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Man Who Could Cheat Death, The (1959)
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Movie Review by The Gravedigger
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07.30.10
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In 1890's Paris, France, a man is murdered by a cloaked stranger who is carrying a doctor's bag. Then, a Doctor named Georges Bonnet (Anton Diffring), is having a party to show the sculptures he has created. A former girlfriend, Janine (Hazel Court) shows up with her new beau, another doctor by the name of Pierre Gerard (Christopher Lee).
Janine is thrilled when she finds a sculpture of herself hidden in a back room. She clearly wants Georges back. Almost immediately you can see that Georges is jealous of Pierre, but he must cut the party short when he realizes what time it is. There's a sense of impending danger but we don't know quite why. After everyone leaves he unlocks a hidden wall safe and takes out a green, glowing potion. Just before he drinks it he's interrupted by his current girlfriend, who had stayed behind. He tells her to leave but it's too late. His eyes change to a weird green color, as does his flesh, and when he reaches and grabs her on the face leaves a horrible handprint burn. He turns back to the safe and after he drinks the bubbling potion turns back to normal.
We soon find out that he wants another doctor, Ludwig, to perform and operation on him but that old doctor has had a stroke and can't do it. It's also revealed in their conversation that the 35 year old looking Georges is older than Ludwig's 89 years....he's 104! So it's agreed upon that they'll have to find another doctor to do the surgery and Dr. Pierre comes to mind. This is a great Hammer movie, a combination of DR. JECKYLL & MR. HYDE and THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. Highly recommended.
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Rating: 7.5 out of 10.0 - 2 votes cast total
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