Wednesday 7 October 2015

THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH (1959)


Directed by Terence Fisher, Starring: Anton Diffring, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court. Horror. UK, 1959, 83mins, Cert 15.

Paris 1890. Dr. Georges Bonner* has discovered the secret of eternal youth (he’s 104 years old but could pass for 30ish). Unfortunately the price to pay for immortality is to murder a young woman every 10 years, remove her fresh parathyroid glands, and exchange them via surgery with his own worn out ones. (He does however have a temporary ‘get out of jail free card’ whenever the 10 years are nearly up in the shape of a bubbling frothy green potion which sustains him for another 6+ hours at a time). But his usually reliable and now naturally ageing surgeon /co-inventor Professor Weiss has suffered a stroke and his hands can no longer perform the delicate surgery required to keep Dr Bonner youthful. And as if that wasn’t enough, Inspector Legris is on his trail – a trail strewn with dead mistresses who’ve posed for Dr Bonner over the years and whose sculptured busts serve as macabre artistic souvenirs marking the passage of time.

Adapted from the BarrĂ© Lyndon play ‘The Man in Half Moon Street’ (and previously filmed in 1945), Jimmy Sangster’s screenplay betrays its original stage origins with an abundance of talky scenes and a scarcity of horrific incident – at least for a Hammer film. It also suffers from the absence of Peter Cushing who turned down the lead role, and perhaps ultimately this is why the film is one of Hammer’s lesser known cinematic offerings.

Instead of Cushing we get melodramatic Anton Diffring, whose over-the-top stagey performance as the increasing maniacal gland snatcher raises titters rather than shivers: “I need a new watch. I need absolute accuracy!” 

There are some interesting philosophical exchanges between the mad doctor and his ageing co-conspirator Professor Weiss (Arnold MarlĂ©) on the acceptance of mortality (or not in the case of our mad doctor), and Christopher Lee provides solid support as Dr. Pierre Gerard – a fellow surgeon reluctant to perform the unethical surgery required to sustain Dr Bonner. Lee’s character holds firm until Dr Bonner threatens the life of his current romantic interest (and former lover of the mad doctor) Janine Dubois, played by the mesmerising Hazel Court.

This is very much Hammer-lite. Neither overtly gruesome (except for the odd nasty burning side-effect), nor overly sexy – Hazel Court’s semi-nude pose is carefully framed to conceal her modesty (there’s supposedly a topless ‘European’ version – but it’s not included here). The story borrows most obviously from ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, but there are also elements of HOUSE OF WAX and several fog-bound scenes have a distinct ‘Jack the Ripper’ air about them.

It’s enjoyable tame hokum, albeit with a rushed and incongruous ending (a character presumed dead inexplicably turns up alive; badly scarred and cackling insanely). And whilst it’s never going to be considered a classic as such, it’s an interesting curio in the Hammer catalogue.  

(*Listed as Bonnet’ on IMDb and in seemingly every source – but the name plaque outside the Doctor’s residence at the film’s opening clearly spells it: “Bonner”, so I’m sticking with it!)


***(out of 5*)
Paul Worts

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