Line #5 Film/TheWalkingDead1936


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_walking_dead.jpg]]
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3	''The Walking Dead'' is a 1936 American horror film directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz, starring Creator/BorisKarloff and featuring Creator/EdmundGwenn, Ricardo Cortez and Marguerite Churchill in supporting roles.
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5	Down-on-his-luck John Ellman is framed for a judge’s murder. After he is convicted and sentenced to death, witnesses come forward and prove his innocence, but it's too late for a stay to be granted and Ellman is executed. A doctor then uses an experimental procedure to restore him to life, although the full outcome is other than expected.
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8	!!Tropes:
9	* AmoralAttorney: Nolan is one of the top defence attorneys in the city, and secretly a high-ranking member of TheSyndicate that controls it. He takes on the job of defending John Ellman specifically so he can ensure Ellman is found guilty and gets the death penalty. After Elllman is brought back to life, he has himself appointed Ellman's guardian so he can keep control of the situation, and attempts to have Ellman committed to a psychiatric institution.
10	* BadGuysPlayPool: The racketeers who control TheSyndicate are shooting pool while they discuss their plan to assassinate Judge Shaw. ProfessionalKiller Trigger Smith underlines his claim to never miss by making a particularly difficult trick shot.
11	* BottomLessMagazines: Nolan and Loder fire 17 shots from a six-shot revolver without reloading.
12	* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: On finding Ellman in his bedroom, Merritt grabs a chair and attempts to hit him with it.
13	* DeathAmnesia: After Dr. Beaumont brings John Ellman back from the dead, he is desperate to know what lies beyond death. However, Ellman either cannot remember or cannot express (or perhaps is forbidden from expressing) what he experienced, and anything he does say is frustratingly vague. The one thing he does know is that Beaumont [[UnwantedRevival should not have brought him back]].
14	* DestinationDefenestration: Merritt suffers a heart attack while trying to attack Ellman [[ChairmanOfTheBrawl with a chair]] and falls backwards through his bedroom window.
15	* FlatlinePlotline: Dr. Beaumont uses an experimental procedure to bring John Ellman back to life after he has been wrongly executed. After Dr. Beaumont brings John back, he is desperate to know what lies beyond death. However, Ellman [[OffscreenAfterlife either cannot remember or cannot express (or perhaps is forbidden from expressing) what he experienced]], and anything he does say is frustratingly vague. The one thing he does know is that Beaumont [[UnwantedRevival should not have brought him back]].
16	* FrameUp: TheSyndicate frames John Ellman for the murder of Judge Shaw.
17	* FrightDeathtrap: Three of the men responsible for Ellman's execution die as a result of seeing coming for them without him laying a hand on them. Smith trips over a table and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard shoots himself with his own gun]]; Blackwood panics and [[LookBothWays runs in front of a train]]; and Merritt suffers a heart attack and [[DestinationDefenestration falls out a window]].
18	* TheGamblingAddict: ComicRelief character Betcha keeps offering bystanders odds on anything from the outcome of a trial to whether he catches the next green light. He doesn't win a single bet he makes in the entire film.
19	* HighVoltageDeath: The last two villains, Nolan and Loder, die when their car skids off the road and knocks over a power pole; causing the power lines to fall on their car. This is a KarmicDeath as it was their FrameUp that sent John Ellman to the electric chair.
20	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: ProfessionalKiller Trigger Smith trips over a table while trying to get away from Ellman and shoots himself with his own gun.
21	* JustGotOutOfJail: TheSyndicate picks John Ellman to be the fall guy for the murder of Judge Shaw because he has just been released from prison after serving a 10 sentence he received from the judge.
22	* KarmicDeath: Having just killed John Ellman for the second time, Nolan and Loder suffer a HighVoltageDeath when they crash their car and power lines fall on it. This is karmic because it was their FrameUp that sent Ellman to the electric chair in the first place.
23	* LockedIntoStrangeness: After being brought back from the dead, John Ellman develops a skunk stripe down one side of his hair.
24	* LookBothWays: On seeing Ellman coming for him at the railway station, Blackwood panics and runs into the path of an oncoming train.
25	* OffscreenAfterlife: After Dr. Beaumont brings John Ellman back from the dead, he is desperate to know what lies beyond death. However, Ellman either cannot remember or cannot express (or perhaps is forbidden from expressing) what he experienced, and anything he does say is frustratingly vague. The one thing he does know is that Beaumont [[UnwantedRevival should not have brought him back]].
26	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Nolan's driver is a [[TheGamblingAddict gambling addict]] known only as Betcha.
27	* ProfessionalKiller: Trigger Smith is a high-priced hitman brought in by TheSyndicate to murder Judge Shaw and [[FrameUp frame]] John Ellman for the crime.
28	* RailroadTracksOfDoom: Blackwood arrives at the railroad station, intending to skip town. When he finds Ellman waiting for him, he panics and tries to get away by running across the tracks, and [[LookBothWays directly into the path of an oncoming train]].
29	* ShownTheirWork: The "glass heart" machine used to revive Karloff's dead character was said to be "nearly a prefect replica" of an actual perfusion pump--a device designed to keep organs alive outside an organism's body--which had been built by Charles Lindbergh, when the legendary pilot and engineer was working with a Nobel-winning scientist at New York's Rockefeller Institute research labs in the mid-1930s.
30	* SpinningPaper: A succession of newspaper headlines are used to show the progress of Ellman's trial and his journey to the electric chair.
31	* TheSyndicate: District Attorney Werner describes an elite group of racketeers who hold the entire city under their collective thumb. When Judge Shaw sends one of their number to prison, they conspire to murder Shaw and frame John Ellman for the crime.
32	* TrespassingToTalk: Whatever strange force that enables Ellman to know who was responsible for his FrameUp also compels him to visit them and ask them why. As a result, both Smith and Merritt are startled to find Ellman in their homes asking them questions. Neither of them feel like talking.
33	* UnwantedRevival: Dr. Beaumont uses an experimental procedure to bring John Ellman back to live after he has been wrongly executed. In his more lucid moments, Ellman tells Beaumont that he should have left him dead.
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Context Film / TheWalkingDead1936