The Man Who Could Cheat Death

The Man Who Could Cheat Death is directed by Terence Fisher and adapted to screenplay by Jimmy Sangster from the Barré Lyndon play The Man in Half Moon Street. It stars Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, Christopher Lee, Arnold Marlé, Francis de Wolff and Delphi Lawrence. Out of Hammer Film Productions, music is by Richard Rodney Bennett and Technicolor photography by Jack Asher.

Paris 1890 and sculptor Georges Bonnet (Diffring) has perfected a way to halt the aging process. Trouble is that it involves murdering young women so as to extract their parathyroid gland to formulate his eternal life elixir.

Disappointingly weak Hammer Horror that would be near unwatchable were it not for the efforts of Asher, Fisher and Bernard Robinson (production design). The source story is made to measure for Hammer, where berserker science mixes with Gothic murder tones, all the ingredients are there for a lively fusion of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with The Picture of Dorian Gray. But the film is more concerned with much talking and posturing, thinking that sci-fi babble and moral quandaries are going to keep things interesting. We of course want some meat and reasoning for main characters to impact on the plotting, but using up an hour for it, in a film that only runs an hour and twenty minutes, leaves very little room for thrills and drama. It also demands that the finale be explosive, a whirlwind of horror revelations and biting comeuppance, sadly the ending we get is rather a damp squib.

Things aren't helped by the casting of Diffring, who overacts far to often, or that Lee is underwritten and firmly disinterested in making the thin characterisation work. Court looks ravishing and gives the film its best performance, but she is also hindered by a bare bones script from the usually excellent Sangster. The story just plods to its inevitable conclusion, the screenplay never daring to veer away from the safe formula road. While much of the detective work from de Wolff's Inspector LeGris leaves a great deal to be desired. On the plus side it looks real nice, a triumph over low budget restrictions, the minimal sets dressed in period splendour, the colour sizzling and Fisher uses wide shots to make certain scenes that are played out on tiny sets actually look expansive.

Devoid of up-tempo terror and finishing on a whimper, this is very much average Hammer and not easily recommended to the horror faithful. 5/10

Hammer's most famous and greatest 'mad science' franchise is, of course, the great Frankenstein series starring the almighty Peter Cushing as the ruthless and yet somehow very likable Baron Victor Frankenstein. While THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH (1959) is by no means as great as Hammer's Frankenstein films it is a very atmospheric mad-scientist-flick with an excellent cast. Directed by Hammer's Number one, Terence Fisher, THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH is an adaptation of a play that was first filmed as THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (1945) which I haven't seen yet.

The mad scientist in this film is played by the always-sinister Anton Diffring, who had played Baron Frankenstein in Hammer's own TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN, a 1958 pilot for a planned Frankenstein TV-show that wasn't made. Actually, Diffring's character in this movie, Dr. George Bonner isn't really that 'mad', regarding his situation: In Paris of 1890, Dr. Bonner is a man who seemingly is in his 40s. However, he is in fact 104 years old and keeps his youth with the aid of a serum. In order to survive, he needs periodic gland transplants from young and healthy victims. Needless to say he is willing to kill for his life...

THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH co-stars two Hammer icons, British Horror-beauty Hazel Court and the inimitable Christopher Lee. Both deliver great performances as usual. Personally I like Christopher Lee most when he is evil, but hero-roles such as in this film also fit him well. Anton Diffring is a specialist for sinister and macabre characters, and he is once again excellent here. 19th century Paris is a good setting for a Hammer film; even though most of the movie plays indoors here, director Fisher once again makes great use of the Hammer-typical visuals, creating a thick Gothic atmosphere. Overall, THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH offers few surprises and may not be an essential must-see, but it is tense and atmospheric Gothic Horror and should not be missed by my fellow Hammer-fans.

Without even knowing anything about the story or themes of "The Man Who Could Cheat Death", you can already rest assured for 100% that the film will be a worthwhile, adequate and highly competent viewing experience. How so? Because this is a horror/Sci-Fi thriller produced by Hammer Studios during their absolute booming years (late 50's – early 60's) and involving a handful of their elite frequent collaborators. "The Man Who Could Cheat Death" is directed by no less then Terence Fisher, scripted by Jimmy Sangster and starring Christopher Lee and muse Hazel Court. In fact, the only one skipping this Hammer party is Peter Cushing, but apparently he didn't like the principal role and dropped out in favor of the underrated Anton Diffring ("Circus of Horror", "The Beast Must Die"). But even without Hammer and all the prominent names involved, this film was guaranteed to entertain. Horror stories centering on mad scientists desperately trying to obtain eternal life are always great fun, especially if their experiment require the lives of innocent others. Georges Bonner is such a brilliant mind who found immortality through a series of gland transplants from very reluctant donors. Immortality has its disadvantages, however, as Dr. Bonner is forced to start a whole new life somewhere else every ten years, and therefore must avoid falling in love with his model victims, and on top of everything he turns green and psychopathic near the end of the ten year period. At 104 years of age, he's currently in the year 1890 in Paris and time is running out for him. Additional troubles arise when his loyal friend and surgeon Dr. Weiss has become too old and ill to perform another operation and Dr. Bonner bumps back into a past love interest. "The Man Who Could Cheat Death" opens very atmospheric, morbidly Victorian and very Hammer-like. The opening sequence is in fact another reference towards the contemporary Jack The Ripper murders, even though immediately after the action moves to Paris. Sadly, in spite of the very promising intro, it takes an awful long time before anything significantly happens after that. What follows is a lot of overlong and talkative sequences between Bonner and his long lost love interest, his new rival, his collaborator and even the police. The only truly horrific and tense moments occur when Dr. Bonner is in dire need of his life pro- longing serum. Whenever that happens, his face and hand turn bright green and he goes completely bonkers, killing victims through melting their skins by the bare touch of his hand. Despite the rather slow and uneventful first hour, "The Man Who Could Cheat Death" benefices from an exciting finale with a few gruesome moments and provocative make-up effects for the time. I've always thought of Anton Diffring as a very underrated horror actor, so I'm glad he appeared in the lead role of this Hammer production. Admittedly his performance is over-the-top occasionally, but at other times he's definitely menacing and creepy. Christopher Lee is terrific as always, though this time in a seldom heroic and eloquent role. Around that time, he was mainly portraying monsters of all sorts in Hammer films. My personal favorite performance comes from Arnold Marlé as the intelligent but aging Dr. Ludwig Weiss.

"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.

Although not one of Hammer's best films, it is a good movie. The Victorian setting (although it is supposed to take place in Paris) is very charming. Some people have criticized the use of heavy fog in Paris but I feel it adds to the eerie and mysterious atmosphere. Christopher Lee is very effective and is a hero - which is rare in early Hammer films. Hazel Court is absolutely beautiful as the heroine. The plot is interesting and moves quite well. Compared to some other old movies that have been released on DVD, this one is a winner. It is truly a film that belongs in a Hammer fan's collection. Too bad Peter Cushing was not in the film because it would have been even better. I hope some Hammer fans read this and make a plea to have the movie released on DVD. At least it could be one movie of a double feature.