THE
THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972)Director: Lee Frost
MGM
THE
THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972)In 1971, AIP released a profitable two-headed monster movie, THE INCREDIBLE 2-HEADED TRANSPLANT, which featured the head of lunatic criminal being transplanted on to the body of a 7-foot simpleton. The following year brought us this offering, with the even more palatable idea of transplanting the head of a white bigot onto the body of a convicted black man (the ads screamed, "They transplanted a WHITE BIGOT'S head onto a Soul Brother's Body ...Now they're in Deeeeep trouble!"). This ludicrous/fun sci-fi picture is actually the slickest effort made by the producer/director team of Wes Bishop and Lee Frost, also responsible for AIP's final biker film, CHROME AND HOT LEATHER (1971).
Dr. Max Kirshner (Ray Milland) is a bigoted doctor, confined to a wheelchair and dying of terminal cancer. Despite this, Kirshner conducts secret experiments in his basement (where else?) laboratory and has succeeded in transplanting the head of a gorilla onto the body of another gorilla. The two-headed ape escapes and causes havoc in a local grocery, but the creature is sedated after if finds solace in a banana. Kirshner is able to remove the gorilla's original head, allowing the other head to fully function with the new body, and he now wants to put his head onto a healthy human. Since his crippled, cancer-ridden body is expiring quickly, the operation must be done at once.
Kirshner talks his colleague, Dr. Philip Desmond (Roger Perry from the "Count Yorga" films) into conducting the operation, and now a donor must be found. A call is made to death row, and Jack Moss (Rosey Grier), a beefy black man sentenced to the chair for a crime he didn't commit, volunteers in order to buy him time to prove his innocence. After the transplant is completed, Kirshner wakes up to the surprise of his life ("Is this some kind of a joke?"), but is able to except it, knowing his head can later be transplanted onto a more fitting body (white). Moss on the other hand freaks out and escapes.
Now on the run with the loud-mouthed whitey affixed to his shoulder, he forces another doctor, Fred Williams (Don Marshall of "Land of the Giants" fame) to drive them away from the police who are in high pursuit of them. Williams had earlier been turned down for a position at Kirshner's hospital since he is black, so he's perfectly content to help Moss. After running on foot for a while, Moss takes a motorcyclist's bike with Dr. Williams straddling behind him as they ride recklessly. What ensues is an action-packed but much too lengthy car chase involving inept policemen--like something you'd see in a Hal Needham film.
Though played pretty straight, much of what makes the film so amusing is the lively banter between Milland and Grier. Milland often shouts lines that would make Archie Bunker blush, and by the time they get to Grier's girlfriend's house for refuge, he says thing like, "What are we having for dessert, watermelon?" when subjected to soul food, and "Is that all you people ever think about?" when they consider making love in the presence of his flustered head. You do have to wonder what was going through Milland's head as he was reciting dialog while resting his chin on the shoulder of a 300 pound ex-football player?
Yes, when Rosey walks around or rides a motorcycle with the phony Milland head on him, it does look pretty silly. But the special effects are actually pretty good on a whole, being created by Dan Striepeke (who later worked on "The Planet of the Apes" TV series), and his accomplished team, which included a very young Rick Baker, basically just starting out here (that's Baker in the very convincing two-headed gorilla suit). The actual head transplant scene is very well done and comes off a lot better than many of today's exaggerated CGI effects. Look for cameos by William Smith (as a raving prisoner), legendary B-movie producer Albert Zugsmith (!), and the director himself as a bumbling police sergeant. And don't forget the happy ending, featuring a sing along chorus of that gospel favorite... "Oh Happy Day!"
MGM has released the film on DVD as part of their cherished "Midnite Movies" series with a flawless new transfer. The source material is in perfect condition, with beautiful colors and sharp detail. Despite the dated 70s fashions and long sideburns, the film hardly looks 30 years old with this fresh transfer. It's letterboxed in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, so it's a bit more tight on the top and the bottom of the screen then we're used to (but this is the correct aspect ratio according to the original press materials). The mono sound is exceptional.
Also included is the original theatrical trailer ("…so they transplanted the white head onto the black body. Who would have suspected that neither would care for the idea too much?"), and there's optional French and Spanish subtitles. (George R. Reis)