You can file this one under "What Were They Smoking"? The movie was "The Man Without a Body"(1957), a Severed Head flick that begins with a lot of potential, then gets really weird, and then......
Well, let me tell you about it. "Karl Broussard" (George Coulouris) is a wealthy businessman who's used to getting his way. Even though he's pushing 60, he works out with a trainer to maximize his potential (and this is in the days when 60 equaled Fred Mertz). He is also the guardian of "Odette" (Nadja Regin), the voluptuous adult daughter of his deceased business partner. That he has designs on her shows you what kind of guy he is, a megalomaniac.
The problem for Broussard is that he's not well. He's got a brain tumor. He tries not to let it stop him, but his doctor says it's eventually gonna end his life. Broussard demands a second opinion, so the Doc sends him to a specialist, and boy does this guy specialise! He is "Dr. Phil Merritt" (Robert Hutton), a neurosurgeon who is researching brain transplants. So far, so good - right? We seem to be looking at a decent Brain Movie at this point. Dr. Merritt has a state of the art Mad Scientist Lab, though in his case it does not automatically mean he's a nutcase. He's got funding, so he's legit. He's not working out of a basement in a creepy house. But he is transplanting Brains, monkey brains to be exact, and he's had success. A monkey six years dead has been revived and had his brain reactivated. The future looks good for human brains! Broussard wants a new one so he can go on living and pushing people around.
"How long will it be, Doctor, before you move on to human patients"?
"That depends, Mr. Broussard. We aren't on a timetable. We have to have a certain ratio of success with monkeys first. So far, we've only kept alive the one you see here". This doesn't satisfy Broussard, who wants his Brain Transplant, like, yesterday. He asks the doc about specifics. "If you were going to transplant a human brain, what would you be looking for, what would be the requirements"?
"Well, first of all, we'd need a brain that was physically sound, undeteriorated".
"And where would such brains be found"?
"Well, besides fresh brains, say from accident victims or the newly deceased, you'd want a brain that's been well-preserved. Burial in the ground causes rot due to moisture and soil elements. A brain taken from a crypt would be a better choice. This is why Egyptian mummies are found remarkably intact, due to proper wrapping and very dry burial conditions. The main thing, besides preservation, is that you'd want to make the correct choice for your transplanted brain. You wouldn't want one you knew nothing about - who it belonged to, their background, etc. This is why I wouldn't recommend the use of an accident victim. You might not have time to do the proper research. There are also all the corresponding legal issues to be addressed. We won't be making Frankensteins here. Everything we do will be strictly by the book. But a human transplant is likely years away, at best. I'm sorry, Mr. Broussard, but that's the way it is".
Broussard nods and remains silent for once. He's heard enough. He leaves the doctor's lab with an idea in mind. The next we see him, he's taking a tour of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London. The guide takes him past Hitler and Goebbels, Henry VIII and Napoleon. Finally they come to a certain Frenchman. "This man was born almost 500 years ago, and yet he predicted events in our own day. He was a mathematician, astrologer, mystic and artist, all rolled into one. He was the prophet Michel de Nostradame, commonly known as Nostradamus".
A lightbulb goes off in Broussard's head. "This is the man! With his brain I could rule the world"! He asks the guide where Nostradamus is buried, gets on a plane to France, and goes straight to the Collegiale Saint-Laurent, where he sneaks into the prophet's tomb. With him is a former doctor he's hired, a man of ill-repute, now an alcoholic. "Help me lift the lid off", Broussard orders. "Quickly now, we mustn't be seen"! Setting the heavy lid aside, they lift out the body of Nostradamus and set it on the marble of his crypt. "Now, do what I've paid you to do, and do it well! If you slip, you'll cost me my future"!
You can guess what he wants, but just in case you can't, I'll tell you. He wants the doctor to remove Nostradamus' head, but it must be done with Surgical Precision. A sloppy job could render the brain untransplantable. The effort will have been for naught if that happens. However, despite shaky hands, the nervous doc does indeed manage to relieve old Nosty of his noggin. It's a perfect cut. Broussard "heads" back to the airport, gets the Head past the baggage handler (for real, lol), and flies back to London, where he presents it to Dr. Merritt.
The Doc is shocked, to say the least. "Mr. Broussard! Do you realise that what you've done is not only illegal but morally outrageous"?!
"I don't have any time for society's code of ethics"!, Broussard replies. "Do you want it or not? It's the head of Nostradamus. Here's your chance to make history". The doc mulls it over and decides it's a pretty good offer after all. But, he's not gonna rush into anything. He's nothing if not methodical. Pretty soon, he's got Nostradamus hooked up to electrodes, sitting in a saline bath. After a few days the head comes to life and is placed on a table, as required by Rule #1 in the Severed Head Movie Playbook. Everything's been going according to plan, plotwise, but now for some reason it goes off the rails.
Instead of transplanting Nostradamus' brain into Broussard's head, to see what he does with it, the filmmakers throw in a subplot. I knew there was a reason the screenwriter created the character of "Odette", the Sophia Loren lookalike who's supposed to be Broussard's goddaughter. Now, I mentioned that Broussard has the hots for her. He buys her diamonds and furs to keep her interested, but really she thinks he's repulsive (and he is). Odette has someone on the side that Broussard knows nothing about, and it just so happens to be Dr. Merritt's assistant, Dr. Waldenhouse. She tells Waldenhouse all about Broussard, how he's a business cheat, etc. Now Waldenhouse sets out to stop the transplant, so instead of having the Brain Transplant Movie you expected, they're gonna pull The Old Switcheroo on ya and give you a battle of wits instead.
Broussard keeps asking what's taking so long, and Dr. Merritt keeps postponing due to "setbacks" in Nostradamus' condition. What neither man knows is that Dr. Waldenhouse is secretly unplugging the electricity to the Brain Table that keeps the head alive. So, Nostradamus is in bad shape all of a sudden. Fearing he'll lose him, Broussard badgers ol' Nosty for some stock market tips. Nortradamus can't stand Broussard, so he deliberately gives him bad information. Remember, he can see into the future. So he tells Broussard to "sell" when he should be "buying". Broussard might lose his fortune in the process, and the movie might turn into an incoherent fiasco.
I think I've told you enough, and indeed, the quality of this part of my review may have degenerated in proportion to the lousiness of the script. Really what we've got is half a good movie. Once they introduce the Odette Subplot, everything about the sci-fi intrigue goes to hell. The film runs only 77 minutes but should've been cut to 65 or thereabouts. This is why W. Lee Wilder was not directing Academy Award Winning Motion Pictures like his brother Billy. He did make "Killers From Space", for which he deserves credit, but on that one he had the help of the great screenwriter, neighbor and baby photographer Bill Raynor, who we wrote about in our review of that picture a couple months ago.
I'm gonna go out on a Severed Limb and give "The Man Without A Body" Two Regular Thumbs Up, but only because it gets off to such a great start. It does recover in the final ten minutes, as the head of Nostradamus finds accommodations after all. I can't tell you where he winds up, but it makes for a pretty freaky grand finale, especially in the final shot of the movie. But boy oh boy is the second half some slow, slow going. They should've dispensed with all the Odette and Stock Market B.S. and gone straight for the transplant - then they would have had something. Recommended only for dedicated Brain Movie fans. /////
That's all I know for this evening. Only two more days until Summer. Let's make it a good one.
See you in a while at the Usual Time.
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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