on to her, along with the hotel owner who also makes a pass at her, causing her to knock over the flask containing the precious liquid. He invites her up to his quarters where she then murders him and flees the hotel. She goes to the playboy's home and they discuss getting married and going to Paris where she can get away for good. They get married by a justice of the peace. Enroute to the airport, her face returns to the grisly scarring where her fiancé sees it and runs from the car onto the road. She then runs him over and takes off.
At this point, she drives to the surgeon's laboratory, demanding more of the fluid. He sees that her face has returned to scars. Determined to find it, she ransacks the laboratory, breaking beakers and test tubes, looking for the fluid. The doctor admits his mistake and tells her that she must go back to the asylum where he can properly treat and observe her. She refuses and breaks a flask with which she threatens to stab the doctor. Alma comes in and fights with Norma. To stop the fight, the doctor holds up a flask containing the fluid but then drops it on the floor, breaking it. Norma is completely berserk now and continues her quest to kill the doctor but meets her demise. She falls into the fluid and her face changes back to the beauty that she was while the police, the doctor and Alma wait for the coroner.
I enjoyed this film except for the obvious struggle of the Spanish actors to pronounce their lines in English. Fernando Rey didn't seem to have such a difficult time but the others did. Lisa Gaye adopted a convincing Spanish accent but slipped into her American persona at times. Her performance was outstanding as was that of Rey, which held my interest in the film. There is a lot of jumping from one scene to the next as if certain parts were cut from the American print which became annoying after a while but overall, a pretty good film.
It begins with a plastic surgeon (Fernando Rey) who has almost perfected a way to restore damaged human skin with a synthetic skin. He presents it to a board of surgeons at the local mental asylum where he wants permission to try it out there. The doctors reject his request so he continues on with his research. Meanwhile, a short time later a woman with a badly scarred side of her face approaches him and begs him to help her. He can see that she is a very beautiful girl who was severely burned by a lamp. What he doesn't see is that she is an escaped mental patient from the very hospital that rejected his request earlier. At first he asks her to come back another time but she is so desperate that he gives in to her and agrees to treat her. He then has her strip down to her slip and lie on the gurney in his laboratory. He has her take an oral sedative then injects her with more sedative as he begins to operate on her, alone. She emerges from the surgery heavily bandaged about her head and is kept in a room off the laboratory,her entire head swathed in thick bandages. Meanwhile, the local police are searching but are having no luck finding her. When her bandages are removed, her face is flawless with no sign of the burns. He advises her to apply a special fluid to the surgical site to keep the synthetic skin from hardening too quickly, something that he failed to address during his research. He then discovers that she is the escaped mental patient. When the doctor lets on that he knows who she is and goes to call the police, she then attacks him and runs off with his hat and coat and a load of money from his wallet, leaving him seriously injured and paralyzed. The police are notified and he is hospitalized. His assistant/fiancée (Alma) continues to research the liquid as per his instructions until he returns to the laboratory but now confined to a wheelchair. The police are on her trail when they find her gown that she wore in the asylum.
Norma gets a job as a waitress in a local upscale hotel restaurant where she meets a very wealthy playboy who comes on to her, along with the hotel owner who also makes a pass at her, causing her to knock over the flask containing the precious liquid. He invites her up to his quarters where she then murders him and flees the hotel. She goes to the playboy's home and they discuss getting married and going to Paris where she can get away for good. They get married by a justice of the peace. Enroute to the airport, her face returns to the grisly scarring where her fiancé sees it and runs from the car onto the road. She then runs him over and takes off.
At this point, she drives to the surgeon's laboratory, demanding more of the fluid. He sees that her face has returned to scars. Determined to find it, she ransacks the laboratory, breaking beakers and test tubes, looking for the fluid. The doctor admits his mistake and tells her that she must go back to the asylum where he can properly treat and observe her. She refuses and breaks a flask with which she threatens to stab the doctor. Alma comes in and fights with Norma. To stop the fight, the doctor holds up a flask containing the fluid but then drops it on the floor, breaking it. Norma is completely berserk now and continues her quest to kill the doctor but meets her demise. She falls into the fluid and her face changes back to the beauty that she was while the police, the doctor and Alma wait for the coroner.
I enjoyed this film except for the obvious struggle of the Spanish actors to pronounce their lines in English. Fernando Rey didn't seem to have such a difficult time but the others did. Lisa Gaye adopted a convincing Spanish accent but slipped into her American persona at times. Her performance was outstanding as was that of Rey, which held my interest in the film. There is a lot of jumping from one scene to the next as if certain parts were cut from the American print which became annoying after a while but overall, a pretty good film.
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