Thursday, January 26, 2012

THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY

Robert Hutton and Julia Arnall with the head of Nostradamus
THE MAN WITHOUT A BODY (1957). Directors: W. Lee Wilder; Charles Saunders.

When wealthy businessman Karl Brussard (George Coulouris) discovers he has a brain tumor he somehow gets the idea that if he can have the brain of Nostradamus transplanted into his head, he will take over the famous man's mind with sheer will power -- or something like that. Robert Hutton is the doctor, Merrick, who gets involved in this ridiculous experiment, Michael Golden is Nostradamus, Nadja Regin is Brussard's sexy girlfriend Odette, and Sheldon Lawrence [Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons] is the equally sexy Dr. Lew Waldenhouse, who has a fling with Odette. Julia Arnall plays Jean, Merrick's assistant. Kim Parker from Fiend Without a Face has a small role as a maid. This is watchable but absurd, and not nearly as much fun as it sounds. Coulouris appeared in everything from Citizen Kane to Womeneater, not to mention the aforementioned Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons, The Verdict (1946), and many others. This movie is not to be confused with other living head films such as The Thing that Couldn't Die or The Brain that Wouldn't Die.Wilder also directed Phantom from Space, Killers from Space and Manfish with Lon Chaney Jr. Far and away his best film was Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons.

Verdict: Anyone with half a brain will probably not want to see this. **.

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