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 Barré
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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