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The Body Snatcher
USA 1945
produced by
Val Lewton, Jack J. Gross (executive) for RKO
directed by Robert Wise
starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Russell Wade, Rita Corday, Sharyn Moffett, Donna Lee, Mary Gordon, Jim Moran, Robert Clarke, Carl Kent, Bill Williams, Milton Kibbee, Larry Wheat, Aina Constant
screenplay by Philip MacDonald, Carlos Keith (= Val Lewton), based on the short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, music by Roy Webb
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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Little Georgina (Sharyn Moffett) is paralyzed due to an accident, and
she has only one goal in life, to see that beautiful white horse of the
nice cabman, Gray (Boris Karloff), again, who drove her and her mother
(Rita Corday) to Dr. McFarlane (Henry Daniell), the only doctor who might
be able to cure the girl. But he knows what's wrong with her, knows what
to do, but refuses to do the surgery, insisting his duty's in teaching
now, much to the dismay of Georgina's mum, his own assistant Fetis
(Russell Wade), and even cabman Gray. You need to know here, Gray has some
power over McFarlane: Not only does he provide him with a regular flow of
corpses he snatches from the local cemetary - a capital crime at the time,
but absolutely necessary for the advancement of medicine -, he also holds
a dark secret of McFarlane's past, one that links both their stories to
legendary body snatchers Burke
and Hare. So when Gray leans in on McFarlane a bit, he agrees
to take on Georgina's case - but soon finds he lacks fresh spinal fluid
that would be absolutely necessary for the surgery ... something that
Fetis drops in Gray's presence, and Gray is quick to murder a street
singer (Donna Lee) and deliver her corpse to McFarlane. Fetis is appalled
about this, but McFarlane himself is quick to make excuses for Gray. The
surgery on Georgina is a theoretical success, but she lacks the will to
stand up and walk - which throws McFarlane into a deep depression.
Meanwhile, McFarlane's manservant Joseph (Bela Lugosi) has grown wise to
Gray's killing the street singer, so he tries to blackmail Gray - but Gray
just kills him, then delivers the body to McFarlane. This throws McFarlane
into a rage, and he kills Gray, who before croaking still has time to
curse McFarlane with the words "You'll never get rid of me."
Oddly enough, when McFarlane takes Gray's horse to the market to sell,
this triggers something in Georgina, and she finally jumps up to just see
the horse. Fetis, present when that occurs, dashes to tell McFarlane the
good news - which gives McFarlane new impetus to teach surgery, and since
there has been a funeral only today, he and Fetis dash to dig up the body
- but on their way back, McFarlane loses it, believing the corpse in his
coach with him to be Gray, and ultimately the resulting fear causes him to
have a fatal accident. A very nice piece of slowburn horror
that wisely chooses atmosphere over spectacle - except for the finale
mayhaps, but that still feels like a proper pay-off for the story - and
proper storytelling over scare tactics. And it's on the story level where The
Body Snatcher really excels, too, as it refuses to divide the
characters into good and evil, and gives all of them an ambiguous side, as
while McFarlane and Fetis are both of the "the end justifies the
need" variety when it comes to bodysnatching and ultimately even
murder, Gray's an irresponsible brute with a heart of gold, as not only
does he force McFarlane to operate on Georgina, he - posthumously through
his horse - is also the catalyst for the girl to walk again. And it's that
lack of proper hero and villain that makes this film so interesting and
really sucks one into the story, in a "what would I do?"-sort of
way. And of course, an slick yet moody directorial effort, and a top notch
cast - only Bela Lugosi, in his final team-up with Boris Karloff, is
wasted in a secondary role - make this a very strong piece of vintage
horror that really holds up even today.
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