| Welcome to In The Balcony. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Plus, you'll be eligible for the monthly $1 million prize. (Not really.) Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| The Man who could Cheat Death (1958) | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 14 2012, 02:06 PM (339 Views) | |
| Laughing Gravy | Sep 14 2012, 02:06 PM Post #1 |
|
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook!
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
![]() While The Hound of the Baskervilles was in production, Hammer signed a deal with Paramount to remake The Man in Half-Moon Street (1944); Jimmy Sangster adapted the old screenplay (which was based on a stage play) as The Man in the Rue Noire. Peter Cushing decided he needed a break as the Holmes film was ending, and Anton Diffring - who had starred in a BBC-TV adaptation of the play - was brought in to star, with Christopher Lee as the second male lead and the lovely Hazel Court back in the bustier. The censors were much happier this time, warning only to watch the sound effects (the script described "sizzling" when the mad doctor touched the flesh of his victims) and the boobs on Miss Court (we were ALL watching the latter; alas, topless scenes were edited out of the British and American releases, and aren't to be found on the DVD or Blu-ray). What ended up being released in the summer of 1958 was a rather limp, very talky horror film on the usual Hammer miniscule sets (including leftovers from the Dracula and Frankenstein offerings). No idea why, but it wasn't until the film was shot, edited, scored and in the can that the title was changed. Diffring, who not only doctors but sculptors, needs a gland transplant every ten years but it's okay, he's made it to 104 and still looks about 40. Every decade one of his models just... disappears, you see. His latest sweetie loves him even though he's rather creepy and unromantic. Oh, well, her OTHER beau is Christopher Lee, so he's actually fairly creepy too, although nothing on the 104-year-old guy, who also has to take a secret potion every six hours to tide him over until his operation. When the elderly doctor who normally does the operation refuses to help, Diffring kills him and kidnaps Court to force Lee to help him and say, there's an awful lot of plot and coercion and not much horror, action, or thrills going on here, is there? A couple of times in the picture, Diffring turns into what the script describes as a luminescent man whose skeleton can be seen through the skin; what we get is green makeup, Fred Allen-like eye bags, and a flashlight under his chin. He DOES have a sizzling touch, though. In the end, he turns into his rightful age but just in case that won't kill him, well, you know how easily old laboratories are consumed by flames. No great shakes as a drama, melodrama, or horror film, especially when compared to a good Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movie or Portrait of Dorian Gray. Diffring is no Cushing, and I sure hope the footage of the rest of Miss Court shows up before I have to watch this again. I have the DVD (from Legend, licensed from Paramount) and it's only adequate; I understand the Blu-ray is only slightly better. There are no extras. Hammer moved on to another war picture, Yesterday's Enemy, with Stanley Baker, Guy Rolfe, and Leo McKern. Of more interest, at least in my house, was the announcement on August 20, 1958, that Hammer and Universal-International had signed a finance and distribution agreement that would give Hammer remake rights to Universal's storied horror film library; the first titles, it was announced, would be The Phantom of the Opera, The Invisible Man, and The Mummy. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
![]() |
|
| Cinema Gal | Sep 25 2012, 07:41 AM Post #2 |
|
Balcony Gang
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I kind of liked this movie. I didn't think it was too talkie for me. He was a very good sculptor, I did enjoy the subject matter
|
![]() |
|
| « Previous Topic · Shock Theatre · Next Topic » |





![]](http://z2.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)





12:20 AM Jul 11