Le Récupérateur de Cadavres

Titre original : The Body Snatcher

1945
Approved
1h 18m

ÉVALUATION IMDb

7,3/10

11 k

MA NOTE

Boris Karloff in Le Récupérateur de Cadavres (1945)

Liretrailer1 min 40 s

1 vidéo

99+ photos

Horror Thriller

Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueA ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.A ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.A ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.

Voir l’information sur la production à IMDbPro

ÉVALUATION IMDb

7,3/10

11 k

MA NOTE

Voir l’information sur la production à IMDbPro

Prix
- 3 nominations au total

Mrs. Marsh
(as Rita Corday)

Sharyn Moffett

Georgina Marsh

Donna Lee

Street Singer

Ted Billings

Townsman
(uncredited)

Bobby Burns

Mourner
(uncredited)

Robert Clarke

Richardson - Medical Student
(uncredited)

Aina Constant

Maidservant
(uncredited)

Mary Gordon

Mrs. Mary McBride
(uncredited)

Carl Kent

Gilchrist - Medical Student
(uncredited)

Milton Kibbee

Dan
(uncredited)

Ethan Laidlaw

Pub Patron
(uncredited)

Jim Moran

Angus - Horse Trader
(uncredited)

Jack Welch

Boy
(uncredited)

Histoire

Modifier

Le saviez-vous

Modifier

Anecdotes
Although based on a fictional short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, the author came up with the idea from actual events occurring in 19th century England and Edinburgh, Scotland in 1827, called the West Port murders of 1828.

At that time, medical schools lacked sufficient funding or the resources to provide their students with cadavers for study. Seeing a financial opportunity there, William Burke suggested to his landlord, William Hare, that they sell the body of a recently deceased boarder to Dr. Robert Knox, an instructor at a Surgeon's Square anatomy school. Knox was grateful to have a specimen for his class and Burke and Hare began a lucrative operation that quickly moved from grave-robbing to murder. They killed their victims by suffocating or "burking" them. Estimates were that they murdered up to 28 people, preying on drunks, prostitutes, and the destitute elderly.

Gaffes
At the beginning, a castle is shown during the credits, then "In Edinburgh In 1831-"; then after that there is a closer view of the castle and a horse and carriage. Two or three automobiles are parked next to the castle.

Citations
Cabman John Gray: I am a small man, a humble man. Being poor I have had to do much that I did not want to do. But so long as the great Dr McFarlane comes to my whistle, that long am I a man. If I have not that then I have nothing. Then I am only a cabman and a grave robber. You'll never get rid of me, Toddy.

Générique farfelu
Opening credits prologue: In Edinburgh, in 1831-

Autres versions
Five cuts were made by the British censors on its initial release, mainly references to Burke and Hare, the original bodysnatchers. This cut print has been the only one available in the UK until 1998, when a complete version appeared on the budget video label 4-Front.

Connexions
Edited into Mondo Lugosi - A Vampire's Scrapbook (1987)

Bandes originales
Huntingtower
(uncredited)
("When Ye Gang Awa, Jamie")
(Traditional Scottish folk song)
sung by Donna Lee

Commentaires des utilisateurs123

Commentaire

Commentaire en vedette

Karloff at his very best

Val Lewton's THE BODY SNATCHER is one of the most "literate" films in the horror genre. Based on a short Robert Louis Stevenson shudder tale, it is the story of a young medical student, Fettes, in 1820s Scotland. Fettes is a promising doctoral candidate who has taken on an apprenticeship of sorts with a Dr. MacFarlane, a prestigious physician who runs a medical college. Todd MacFarlane is a very talented medical scholar of the academic sort, whose own past is tainted by an earlier acquaintance with the grave robbers Burke and Hare, who provided human specimens to his mentor, a Dr. John Knox.

Haunted by his past, MacFarlane is tormented and blackmailed by a "jack of all trades", a cab-man and grave robber John Gray. Gray, a working class man from the most impoverished sections of the urban poor, takes great delight in this power, and lords it over MacFarlane's household, which includes the doctor's wife- also privy to MacFarlane's secret- who poses as MacFarlane's housekeeper, in an awkward attempt to hide the roots of MacFarlane's own social climb. MacFarlane is also in need of Gray's continued "services", which Gray attends to with a sardonic relish. The younger medical student Fettes is pulled into the secrets of the household, which in the end, devour MacFarlane and his efforts to survive in the class structure of Scotland.

With THE BODYSNATCHER, Boris Karloff displayed his true depths as a performer, and outside of his original performance as the Frankenstein's monster and perhaps Columbia's THE BLACK ROOM (1935), there are few other films in his immense resume that really display what he was capable of as an actor. In THE BODYSNATCHER, he is at the top of his form. He is supported by actors Henry Daniell, Russell Wade and Edith Atwater, and the movie also marks his final appearance with Bela Lugosi. All of Val Lewton's technique is brought to bear in this work to offer the audience effective atmosphere, and tight pacing under the direction of Robert Wise. All in all, it is a remarkable work, an impeccable contribution to the genre that calls itself horror.