# The Corpse Vanishes

The Corpse Vanishes is a 1942 film about a scientist, aided by a crazed old woman and her two sons, who kills virginal brides, steals their bodies, and extracts gland fluid to keep his ancient wife alive and young.
    Directed by Wallace Fox. Written by Harvey Gates.

## Dr. Lorenz

* You see, our dreams, our minds play strange tricks on us sometimes!

## Patricia Hunter

* I've been up all night with dead people.

## Other

* Keenan: Aww, now wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that this Professor Lorenz is a hypnotist as well as a horticulturist?
* Alice Wentworth: You should forget all that silly nonsense about those brides dropping dead.

## Dialogue

    Dr. Foster: Good evening, Professor Lorenz, Countess. May I present Miss Patricia Hunter?
    Patricia Hunter: How do you do?
    Dr. Lorenz: We have been expecting you.
    Patricia Hunter: So you found my bag in your truck?
    Dr. Lorenz: Yes. There it is.
    Dr. Foster: Miss Hunter's a newspaperwoman.
    Patricia Hunter: I came here hoping you might grant me an interview.
    Dr. Lorenz: An interview? About what?
    Countess Lorenz: No one asked you to come here. You're not welcome!
    [She slaps Patricia]
    Dr. Loren: Control yourself, my dear! I'm sure Miss Hunter meant no harm. Please forgive my wife, she is not well. Come, you had better retire.
    [the Lorenzes exit]
    Patricia Hunter: [to Foster] So that's what you call being eccentric. Well I have another name for it.
    Countess Lorenz: Can you bear to look at me now?
    Dr. Lorenz: Of course. You are beautiful. And I shall always keep you that way.
    Patricia Hunter: Oh, professor, do you also make a habit of collecting coffins?
    Dr. Lorenz: Why yes, in a manner of speaking. I find a coffin much more comfortable than a bed. Many people do so, my dear. Is it so strange, that I accept one while waiting for eternal rest?
    Dr. Foster: Why don't you try to go back to sleep? No one's going to harm you. I'm sure it was just a nightmare.
    Patricia Hunter: I think this whole place is a nightmare. Professor Lorenz and his wife were actually sleeping in coffins, I saw them!
    Dr. Foster: We often find it difficult to explain the peculiarities of some people.
    Patricia Hunter: I guess so.
    Countess Lorenz: She's a most unusual type. Such fascinating eyes.
    Dr. Lorenz: She'll make a charming addition to our family.
    Countess Lorenz: June Twentieth...
    Dr. Lorenz: A date we shall not forget.
    Dr. Foster: These young girls, whether dead or alive, are being used by Lorenz in some manner as human guinea pigs to sustain his wife in a youthful state.
    Keenan: Oh, that's preposterous.
    Patricia Hunter: It's nothing of the kind. Scientists are finding out every day that glands and hormones have a lot to do with life and health.
    Dr. Foster: The glands in our bodies help to determine the condition of our teeth, the texture of our hair.
    Fagah: Why do you beat my son so hard?
    Dr. Lorenz: Because he's at best an animal, and someday I shall have to destroy him.
    Fagah: My poor son!... Why was he ever born?
    Patricia Hunter: What do you want?
    Countess Lorenz: Yes, you are beautiful.
    Patricia Hunter: How did you get in here?
    Countess Lorenz: So young. Such lovely skin. Some time you too will be a bride!
    Dr. Foster: [finding Patricia unconscious on the floor] Pat! Pat, Pat.
    Keenan: Is she dead?
    Patricia Hunter: No, just scared to death.
    [She and Foster embrace]
    Keenan: All right. Break it up, we've got headlines to write.
    Patricia Hunter: Do I get a byline?
    Keenan: After this you can have a clothesline, with my shirt on it.

## Taglines

* KIDNAPPED BRIDES Are The Victims Of His Terror! Prepare to shudder when you see the strange practices of this doctor who sacrificed beautiful women for the sake of a mad love!
* Horror to make your hair stand on end!
* Keeper of the Grotto of Torture!

## Cast

* Bela Lugosi — Dr. Lorenz
* Luana Walters — Patricia Hunter
* Tris Coffin — Dr. Foster
* Elizabeth Russell — Countess Lorenz
* Minerva Urecal — Fagah
* Angelo Rossitto — Toby
* Frank Moran — Angel
* Vince Barnett — Sandy
* Kenneth Harlan — Editor Keenan
* George Eldredge — Mike
* Joan Barclay — Alice Wentworth
* Gwen Kenyon — Peggy

## External links

* The Corpse Vanishes quotes at the Internet Movie Database