Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Man Without a Body

  • 19571957
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
337
YOUR RATING
The Man Without a Body (1957)
A wealthy business man discovers he has a brain tumor and seeks medical help. The business man finds a scientist experimenting with transplanting monkey heads on different monkey bodies. The business man decides to steal the head of Nostradamus from the prophet's crypt.
Play trailer1:34
1 Video
2 Photos
HorrorSci-Fi
A wealthy business man discovers he has a brain tumor and seeks medical help. The business man finds a scientist experimenting with transplanting monkey heads on different monkey bodies. The... Read allA wealthy business man discovers he has a brain tumor and seeks medical help. The business man finds a scientist experimenting with transplanting monkey heads on different monkey bodies. The business man decides to steal the head of Nostradamus from the prophet's crypt.A wealthy business man discovers he has a brain tumor and seeks medical help. The business man finds a scientist experimenting with transplanting monkey heads on different monkey bodies. The business man decides to steal the head of Nostradamus from the prophet's crypt.
IMDb RATING
4.6/10
337
YOUR RATING
    • Charles Saunders
    • W. Lee Wilder
    • William Grote(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Robert Hutton
    • George Coulouris
    • Julia Arnall
    • Charles Saunders
    • W. Lee Wilder
    • William Grote(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Robert Hutton
    • George Coulouris
    • Julia Arnall
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 19User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 1:34
    Watch Trailer

    Photos

    Frank Marth in Fright (1956)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert Hutton
    Robert Hutton
    • Dr. Phil R. Merritt
    George Coulouris
    George Coulouris
    • Karl Brussard
    Julia Arnall
    Julia Arnall
    • Jean Cramer
    Nadja Regin
    Nadja Regin
    • Odette Vernet
    Sheldon Lawrence
    • Dr. Lew Waldenhouse
    Peter Copley
    Peter Copley
    • Leslie
    Michael Golden
    • Nostradamus
    Norman Shelley
    • Dr. Alexander
    Stanley Van Beers
    • Madame Tussaud's Guide
    • (as Stanley van Beers)
    Tony Quinn
    • Dr. Brandon
    Maurice Kaufmann
    Maurice Kaufmann
    • Chauffeur
    • (as Maurice Kaufman)
    William Sherwood
    • Dr. Charot
    Edwin Ellis
    • Publican
    Donald Morley
    Donald Morley
    • Stockbroker
    Frank Forsyth
    Frank Forsyth
    • Detective
    Kim Parker
    Kim Parker
    • Maid - Suzanne
    Ernest Bale
    • Customs Officer
    Ted Carroll
    Ted Carroll
    • Graverobber
    • (uncredited)
      • Charles Saunders
      • W. Lee Wilder
      • William Grote(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Caught
    7.0
    Caught
    Fire Maidens of Outer Space
    2.5
    Fire Maidens of Outer Space
    The Children
    5.4
    The Children
    Target Earth
    5.6
    Target Earth
    Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
    3.7
    Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
    The Intruder Within
    4.7
    The Intruder Within
    Satan's Triangle
    6.0
    Satan's Triangle
    Beast from Haunted Cave
    4.3
    Beast from Haunted Cave
    The World Beyond
    6.5
    The World Beyond
    The Strange World of Planet X
    4.8
    The Strange World of Planet X
    Fiend Without a Face
    6.1
    Fiend Without a Face
    The Woman Eater
    4.6
    The Woman Eater

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In an interview, Robert Hutton said that credited co-director Charles Saunders was hired to meet a British government requirement that a certain percentage of British citizens had to be hired on non-British productions filmed in England. Hutton said that although Saunders was always on the set, he had nothing to do with actually directing the picture.
    • Goofs
      In the movie, Nostradamus is shown as having black hair. Most, if not all, portraits and paintings of Nostradamus depict him as having blonde or light-brown hair.
    • Connections
      Featured in TJ and the All Night Theatre: The Man Without a Body (1978)

    User reviews19

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    2/10
    Even Nostradamus could not have predicted this mess.
    Also known as "The Movie Without An Actor," "The Film Without a Plot," and "The Screenwriter Without a Clue."

    Hilariously bad brain-transplant movie. George Coulouris plays a rich scumball who is dying of a brain tumor. He gets wind of some novel experiments being conducted by a brain surgeon, played in mind-numbingly dull fashion by Robert Hutton. After visiting Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum (where the rest of the cast apparently was found), Coulouris hits on the idea of digging up Nostradamus' head and making use of the prognosticator's brain.

    Coulouris manages to get the head through customs. If it had been 12 ounces of toothpaste, he would have been wrestled to the ground. Hutton is curious about the head's identity. However, that doesn't seem to deter him, or his two assistants Jean and Lew (their real names are unimportant), from trying to restore the brain to life. This is one of the many flaws (I lost count) in this movie. These medical people are absolutely sane, calm, dedicated, and see nothing odd about what they are doing. They have a monkey's head and a floating eye in their lab. Meanwhile, the audience is screaming, "HEY, ARE ALL YOU PEOPLE NUTS?"

    In a typical subplot, Lew takes up with Coulouris' French tart, Odette, who wants to see her sugar daddy offed so she can cash in. Will Lew cave? What do you think?

    From here on, the film becomes a collection of badly edited scenes, where people just seem to appear out of nowhere and do crazy things. Meanwhile, Nostradamus' beard is growing, and his head introduces himself to Hutton in perfect English. I suppose if you can buy the idea that Nostradamus' head is alive, then you'll swallow anything that follows (I'd suggest cyanide).

    In the finale, Nostradamus' head gets transplanted onto Lew's body and the creature wanders around the streets for a few minutes. The authorities see nothing unusual in this. Eventually, Coulouris catches up with "it." I won't give away the ending, but let's just say Coulouris takes the fall, while Nostradamus and Lew go their "separate" ways.

    The only interesting part of this film, besides the French tart, is when Nostradamus' head gets onto Coulouris (figuratively) and decides to wreck his financial empire. Seeing Coulouris in an undershirt also provides some camp value. This could have been a decent piece of schlock, but no.

    Why did this film need two directors? Because while one held the megaphone and yelled "Action!" the other held his barf bag.
    helpful•0
    0
    • scsu1975
    • Nov 16, 2022

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 1958 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production company
      • Filmplays Ltd.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 20 minutes
      • Black and White

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    The Man Without a Body (1957)
    Top Gap
    What is the English language plot outline for The Man Without a Body (1957)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.