105 - THE CORPSE VANISHES (5/8/1942; NR; 64m) a.k.a. THE CASE OF THE MISSING BRIDES (England) Shown with Short: 102S-Radar Men from the Moon Chapter 3: Bridge of Death Ad: "Strange case of the seven missing brides ...enslaved in a madman's grotto of torture!" Ad: "Horror to Make Your Hair Stand on End!" Ad: "Unequalled for Sheer Terror!" Plot: A mad scientist kidnaps brides and uses their hormones to keep his wife young. Prod: Sam Katzman (522-Teen-Age Crime Wave; The Love Ins) Prod: Jack Dietz (113-The Black Scorpion; The Ape Man) Assoc Prod: Barney A. Sarecky (prod/520-Radar Secret Service; psup/406S-Undersea Kingdom) Dir: Wallace Fox (Kid Dynamite; Bowery at Midnight) Asst Dir: Arthur Hammond (Spooks Run Wild; Bowery Champs) Scr: Harvey Gates (The Werewolf of London) Sto: Sam Robins (Jungle Siren; Enemy Agent) Sto: Gerald Schnitzer (Bowery at Midnight) Cin: Art Reed (East Side Kids; Murder by Television) Ed: Robert Golden (Spooks Run Wild; Pride of the Bowery) PMgr: Edward W. Rote (Spooks Run Wild; Bowery Champs) ADir: David Milton (419-The Rebel Set; L01-World Without End) Sound: Glen Glenn (K19-Hangar 18; 322-Master Ninja I; 324-Master Ninja II) Music Dir: Johnny Lange (Spooks Run Wild; East Side Kids) Music Dir: Lew Porter (Jungle Siren; Pride of the Bowery) Dr. Lorenz / Bela Lugosi* Pat Hunter / Luana Walters (808-The She-Creature; Dick Tracy, Detective) Dr. Foster / Tristram Coffin (520; 106-The Crawling Hand; 702-The Brute Man) Countess Lorenz / Elizabeth Russell (Bedlam; Cat People) Fagah / Minerva Urecal (Ghosts on the Loose; Harvey) Alice Wentworth / Joan Barclay (The Falcon Out West) midget Toby / Angelo Rossitto (411-The Magic Sword; Freaks) Keenan / Kenneth Harlan (Pride of the Bowery; China Clipper) Angel / Frank Moran (Return of the Ape Man; Spooks Run Wild) Mike / George Eldridge (Psycho; OReturn of the Ape Man) Peggy Woods / Gwen Kenyon (Free, Blonde and 21) Sandy / Vince Barnett (Captive Wild Woman; Red Planet Mars) Trivia: THE CORPSE VANISHES is tied with 103-THE MAD MONSTER as the oldest MSTed movie. Actually, the oldest film is the serial 406S-UNDERSEA KINGDOM, released in 1936. Bela Ferenc Blasko was born in Lugos, Hungary (the real Transylvania!), and incorporated that town's name into his stage name of BELA LUGOSI (1882-1956) when he arrived in Hollywood. Repeating his Broadway role in his first major film, 1931's Dracula made him an international superstar, but his was a classic case playing a part too well -- the portrayal doomed him to be forever typecast. Besides vampires, Lugosi had a tragically dismal career of playing mad (but often somehow sympathetic) scientists, playing the tormented Dr. Lorenz here in THE CORPSE VANISHES and the cruel Dr. Zorka in 203S-THE PHANTOM CREEPS serial. His last speaking role was either as Dr. Eric Vornoff in 423-BRIDE OF THE MONSTER or in The Black Sleep starring John Carradine, Tor Johnson, and Lon Chaney Jr. Found by Ed Wood decades later, ailing, forgotten and drug-addicted, Lugosi was put back to work, first as the puppetmaster in Wood's bizarre Glen or Glenda, then in BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, and then as the headliner of Plan 9. (Wood also served as Bela's manager in the 1950's and wrote material for his Las Vegas nightclub act). Lugosi died in August 1956, after shooting one brief outdoor scene for what was then called Grave Robbers From Outer Space. Ed Wood started filming the rest of the movie that November (the movie wouldn't be released until 1959), so he had a tall, caped chiropractor stand in for most of Bela's scenes. Lugosi was superbly played by Oscar-winning Martin Landau in Tim Burton's 1994 biopic, Ed Wood. Other Lugosi classic performances can be found in: 1931-Murders in the Rue Morgue; 1932-White Zombie; 1934-The Black Cat; 1935-Mark of the Vampire; 1939-Son of Frankenstein; 1941-Spooks Run Wild; 1943-Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman; and 1948-Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Last Updated: 6/20/1999 Welcome! | Author, Contributors, Disclaimer | Introduction | FAQs Movies by Year | Titles by Experiment # | Titles by Alphabetical Order Performers and Production Crew