Censorship was slowly breaking down, but it was still there. Especially in theatre. Large parts of Europe were still pretty socially conservative.
A navel baring bikini could get you a ticket in many places well into the 1950s.
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So I havenāt seen this episode beforeā¦blasphemous I know. I think I was burned out in the later seasons so I only watched sporadically during the last two original seasons.
But in watching this Iām 99% sure this is the movie that gave me a lifelong fear of dolls seeing it on TV as a small child.
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I remember the old Hugo Man of a Thousand Faces doll from the ā70s.
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Boy, donāt I know iāI mean, so Iāve heard!
Anyone know offhand why Scorcese called his automaton Hugo? (That was the name of the robot-doll-thing, right? Or was it the kid?)
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OMG! I havenāt seen that thing in decades. I seem to remember seeing this toy in the Christmas catalogs (do those still exist?) from stores like Pennyās or Montgomery Ward back when it came out. Looked really, really creepy.
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I always thought this movie was kinda dark for Mst3K. And itās actually pretty decent as well. Iāve said before on this site; Bryant Halliday is really good in this! Very creepy performance. Which is exactly what itās supposed to be! And Iāve always liked William Sylvester. Apparently he was a go-to actor in the UK when they needed an American. Plus, heās REALLY good at cleaning his glasses! 
As for the episode, itās pretty good. Itās got Vorelli, Butt girl, and ham! Those are words never to be typed on any other format but this one!
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As I said in the event Open Thread: There are times where Devil Doll succeeds in being really ooky and unsettling. Itās actually an effective, tight thriller. Itās really not a ābadā or even a ācheesyā movie (though I would hesitate calling it āgoodā).
But it shows you just how confident MST3K was in itself by Season Eight because they do a great job extracting humor out of it! With a story that leans hard on its stern, dreary tone, Mike and The Bots respond with riffs that go more towards detachment, observational, sarcasm and irony.
It definitely works as a Halloween episode. Itās also a fine option if youāre in the mood for something thatās a step-up in āmaturityā than the usual.
āYou think he likes ham? You should see me like ham!ā is among the all-timers!
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Iām glad we could watch this one together earlier. I donāt like to brave it alone. Itās that near-fatal combo of bleak, drab, and cheap, much like The She-Creature. Both movies also feature a villain who the creators desperately want to be ādarkly compelling.ā But in both cases, it just doesnāt work and heās merely distasteful without being interesting.
The sketches are decent. Iām particularly amused at poor Mikeās failure to get any British beer out of the deal. But at least he had the Nanites going to bat for him earlier. 
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What is it about ventriloquists and their dummies which provokes suspicion that something untoward is afoot? Itās possible that even Edgar Bergen wasnāt exempt from such distrust. Certainly, Mortimer Snerd is the sort of dummy youād be uncomfortable being alone with in a dark room. Itās this sort of unease which this movie feeds on in a big way.
Truth be told, I canāt comprehend why Vorelliās act is so popular. Is the overt hostility between him and Hugo that big a draw, or were the British of the time so starved for entertainment? Perhaps something got lost in the transition from the original short story to film. Another strike against it is that Mark English is another one of those ineffectual chump protagonists. He spends most of the film blundering about being thwarted at every turn, only to be saved by Hugoās falling out with Vorelli. Thereās also the uncomfortably sleazy content, in particular when it gets implied that Vorelli uses his hypnotic hold on Marianne to rape her (which provoked a strong reaction from Mike and the Bots).
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No! I canāt actually rememberā¦I think it might have been the kid. Or the old dude. Or something. Maybe Howard Hughes. Dunno.
But I did spend many a fretful, restive moment thinking of this when you mentioned recently Scorseseās movie in another thread.
The only I thing I know is that, in all possible worlds, Hugo is an ugly little dummy.
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Count me as yet another person who doesnāt get why anyone would pay to watch Vorelliās act. There arenāt enough medium dry sherries in the whole world, IMHOā¦ 
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I donāt even really like the funny ventriloquist acts. This would be deadly dull.
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āDearest, letās get away from our difficult family life full of tension and outer conflict and go watch someone elseās inner tension and conflict for 90 minutes. Itāll be just like a Pinter play, but if heād done all his writing at age seven.ā
āSmashing! Iāll go and fetch my wrap!ā
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Also, thanks to MST3K, every time I see a ventriloquist dummy, I think, āquick, you work the body, Iāll do the voice!ā
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lol. Iām not really upset by dummies or creepy dolls like so many other people. Iām firmly in the unfashionable camp which says that overt slaughter-machine bipeds in hockey masks and such are much harder to face.
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They donāt creep me out either, I just think ventriloquism is in the same vein as things like juggling- impressive, but not especially amusing.
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I definitely understand why thereās unease around them, and the whole Uncanny Valley thing and so on. Iām just not affected by it like other people are. If you show me that thread here about creepy playthings, my first thought is usually, āHow can I work this odd thing into one of my collages?ā Iāve made at least a few with dolls. No dummiesā¦ yet. Because I donāt have any such images in my collection.
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Donāt talk about our dummy, Martha
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I did not know this before, and I would not have guessed it from any sort of trademark visual style, but director Lindsay Shonteff also was at the helm for The Million Eyes of Sumuru.
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Another thing which puzzles me about this turkey is how they blast right out of the gate with that onslaught of orchestration, which isnāt really suitable for a trip in a cab with two silent characters. Then, throughout the movie, just about every time some music might help, thereās none happening.
Maybe it was a budget thingā¦? 
If Albert Glasser is the guy who holds you down and pummels you with music, this is the conductor who loads hunks of previously-abandoned music into a catapult and randomly flings 'em into your backyard.
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