IMDb > The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)

The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   236 votes
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Director:
Terence Fisher
Writers:
Barré Lyndon (play)
Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Man Who Could Cheat Death on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
June 1959 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi more
Tagline:
His terrifying secret - his hideous obsession made him... [The Man Who Could Cheat Death]
Plot:
A remake of "The Man in Half Moon Street" (1945) (qv.). Dr. Bonner plans to live forever through periodic gland transplants from younger... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
User Comments:
Diffring Is Chilling more (12 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Anton Diffring ... Dr. Georges Bonnet
Hazel Court ... Janine Dubois

Christopher Lee ... Dr. Pierre Gerard
Arnold Marlé ... Prof. Ludwig Weiss
Delphi Lawrence ... Margo Phillipe
Francis De Wolff ... Insp. LeGris
Gerda Larsen ... Street Girl
Middleton Woods ... Little Man
Michael Ripper ... Morgue Attendant
Denis Shaw ... Tavern Customer
Ian Hewitson ... Roget
Frederick Rawlings ... Footman
Marie Burke ... Woman At Private View
Charles Lloyd Pack ... Man At Private View
John Harrison ... Servant
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
83 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
Certification:
Finland:(Banned) (1960) | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18 | UK:X
Filming Locations:
Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK
Company:
Cadogan Films more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Anton Diffring was second choice for Dr. Bonnet. more
Movie Connections:
Version of The Man in Half Moon Street (1945) more

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User Comments

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
Diffring Is Chilling, 3 November 2008
7/10
Author: ferbs54 from United States

"The Man Who Could Cheat Death" is a well-put-together Hammer film from 1959 that boasts a dream cast of horror veterans, an intelligent script and high production values. Still, I can almost predict what the film's inevitable detractors will say: that it is overly talky and builds to a climax that is something of a letdown. And while these charges do have a patina of truth to them, the picture's sterling acting from its three leads more than makes up for any deficits. In the picture we meet Georges Bonnet, a doctor in the Paris of 1890, played by German actor Anton Diffring (who had so impressed me recently in his next starring role, in the following year's "Circus of Horrors"). Though seemingly blessed with all that life can offer--including a lucrative practice and the love of society lady Janine Dubois, played by the luscious Hazel Court--in truth, Bonnet is a desperate man. Unless he can coerce surgeon Pierre Gerard (the always dependable Christopher Lee) to operate on him, and take the place of his ailing friend, Dr. Weiss, the life-preserving serum that has been keeping him alive for--HOW long?!?!--will very shortly lose its mojo. In the role of the aged Dr. Weiss, Arnold Marle almost steals the show as Bonnet's patient but increasingly appalled voice of morality and reason, and his terrific thesping is more than adequately matched by those three horror icons. Yes, the film IS talky, but never dull, and Diffring brings a chilling intensity to his role and really makes us feel the angst, isolation and desperate strait of his unique situation. And yes, though the picture ends a tad abruptly and with something of a disappointment in the makeup department, most fans of restrained, levelheaded and intelligent British horror should, I feel, be left happily grinning. In all, another winner from the great House of Hammer.

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