The Man Who Could Cheat Death
Encyclopedia
The Man Who Could Cheat Death is a 1959 British Hammer Film
directed by Terence Fisher
and starring Anton Diffring
and Christopher Lee
. It was based on the play The Man in Half Moon Street
by Barré Lyndon
which had been previously filmed in 1945.
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
directed by Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. He was born in Maida Vale, a district of London, England.Fisher was one of the most prominent horror directors of the second half of the 20th century...
and starring Anton Diffring
Anton Diffring
Anton Diffring , born Alfred Pollack, was a German actor.-Biography:Diffring was born in Koblenz...
and Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
. It was based on the play The Man in Half Moon Street
The Man in Half Moon Street
The Man in Half Moon Street is a fantasy film dealing with a man who retains his youth and cannot die, living throughout the ages. It bears some comparison to Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, except that there are more logical explanations for the eternal youth of the main character...
by Barré Lyndon
Barré Lyndon
Barré Lyndon was a British playwright and screenwriter. The pseudonym was presumably taken from the title character of Thackeray's novel....
which had been previously filmed in 1945.
Plot
Anton Diffring stars as Georges Bonnet, a century-old artist who maintains a youthful appearance by regularly replacing certain glands — in transplants that he receives thanks to the unwilling participation of healthy donors. Despite his outward physical vitality, his advanced years lead to an increasing mental instability, evinced by his mad obsession with an old flame (Hazel Court) whose newfound love for a suave doctor (Christopher Lee) compels Bonnet to commit acts of diabolical cruelty that ultimately become his grisly undoing.Cast
- Anton DiffringAnton DiffringAnton Diffring , born Alfred Pollack, was a German actor.-Biography:Diffring was born in Koblenz...
as Dr. Georges Bonnet - Hazel CourtHazel CourtHazel Court was an English actress best known for her roles in horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s.-Early life:...
as Janine Dubois - Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as Dr. Pierre Gerard - Arnold Marlé as Prof. Ludwig Weiss
- Delphi LawrenceDelphi LawrenceDelphi Lawrence was an English actress.She was educated in Slough at Halidon House School and lived in Colnbrook. Of Hungarian ancestry, Lawrence trained as a concert pianist before becoming an actress. She made her first film in 1952 and over the next decade established a following in British films...
as Margo Phillipe - Francis de WolffFrancis de WolffFrancis de Wolff was an English character actor. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains in both film and television....
as Insp. LeGris - Gerda Larsen as Street Girl
- Ronald AdamRonald Adam (actor)Ronald Adam OBE , born Ronald George Hinings Adams, was a British RAF officer, an actor on stage and screen and a successful theatre manager.-Early life:...
as Doctor