The Body Snatcher (1945) is based the short story The Body Snatcher (1884) by Robert Louis Stevenson which was based loosely
on the Burke and Hare murders also
known as the West Port murders. Burke
and Hare were accused of committing a string of murders in Edinburgh, Scotland
over a period of approximately ten months in 1828. William Burke and William
Hare reportedly sold 16 corpses to a Doctor Robert Knox for his anatomy
lectures. When faced with a shortage of suitable corpses, Burke and Hare began
murdering people and selling the bodies to the unsuspecting Dr. Knox.
The film was directed by Robert Wise also known for
directing such films as The Curse of the Cat People (1944),
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture
(1979). The film's producer Val Lewton co-wrote the screen play under the name
of "Carlos Keith" with Phillip MacDonald.
The film starred
Boris Karloff as John Gray ( the Body snatcher), Bela Lugosi as Joseph, and
Henry Daniell as Dr. McFarland.
When Val Lewton learned
that RKO had teamed him up with Boris Karloff for a three picture deal,
Lewton was not happy. However after a meeting
with Karloff and Robert Wise, Lewton changed his mind when he learned that
Karloff was seeking to distance himself from the Universal style of horror for
chance to return to more literate acting.
RKO snatched up another Universal horror star, Bela Lugosi and Lewton was instructed
to create a role for Lugosi. Both Karloff and Lugosi delivered what is
considered to be one of their best performances of their careers. Sadly, this film would be the last to feature both Boris
Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
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