Wanted: Dead Bodies (Fresh, Preferably) Feature film, “The Doctor and the Devils” to be presented by the Mutter Museum “Up the alley and down the street Fallon and Broom sell bones and meat. Fallon’s a butcher and Broom’s a thief. And Rock’s the boy that buys the beef.”
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Need fresh cadavers? Fallon and Broom are two, uh, gentlemen who would be happy to fulfill your request. In fact, the bodies they sell are so fresh — they’re still warm! You can catch the original grave robbers in the act when the Mutter Museum presents the thriller “The Doctor and the Devils” Friday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. The movie is free with museum admission.
Based on an original screenplay by Dylan Thomas and directed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Freddie Francis; the film follows the tale of Dr. Thomas Rock (Timothy Dalton), a man who believes anything is justified in the name of science. Dr. Rock needs teaching materials, specifically, cadavers. Enter Timothy Broom and Robert Fallon (Stephen Rea and Jonathan Pryce); two men, down on their luck who are willing to meet the doctor’s demands by any means necessary. What first begins as grave robbing, soon leads to murder!
“This film does an excellent job of examining morality in medicine during the early 19th century,” says Anna Dhody, curator of The Mutter Museum. “Before 1832, the only legal supply of cadavers available to the medical community was that of executed criminals. Most were hung in town squares from gallows for days, sometimes even weeks. Freshness in a cadaver was truly a rarity!” Originally released in 1985, the film quickly gained cult status and provides viewers with a glimpse of some early work by Patrick Stewart (Star Trek, X-Men), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Julian Sands (Warlock).
The disturbingly informative Mutter Museum is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The museum’s collection gives visitors the opportunity to see medical instruments of the 19th century as well as a chance to get up close and personal with both wax models and real specimens of pathological and anatomical anomalies.
The museum, located on 22nd Street between Market and Chestnut streets, is open to the public Monday through Thursday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. No reservations are required for general visitors.
For more information about the Mutter Museum and discount admission coupons for Mondays and Tuesdays, visit https://www.muttermuseum.org.
