Tod Browning (Freaks, Dracula, The Unknown, etc.) could translate horror to the screen with unsettling hyper-realism, and his 1936 The Devil Doll was one of the great works of thirties grotesque. It combines two of Browning's key themes: greed as a motivating force, and transvestitism as a modus operandi. An “old woman"--actually a Devil's Island escapee (Lionel Barrymore) in drag--possesses the ability of making miniature dolls out of human beings and then manipulating them, through demonic telepathic commands, to his wicked will. “Tenacity of willpower is another important trait found in Browning's central characters,” comments Stuart Rosenthal (The Hollywood Professionals: Tod Browning et. al.): “It...allows them to manipulate those with weaker personalities through a kind of mental control.... Even when Barrymore is not in physical proximity to the on-screen action, his presence is felt through the claustrophobic quality of the images, which are composed with bar-like parallel lines (shadows of venetian blinds...etc.)....” For those who appreciate pyrotechnics, The Devil Doll is fantastic film fun, with its split screen and glass shots, and oversized sets with monstrous props on which tiny people cavort to save their lives--and take the lives of others.