HOHC

This episode discusses Boris Karloff's first starring role under Val Lewton at RKO in THE BODY SNATCHER, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's short story inspired by infamous grave robbers Burke and Hare, and directed by Robert Wise. It also featured a small role for Bela Lugosi.

[@Aslowfade]

This is one of my favorite Karloff films possibly one of his best

[@kali3665]

The Body Snatcher is one of my favorite horror films, and it may be one of Karloff's best. The relationship between his Gray and Henry Daniell's "Toddy" Macfarlane is absolutely perfect: the two "friends" who are so bound at the hip that they cannot break away. In his Alternate Oscars book, Danny Peary maintained that Karloff deserved an Academy Award for his performance, but, knowing Karloff's antipathy towards the Academy, even if Karloff had been nominated, he wouldn't have accepted the Award. Peary noted the dichotomy in the characters: Gray has a good side that he denies, and Macfarlane denies the evil in his own character. In the end, both pay for their misdeeds in perhaps the most appropriate ways.
I have always been fascinated by Henry Daniell - he was one of the great villains of classic horror, even playing Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes. But he could also do comedy. He was in The Great Dictator, and allegedly, the egotistical Chaplin cut many of Daniell's scenes because Chaplin felt Daniell was funnier than HE was! His cold demeanor fits in well here, and it surprised me that he was that good with comedy. He COULD pull it off, but Hollywood typecasting was pernicious.
And Lugosi may have been added just for publicity's sake - The Body Snatcher was falsely promoted as a Karloff/Lugosi film, which it most certainly is not - but Lugosi's single scene with Karloff may be one of Lugosi's best. Perhaps his last great moment in a legitimate film. Robert Wise noted that it took a lot of effort to get that performance, considering Lugosi's physical state at the time, but it was time well spent.
Everything in the film worked, and it is an undeniable classic.

[@user-qc2ov1xw7n]

All My Favorites:
Robert Louis Stephenson and Val Lewton; Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi; Henry Daniel ~ Awesome Moriarity and Mrs. Hudson… directed by Robert Wise 💀💜💀