The Greed of William Hart (1948)

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Tod Slaughter

Hart

Henry Oscar

Moore

Jenny Lynn

Helen Moore

Winifred Melville

Meg Hart

Aubrey Woods

Jamie Wilson

Patrick Addison

Hugh Alston

Arnold Bell

Dr. Cox

Mary Love

Mary Paterson

Anne Trego

Janet Brown
(as Ann Trego)

Edward Malin

David Paterson

Hubert Woodward

Swanson

Dennis Wyndham

Police Sgt. Fisher
(as Denis Wyndham)

Hal Osmond

Hospital Porter
(uncredited)

Director
- Oswald Mitchell
Writer
- John Gilling
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

"Devil's Light For Devil's Work!"...

HORROR MANIACS (aka: THE GREED OF WILLIAM HART) is a very-thinly veiled version of the Burke and Hare story. None other than Tod Slaughter plays the exceedingly loathsome Hart (aka: Burke), and Henry Oscar is the equally odious Moore (aka: Hare). It's the same basic setup about murder and graverobbing for fun and profit. Hart and Moore are in the employ of the fiendish Dr. Cox / Knox (Arnold Bell), who benefits from the deadly duos nocturnal work.

This is another perfect vehicle for Mr. Slaughter, who never disapoints. His gleefully eeevil portrayals are legendary. Here, he's almost matched by his two demonic costars. Almost, since Mr. Slaughter still manages to outdo his fellow ghouls.

Another classic Tod Slaughter film...

Dethcharm
Dec 26, 2023
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Trivia
The script was originally written and filmed as a tale of William Burke and William Hare, real-life partners in the selling to medical schools of cadavers they obtained by both murder and grave-robbing (Burke was hanged in 1829; Hare avoided this fate by testifying against him). However, the British censors refused to allow the film's release because of national sensitivities toward the infamous "resurrectionists." Therefore, to get the film out, the producers had to re-record the soundtrack, replacing the names of Burke with Hart, Hare with Moore, and Dr. Knox with Dr. Cox. The new names were then meticulously cut into the original soundtrack: one can easily lip-read "Burke", "Hare" and "Knox" as applicable, however. Due to the cost of this activity, there was no money left for a music track.