# The Body Snatcher (film)

The Body Snatcher is a 1945 film about a ruthless doctor and his young prize student who find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.
    Directed by Robert Wise. Written by Philip MacDonald based on the short story by Robert Louis Stevenson.

## Cabman John Gray

* I am a small man, a humble man. Being poor I have had to do much that I did not want to do. But so long as the great Dr McFarlane comes to my whistle, that long am I a man. If I have not that then I have nothing. Then I am only a cabman and a grave robber. You'll never get rid of me, Toddy.
* There was a dog that bothered me during the last job. People are so concerned about dogs.

## Donald Fettes

* [Donald sits on a tomb in a graveyard and offers a bit of his lunch to a dog sitting on a nearby grave] Here. Here's a bit of something for you. [the dog growls angrily] Now, now, laddie. I only wanted to be friendly.
* He taught me the mathematics of anatomy but he couldn't teach me the poetry of medicine.

## Dialogue

    Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane: Gray, I must be rid of you. You've become a cancer, a malignant evil cancer rotting my mind.
    Cabman John Gray: You've made a disease of me, eh, Toddy?
    Cabman John Gray: I'm a pretty bad fellow myself, but MacFarlane's the boy - Toddy McFarlane I call him. Toddy, order your friend another glass. [to Fettes] Toddy hates me.
    Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane: Don't call me by that confounded name.
    Cabman John Gray: Hear him! Did you ever see the lads play knife? [thrusts a knife into a loaf of bread] Toddy would like to do that all over my body.
    Donald Fettes: We medicals have a better way than that. When we dislike a friend of ours, we dissect him.
    Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' 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.
    Meg Camden: You may deny him, Toddy, but you'll not rid yourself of him by saying the devil's dead.
    Joseph: I know you kill people to sell bodies.
    Cabman John Gray: You say you came here of your own account. No-one sent you, no-one knows you're here?
    Joseph: Give me money or I tell the police that you murder the subjects.
    Cabman John Gray: Well, Joseph, you shall have money, why should you not? I don't suppose the great Dr MacFarlane is over lavish with his pay?
    Joseph: No.
    Mrs. Mary McBride: He'll not leave the grave - not since Wednesday last when we buried the lad.
    Donald Fettes: Your son, ma'am? He must have been a fine boy for the wee dog to love him so.
    Mrs. Mary McBride: A great kind lad he was - gentle with all things like Robbie. Now I can't get the dog to leave here. Perhaps it is for the best. I've not money enough to afford a grave watcher.
    Donald Fettes: Not much danger here, ma'am, I wouldn't think - right here in the heart of Edinburgh.
    Mrs. Mary McBride: They're uncommon bold, the grave robbers - and the daft doctors who drive them on.
    Cabman John Gray: You've no need to be anxious, Meg. MacFarlane has been drunk and away before. He'll be back in good time. Meanwhile, you have me to keep you company.
    Meg Camden: I call that no good fortune.
    Cabman John Gray: [laughs] There was a time, lass, a time when I used to bring the dashing young doctor to your door, but you weren't so uncommon cold to your old friend Gray.
    Dr. Wolfe 'Toddy' MacFarlane: If you've any regard for your neck, you'll leave now and stay away from my house, from my school, and from me.
    Cabman John Gray: Well, I've no wish for a rope cravat. I never like the small of hemp. So I'll bid you good night, Dr McFarlane.

## Taglines

* Foul Traffic in Dead Bodies.
* INVADED!...the sanctuary of the Dead!...by the Hero of Horror!...and the Master of Menace!
* Foul Fingers Crimson with Dead Men's Blood!
* Not Hollywood Bunk - But Dramatized From Unthinkable FACTS of Record!
* The Screen's Last Word in Shock Sensation!

## Cast

* Boris Karloff — Cabman John Gray
* Bela Lugosi — Joseph
* Henry Daniell — Dr. Wolfe "Toddy" MacFarlane
* Edith Atwater — Meg Camden
* Russell Wade — Donald Fettes
* Rita Corday — Mrs. Marsh
* Sharyn Moffett — Georgina Marsh
* Donna Lee — the Street Singer

## External links

* The Body Snatcher quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* The Body Snatcher (film) at Rotten Tomatoes
* The Body Snatcher (film) at Allmovie