This classic film had been listed in the television schedules a number of times, but I kept either missing it, but I finally got the opportunity to watch it, based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), directed by Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story, The Sound of Music). Basically set in the year 1831, in Edinburgh, Scotland, renowned surgeon and now teacher Dr. Wolfe "Toddy" MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) runs a medical school. MacFarlane's prize student is Donald Fettes (Russell Wade), he is interested in helping young girl Georgina (Sharyn Moffett), she has lost the use of her legs, Fettes is certain that MacFarlane's surgical skills could help her, but MacFarlane is reluctant to do so. MacFarlane is hiding a dark secret, that is slowly becoming obvious to Fettes; he is paying a local cab driver, John Gray (Boris Karloff), to supply him with dead bodies for anatomical research and classroom demonstration purposes. Gray constantly harasses MacFarlane, but graverobbing from cemeteries is difficult with them being increasingly guarded, Gray turns to murder to provide MacFarlane with fresh bodies. Fettes realises how Gray is obtaining the corpses, he discovers his involvement during the infamous Burke & Hare crimes, he is covering the fact that it was in fact MacFarlane that was the real perpetrator. MacFarland's other assistant Joseph (Bela Lugosi) overhears many of their secret discussions, he attempts to blackmail Gray to keep quiet about the body snatching operation, but he chokes Joseph to death. Later, MacFarlane tries to bribe Gray, to stop his tormenting, he refuses to take it, and vows that the doctor will never be rid of him, MacFarlane is enraged, and beats Gray to death. Following an operation on Georgina earlier, Fettes rushes to tell MacFarlane that it was successful, she is able to stand up, but his housekeeper and secret wife Meg Camden (Edith Atwater) tells him the doctor has gone. Fettes finds MacFarlane at a tavern, and they travel in Gray's horse and carriage through a storm, MacFarlane is haunted by the taunting voice of Gray, Fettes checks the corpse in the back of the carriage. MacFarlane sees Gray's the vision of corpse, the horse is spooked, and the carriage breaks loose and falls over a cliff with MacFarlane and the corpse, Fettes looks down at the wreckage and sees MacFarlane's corpse, next to that of a woman. Also starring Rita Corday as Mrs. Marsh and Donna Lee as Street Singer. Karloff is magnificent being the evil cab driver supplying the cadavers, Daniell is good as the desperate anatomist, and Lugosi does well in his moment of support. It does have an overall feeling of creepiness and macabre throughout, it is admittedly a bit slow in places, but when you know that things like this actually happened in the 19th century, it is an atmospheric shocker, an interesting classic horror. Good!

(46%) A creaky old grave robbing era horror that has lost any power it once had to scare or remotely shock, but this is still a halfway decent watch. Forget about this being a Boris Karloff picture as Henry Daniell is the main focus of attention here, and to be fair Daniell was a good actor in his time, and he's fine here as a pioneering surgeon at the heart of the picture. Bela Lugosi is given a small shoe string role, but at least he plays a part in one of the better, more memorable scenes of the whole movie. This isn't a must watch by any means as it really lacks bite, but the performances are worthy and there are much worse chillers out there.

*Spoiler/plot- The Body Snatcher, 1945. In 19th century Edinburgh Scotland, a reputable medical doctor and his prize pupil need cadavers for their student's medical studies and a local poor horse-drawn cab driver is willing to provide all of them for money by murder. The cab driver plagues them in their illegal scheme.*Special Stars- Boris Karloff, Henry Daniel, Russell Wade, Edith Atwater, Bela Lugosi. Dir- Robert Wise.*Theme- Guilty conscious can have a huge affect on the guilty.*Trivia/location/goofs- American, RKO studios. The 'exterior' scenes were filmed on sets constructed for RKO's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) in their 'ranch' (Now subdivided into homes) near the Sepulveda Recreation Basin Park. Although based on a fictional short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, the author came up with the idea from actual events occurring in 19th century England and Scotland, particularly those of grave robbers Burke and Hare. This film featured the 8th and last on-screen teaming of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Filming took place October 25-November 17 1944, delaying the completion of Karloff's Isle of the Dead (1945). The film incorporates the story of Greyfriars Bobby (called Robby in the movie) but makes a muddle of the facts. In reality, Bobby was a Skye terrier that refused to leave the graveside of his master, an elderly, indigent shepherd, in the graveyard at Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh. Bobby stayed faithfully at his post for years and became a tremendous sentimental favorite of the city folk, before dying of old age. Today a statue near the church commemorates this dog's memory. A year after the events in the movie, the Anatomy Act of 1832 made it legal for the bodies of those dying friendless in poorhouses and hospitals to be given to local medical facilities for study and dissection. Goofs-At the very beginning, they show a castle during the credits, then "In Edinburgh In 1831-" then show a closer up of the same castle and a horse and carriage, and you can clearly see two or three automobiles parked next to the castle. *Emotion- An extremely well cast, performed and rich film production with a moral theme. Karloff really eats up the scenery in many scenes with Daniel and Lugosi. The fear driven plot has many colorful characters and fun dialog. The film's good ending is something to see with the imagined switch of the corpses being carried in the doctor's coach.*Based On- Robert Louis Stevenson short story.

The Body Snatcher is the seventh of producer Val Lewton's influential psychological horror films made at RKO in the 1940s. It's based upon the short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, itself based upon the Burke & Hare murders of 1828. The plot of the film is that Dr. Wolfe McFarlane (Henry Daniell) and his assistant Donald Fettes (Russell Wade) need fresh cadavers to dissect and study. So they rely on the ghoulish cabman John Gray (Boris Karloff) to obtain the corpses for them. Fettes doesn't like this unsavory side of medical study but McFarlane convinces him it is necessary in the name of science. Soon, though, McFarlane begins to regret his dealings with the sinister Gray, who has begun to murder people in order to get the bodies needed.This is a creepy and intense period thriller. The acting is excellent. Daniell and Wade are both quite good but it's Karloff who steals the show. This is generally regarded as one of Boris' finest performances and I have to agree with that. This is also the final film teaming of Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Their last scene together is powerful. The film makes great use of the Lewtonian trademarks of suggestion and shadow. Robert Wise's direction is excellent, as is the script by Lewton and Philip MacDonald. There's a great atmosphere that hangs over the film, as is the case with all of the Lewton horror films. A must-see for fans of Lewton and Karloff.