“This is the 20th century. Do you understand? The 20th century.” “I have always lived in the future.”
Karl Brussard (George Coulouris) is a New York business man. He is a rich, eccentric, egotist and he’s dying. He has an inoperable brain tumor. It’s caused him to forget things, have double vision and hear phones that aren’t ringing. His doctor, Dr. Charot (William Sherwood), asks him to go get a second opinion. There is a doctor in England named Phil Merritt (Robert Hutton) who is doing research on brain transplantation. (really?) Along with his assistant Dr. Lew Waldenhouse (Sheldon Lawrece) and his nurse Jean Cramer (Julia Arnall) they have been doing experiments on monkeys.
Brussard and his girlfriend, the much younger Odette Vernet (Nadja Regin) head for London. He meets with Doctor Merritt for a consultation. They take a scan of his brain. While Brussard is having the procedure done he looks around Merritt’s laboratory. Merritt has a monkey’s head that is still alive and alert. Merritt tells him that the brain came from a monkey that had been dead for six years. The brain was revitalized and put into the head of an existing monkey. Merritt also says that the brain will change to adapt to the personality the monkey use to have.
Brussard thinks this is the answer to his problems. Get a new brain and it will adapt to his way of being. He just needs a really smart brain. Brussard visits Madam Tussaud’s wax museum. He sees the wax statue of Nostradamus. Perfect. He finds out where Nostradamus is buried and takes a quick trip to France. He hires and unscrupulous doctor to help him invade Nostradamus’ tomb and steal his head.
Back in England he presents the head to Merritt. Not knowing whose head it is Dr. Merritt revitalizes it. Merritt finds out that he now has the head of Michel Nostradamus. The head learns of Brussard’s plans. Nostradamus is not happy to be revitalized or to be put into Brussard’s head. When Brussard, in a state of confusion, asks the head for financial guidance, the head gives him the wrong advice deliberately ruining Brussard financially. Brussard goes off the deep end. Well, more so than he was before.
“The Man Without A Body” AKA “The Curse of Nostradamus” was released in 1957 and was directed by Charles Saunders and W. Lee Wilder. It is a British film. It is also ridiculous, cheezy and a little fun. The plot is preposterous, the dialogue off the wall but that’s what low budget “B” move camp is all about.
I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘page turner’ or an ‘edge of your seat’ movie, but there is enough strangeness to it that keeps you watching. It truly fits into the so bad it’s kinda good category.
Why did it take two directors to slap this movie together? Union rules. Part of the film was financed by the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC). The directing credit was shared between Wilder and Saunders to ensure funding from what is called the Eady levy which was a kind of tax that was paid by distributors to film-makers in order to assure that British actors and production people would be employed. You had to have a British director on the record in order to qualify. Although Wilder did most of the directing Saunders had to be included as director. One of the stars, Robert Hutton, said that he remembers Saunders 'being on the set all the time and not doing anything. Roger Corman did the same thing when he filmed in England.
The film is a rather obscure little flick but not impossible to find. Although, I'm not sure if there are a lot of people trying to find it.
Michel de Nostredame was a French astrologer, physician and reputed seer. His book “Les Prophéties”, a collection of 942 poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events, was first published in 1555 and has rarely been out of print since his death. He was born December 14, 1503, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. He died July 2, 1566, Salon-de-Provence, France.