In 1936, in Seattle, a nineteen-year-old budding filmmaker using his own equipment had already created over 50 stage/screenplays and was working on his seventh of nine films before he was 20. This director would go on to work for Disney Studios and direct and edit a 1950 Academy Award Documentary. Richard H. Lyford’s films have developed a following among film historians since his early “amateur” films are some of the first “indie” films ever created outside of Hollywood. Lyford experimented with special effects, double-exposures, and intense makeup and was becoming an excellent director. The film features Lyford’s family and friends playing a variety of nurses and doctors in an experimental medical facility. Barbara Berger, a favorite Lyford lead actress, went on to successfully work on stage and television.

“The Scalpel” is presented for the first time in nearly 90 years! To finish Lyford’s vision, a professionally mixed orchestral soundtrack, by NW film composer, Ed Hartman has been added to the presentation.

“The Scalpel” is a classic horror film in the tradition of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. Doctor Howard Van Cleve, played by Lyford, experiments outside the traditional and ethical bounds of the institute, using himself as a test subject. His injections transform his body into a raging monster attacking his fellow colleagues. Nurse Cummings, played by Barbara Berjer researches his experiments and discovers the doctor's dangerous experiments. The monster creates mayhem in the facility, and the film climaxes as the staff operates on a critically injured nurse while battling the monster.