Did You Take This Woman?

The Corpse Vanishes (1942)

Director- Wallace Fox

Starring- Bela Lugosi, Luana Walters, Tristram Coffin

This movie illustrates the classic tale of a mad doctor who sends young brides poisonous orchids on their wedding day which kills them, then kidnaps them before they make it to the morgue/funeral home so he can use their bodies to keep his wife alive. And he'd get away with it, too, if it weren't for a meddling female journalist who wants to make her big break.

It reminds me just a bit of the Curious Dr. Humpp. I actually don't mind what appears to cheap lighting & cinematography. It gives it a simple but effective appearance that makes it more fun to watch. The acting is about as cheap, but fun to watch nonetheless. Lugosi delivers okay as a mad scientist, Angelo Rossitto adds a bit of dimension as a creepy assistant, though he isn't treated very well by the doctor.

My favorite part about this movie is finding out that the doctor and his wife sleep in coffins next to each other, almost a grisly parody of mid-century family morality. It almost makes up for the ending: The journalist has a friend pose as a bride, foils the scheme, but then gets kidnapped herself by the doctor and saved in the nick of time by a fellow journalist whom she falls madly in love with. Afer the story is out, she gets married and her boss jokes about how now that she's proven herself a great journalist she's giving up her career to be a homemaker. Seriously? You break a story about a mad doctor, get caught up in all the danger, and in the end you quit so your husband can carry on, even though he hasn't yet reported on a story of that same magnitude? I can be chauvenistic at times, but even I thought this was pure sexist drivel.

Rating: 3/5 Bonedaddies for the severely dated ending.