The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) on Netflix
Paris, 1890. Dr. Georges Bonnet looks about thirty-five but is 104, kept young by gland transplants every ten years. His Vienna surgeon is late, and his elixir buys only four more weeks.
- Netflix2.7/5
- IMDb6.3/102,967 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes60%
Trailer
Plot summary
Dr. Georges Bonnet is a Paris physician and sculptor in 1890 who hosts fashionable parties at his home. He appears to be in his mid-thirties, but he is 104, kept that way by parathyroid gland transplants every ten years. Professor Ludwig Weiss of Vienna, who helped discover the procedure, is three weeks late for the latest operation, so Bonnet drinks a steaming green elixir every six hours; the elixir only buys him four weeks. When his model, Margo Philippe, comes upon him drinking it, she disappears, and Inspector Legris questions Bonnet, who denies knowing where she is. Weiss arrives at 89 with a stroke that has left his right hand useless, and tells Bonnet to find another surgeon. Weiss then asks Dr. Pierre Gerrard to operate, saying Bonnet is gravely ill.
Cast
- Gerda Larsenas Street Girl
- Middleton Woodsas Little Man
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Peter Cushing turned down the lead role of Georges Bonnet six days before shooting began, saying he was exhausted after filming The Hound of the Baskervilles. Hammer threatened legal action, and an angry Paramount relegated the film to the lower half of double bills in the US.
- Hazel Court was paid an extra £2000 to appear topless in a scene posing for a sculpture in the European release, and the bust shown in the film was a plaster cast made from her torso. The scene was missing from UK and US prints, its footage considered lost until Vinegar Syndrome announced a Blu-ray with it intact in 2025.
