by Hans J. Wollstein
review
Returning to both the theme and locations of his earlier The Vampire Bat (1933), director Frank R. Strayer is at it again but in much more stately fashion. Where the earlier excursion into the macabre zipped by with commendable speed, Condemned to Live takes its sweet old time to get from point A to the inevitable point B, an exercise in tedium that offers a modern audience plenty of opportunity to admire such classic sets as the Hunchback of Notre Dame's bell tower, the famous Castle Frankenstein, the Middle European village and other Universal landmarks, some of whom remain attractions to this very day. The acting and dialogue is early talkie cumbersome and Ralph Morgan amply demonstrates why he never became as popular as brother Frank.
