The Body Snatcher (1945)

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Robert Louis Stevenson (short story)
Philip MacDonald (written for the screen by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1946 (Turkey)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

INVADED!...the sanctuary of the Dead!...by the Hero of Horror!...and the Master of Menace!

Plot:

A ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.

Plot Keywords:

Medical | Doctor | Medical Student | Cemetery | Murder

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Cabman John Gray
Bela Lugosi	...	Joseph
Henry Daniell	...	Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane
Edith Atwater	...	Meg Cameron
Russell Wade	...	Donald Fettes
Rita Corday	...	Mrs. Marsh
Sharyn Moffett	...	Georgina Marsh
Donna Lee	...	Street Singer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ted Billings	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Bobby Burns	...	Mourner (uncredited)
Robert Clarke	...	Richardson - Medical Student (uncredited)
Aina Constant	...	Maidservant (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Mary McBride (uncredited)
Carl Kent	...	Gilchrist - Medical Student (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Dan (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Pub Patron (uncredited)
Jim Moran	...	Angus - Horse Trader (uncredited)
Jack Welch	...	Boy (uncredited)
Larry Wheat	...	Salesman (uncredited)
Bill Williams	...	Survis - Medical Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Wise

Writing credits
Robert Louis Stevenson		(short story)
Philip MacDonald		(written for the screen by) and
Val Lewton		(written for the screen by) (as Carlos Keith)

Produced by
Jack J. Gross	....	executive producer
Val Lewton	....	producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
Robert De Grasse		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
J.R. Whittredge

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
Walter E. Keller

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera
John Sturtevant		(set decorations)

Costume Design by
Renié

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harry Scott	....	assistant director
Nate Levinson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bailey Fesler	....	recordist
Terry Kellum	....	rerecordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Burke	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (presents) (as R K O Radio Pictures, Inc.)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1945) (USA) (theatrical) (as An R K O Radio Picture)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (as An R K O Radio Picture)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Image Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• RKO Home Video (video)
• Turner Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Body Snatcher'" - USA (complete title)

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #10563) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Australia:PG | Germany:12 (video rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) (1998) (1999)

Filming Locations:

RKO Ranch, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This film featured the 8th and last on-screen teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Filming took place October 25-November 17 1944, delaying the completion of Karloff's "Isle of the Dead".

Goofs:

Continuity: When John Gray puts the blade into the bread, it moves dramatically over the next few shots.

Quotes:

Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane:Gray, I must be rid of you. You've become a cancer, a malignant evil cancer rotting my mind.
Cabman John Gray:You've made a disease of me, eh, Toddy?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Huntingtower

Great atmospheric chiller!

Val Lewton has produced some of the most important horror classics of all time. His collaborations with the great Jacques Tourneur are the most noteworthy in his filmography, but some of the others are of note also. Like this one for example. The Body Snatcher is a psychological horror film, a study of guilt, and an expose on how people sometimes have to do bad things in order to do good, even though those bad deeds may well consume them. This is shown through the story of Wolfe MacFarlane, a doctor and teacher of medicine that employs cabbie John Gray to steal corpses from the local cemetery so that he can use them to show his students how to operate on a patient. However, this arrangement has put the cabbie/gravedigger in a position of power over the upper class doctor, and that is something that John Gray intends to capitalise on...

Boris Karloff stars as the grave digging John Gray, and does an absolutely excellent job with it. Karloff has to prove nothing to nobody after his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster, but his embodiment of exactly what you would expect a grave robbing, amoral lower class man to be like is right on cue. Fellow legend Bela Lugosi makes a welcome, if brief appearance also and the other lead role is taken by Henry Daniell. I haven't seen this man before...well, I didn't think I had - he's actually been in many well-respected classics including The Philadelphia Story and The Great Dictator. He does a great job as the lead; his performance bodes well with the film, and just like Karloff he's very believable in his role. The real star of the show, however, is the lush black and white cinematography which capture's the movie's many beautiful settings. Val Lewton has become famous for capturing this sort of atmosphere, and The Body Snatcher is one of the films that does it best.

The use of 'less is more' is right on cue in this film, and there is one sequence in particular involving Boris Karloff, a dark alley and a street singer that will be of particular note to film fans. In short; The Body Snatcher is a great horror film, and one that anyone who considers themselves a fan of great horror will not want to miss!