The Man Who Could Cheat Death 4K 1959 Ultra HD 2160p

In 1890, in Paris, the artist Dr. Georges Bonnet invites a group of friends for a private exposition of his new sculpture. Among the guests are Dr. Pierre Gerrard and his companion Janine Du Bois that had an affair with Dr. Bonnet ten years ago in Italy. When they see each other, their love rekindle. However Dr. Bonnet has a dark secret since he is 104 years old and needs to have a gland transplanted every ten years to keep his youth. But his partner and friend Dr. Ludwig Weiss had a stroke in Switzerland and cannot perform the surgery.

User Review
"The Man Who Could Cheat Death" is a well-put-together Hammer film from 1959 that boasts a dream cast of horror veterans, an intelligent script and high production values. Still, I can almost predict what the film's inevitable detractors will say: that it is overly talky and builds to a climax that is something of a letdown. And while these charges do have a patina of truth to them, the picture's sterling acting from its three leads more than makes up for any deficits. In the picture we meet Georges Bonnet, a doctor in the Paris of 1890, played by German actor Anton Diffring (who had so impressed me recently in his next starring role, in the following year's "Circus of Horrors"). Though seemingly blessed with all that life can offer--including a lucrative practice and the love of society lady Janine Dubois, played by the luscious Hazel Court--in truth, Bonnet is a desperate man. Unless he can coerce surgeon Pierre Gerard (the always dependable Christopher Lee) to operate on him, and take the place of his ailing friend, Dr. Weiss, the life-preserving serum that has been keeping him alive for--HOW long?!?!--will very shortly lose its mojo. In the role of the aged Dr. Weiss, Arnold Marle almost steals the show as Bonnet's patient but increasingly appalled voice of morality and reason, and his terrific thesping is more than adequately matched by those three horror icons. Yes, the film IS talky, but never dull, and Diffring brings a chilling intensity to his role and really makes us feel the angst, isolation and desperate strait of his unique situation. And yes, though the picture ends a tad abruptly and with something of a disappointment in the makeup department, most fans of restrained, levelheaded and intelligent British horror should, I feel, be left happily grinning. In all, another winner from the great House of Hammer.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (94.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.75:1

Info Audio

#English: FLAC 2.0
#English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Commentary with Critics and Authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman)

Info Subtitles