The Greed of William Hart 1948

Overview

The Greed of William Hart is a 1948 British horror film directed by Oswald Mitchell and starring Tod Slaughter, Henry Oscar, and Aubrey Woods. The film depicts two Edinburgh bodysnatchers closely modelled on the real Burke and Hare. Hart and Moore are grave-robbers who provide cadavers to the medical students of 19th-century Edinburgh. When the supply becomes low and demand still great, the two decide to create their own supply, a plan that proves profitable when they stick to vagrants, prostitutes, and drunkards. But when they poison likable Jamie, the townsfolk retaliate. This film was originally written to be about Burke and Hare, but after it was completed, the British censors refused to allow its release on the grounds those names themselves were offensive, thus the entire soundtrack was recut so that new names were used.