Line #44 Film/TheBodySnatcher


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px-Thebodysnatcher_4682.jpg]]
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3	-> '''Dr. [=MacFarlane=]:''' What is Gray to me? He's a man from whom I buy what I need when I need it. The rest is forgotten.
4	-> '''Meg Camden:''' You may deny him, Toddy, but you'll not rid yourself of him by saying the devil's dead.
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6	Loosely based on the short story of the same name by Creator/RobertLouisStevenson [[http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/body.htm (which you can read here for comparison)]], ''Literature/TheBodySnatcher'' is a 1945 horror film directed by Creator/RobertWise, and produced by Creator/ValLewton. It is notable for being the last film to have both Creator/BorisKarloff [[TheRival and]] Creator/BelaLugosi together.
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8	Set in Scotland in 1831, the story opens up on an aspiring young man, Donald Fettes, who is training to be a doctor under one Dr. Wolfe "Toddy" [=MacFarlane=]. However, Dr. [=MacFarlane=]'s dirty secret is he has hired a cabman, John Gray, to dig up bodies as specimens for dissection. Soon, the doctor starts to get blackmailed by his worker, who in turn began murdering to provide fresher bodies.
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10	Lugosi, [[BillingDisplacement despite being billed second]], has a fairly minor role as Joseph, the doctor's dimwitted servant. This was one of the last halfway decent acting parts for Lugosi, whose career by this time was on a long slide that ended with Creator/EdWood movies.
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12	Karloff, on the other hand, gives one of the finest performances of his career.
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14	Not to be confused with the sci-fi movie ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers''.
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16	----
17	!!The film has the following tropes:
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19	* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original short story, Gray was just [[{{Jerkass}} a rude and obnoxious man]] who fell victim to the [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]] and returned as a ghost at the end to scare them. Here, he's a fully-fledged villain who's part of the body snatching/murder scheme.
20	* AmbiguousEnding: The film ends with [[spoiler:both Gray and [=MacFarlane=] dead]] as Fettes walks off into the distance, but it's left unclear whether he will continue his training as a doctor or go down a different path.
21	* ArcWords: "You'll never get rid of me, Toddy."
22	* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: Somehow, Georgina's tumor was originally caused by a carriage accident.
23	* BlackmailBackfire: Joseph thinks that he'll be able to get easy money by blackmailing Gray. He gets [[VorpalPillow smothered]] by him.
24	* CheshireCatGrin: Gray often wears this until someone rankles him and the mask comes off.
25	* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Georgina has a tumor that is compressing her spinal nerves and causing her paralysis. [=MacFarlane=] says the word "tumor" but never says "cancer".
26	* DrivenToMadness: [=MacFarlane=] [[spoiler:starts stealing bodies himself after Gray's death]] and suffers a VillainousBreakdown shortly afterwards.
27	* DrJerk: [=MacFarlane=] is a highly respected doctor, but he's also arrogant, emotionally distant, and has terrible bedside manner, in contrast to his more compassionate student Fettes.
28	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Subverted with Gray's first scene, where he comes across as deeply charming, treating an ill girl with great kindness. In his next scene, however, he [[FauxAffablyEvil sheds his facade]] with a big, almost literal KickTheDog moment.
29	* FauxAffablyEvil: Gray comes of as charming and polite, but beneath his pleasant demeanor, he's a vile grave robber and an unrepentant murderer.
30	* ForScience: [=MacFarlane=] justifies his body snatching by claiming that it will help advance medical science and thus save more lives in the future.
31	* GraveRobbing: [=MacFarlane=] pays Gray to deliver corpses stolen from cemeteries to him for medical studies.
32	* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: After Joseph comes to Gray and attempts to blackmail him with his knowledge of Gray's crimes, Gray says "You came here of your own accord?" After Joseph admits that he came of his own accord and no one knows he came there, Gray kills him.
33	* JerkAssHasAPoint: Gray calls [=MacFarlane=] out on his terrible bedside manner, as well as his hypocrisy in wanting the bodies but not wanting to know where they come from.
34	* KickTheDog: Gray actually kills one before kicking it aside to dig up its master's body. His character morale goes downhill from there.
35	* KilledMidSentence: The street singer's song is cut off mid-lyric when Gray kills her in order to get another body for [=MacFarlane=].
36	* MadnessMantra: After [=MacFarlane=] [[spoiler:has killed Gray and resorted to stealing corpses himself]], Gray's words "You'll never get rid of me" start echoing in his head.
37	--> "''NEVER get rid of me! NEVER get rid of me! '''NEVER get rid of me!'''''"
38	* MarriedToTheJob: [=MacFarlane=], according to his mistress.
39	* MotiveRant: Gray gives one explaining why he won't accept [=MacFarlane=]'s offer to permanently buy his silence, explaining that it's not the money he loves, or the things he can compel the doctor to do: it's the feeling of power itself. Without it, he's just a coachman and a grave robber, but if he has power over a gentleman, he's ''somebody''.
40	* MuggingTheMonster: Joseph tries to blackmail Gray, which doesn't end well for him.
41	* NiceGuy: Donald Fettes is friendly and compassionate, which is why Georgina prefers him as her doctor over [=MacFarlane=].
42	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed:
43	** Robby, the dog that sticks around at his master's grave in Greyfriars Cemetery, is very clearly modeled on a real dog called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby Greyfriars Bobby]].
44	** Overlapping with ExpyCoexistence, it's clear that [=MacFarlane=] is based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Knox Dr. Robert Knox]], while Gray is [[CompositeCharacter a one-man]] version of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Hare_murders William Burke and William Hare]]. All three of these people are mentioned in the film: [=MacFarlane=] is said to have trained under Knox, and Gray was apparently a witness in the Burke and Hare trial.
45	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: There is nary a Scots accent to be found. Gets especially ridiculous when Meg points out to Fettes that he's a Lowlander, not a Highlander like her, even though both of them have spoken in American accents the entire movie.
46	* PetTheDog: Subverted when Gray forces [=MacFarlane=] to operate on a paralyzed girl he earlier refused to help, as it's made clear that he doesn't actually care about her -- he just enjoys seeing [=MacFarlane=] bend to his will. [[KickTheDog He also thoughtfully provides 'Toddy' with the body of a murdered blind girl for practice.]]
47	* RightHandCat: Gray's cat, Brother, whom he picks up and strokes in a few sinister scenes.
48	* ShadowDiscretionShot: Gray's murder of Joseph is shown in shadows, as his cat watches.
49	* ShovelStrike: Gray kills a dog that's barking at him when he goes to a graveyard to do his trade.
50	* SignatureSoundEffect: The white horse's clip-clops.
51	* SoundOnlyDeath: The street singer's death is signified by a sudden silence when Gray reaches her.
52	* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: [=MacFarlane=] hates being called "Toddy" by Gray, but doesn't seem to mind it when Meg calls him that. Presumably, it's Gray's familiar tone he resents.
53	* TooDumbToLive: Joseph plans to blackmail Gray whom he knows is a murderer. Gray is easily able to get Joseph drunk when he goes to Gray's place alone, then smothers Joseph when he's too sloshed to fight back.
54	* VillainBall: [[spoiler: Gray had several chances to kill [=MacFarlane=] during their fight, but Gray kept sparing [=MacFarlane=] instead. This just leads to [=MacFarlane=] escaping from Gray and beating him to death.]]
55	* WellIntentionedExtremist: [=MacFarlane=]'s MotiveRant would indicate he's so devoted to his job (and advancing medical science) that he sees nothing wrong with stealing corpses. How much of this is sincere and how much simply self-justification is open to debate.

Context Film / TheBodySnatcher