The Thing with Two Heads (1972)
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Terminally ill racist surgeon Dr. Maxwell Kirshner (Ray Milland) has been experimenting with head transplants in his basement.
His plan is to have his own head grafted onto a donor body to continue living. Kirshner's head unwittingly ends up transplanted onto the body of a death row inmate played by former NFL defensive tackle Rosey Grier - the latter's head still attached. Neither head is happy about it.
What follows involves twenty-plus minutes of motorcycle chase footage, two chimpanzees, a helicopter, and extensive footage of a man running through parking lots with an extremely unconvincing dummy head on his shoulder. The dummy head is meant to be Ray Milland.
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972) was Rick Baker's first film credit. Baker subsequently won seven Academy Awards for makeup effects.
Rosey Grier - in addition to being an NFL Pro Bowler - had been a bodyguard to Robert F. Kennedy and was present at his assassination. He is also an ordained minister and needlepoint enthusiast (he wrote a book called Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men in 1973).
Ray Milland won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1946 for The Lost Weekend. By 1972 he had adopted what one critic described as the Michael Caine work ethic - accepting whatever was offered in order to keep working - and had signed a two-picture deal with American International Pictures.
It seems highly probable that Milland signed without knowing exactly what he was getting into.
The Medved brothers gave The Thing with Two Heads a Golden Turkey Award for Worst Two-Headed Transplant Movie.
About the Film
The doctor blew it--the most fantastic medical experiment of the age.
- Directed By
- Lee Frost
- Runtime
- 91 minutes
- Released
- July 19, 1972
- Certification
- PG
- Country
- United States of America
- Starring
- Ray Milland, Rosey Grier, Don Marshall, Roger Perry, Chelsea Brown
More Credits
- Genres
- Comedy, Science Fiction
- Language
- English
- Origin
- US
- Studios
- Saber Productions, American International Pictures
- Written By
- Lee Frost, Wes Bishop, James Gordon White
- Produced By
- John Lawrence, Wes Bishop
- Cinematography
- Jack Steely
- Music
- Robert O. Ragland
- Also Starring
- Kathrine Baumann, John Dullaghan, John Bliss, Bruce Kimball, Jane Kellem
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Ray and Rosie. Great fun. Remember Ray from the Lost Weekend while you’re watching this.
It is a silly movie, but makes me laugh
Lol 😆 🤣
Rosie Gallagher
Dave Canning
Through all its badness, there was a soft social conscience. Great fun to watch.
Saw this gem as a child at the drive-in theatre
Absolutely one of the greatest transplanted head movies of all time!
Rick Baker deserved it. Sent him a fan letter as a young sci-fi/horror geek and he wrote me back.
Rosie!!
I woke up in the middle of the night about 25 years ago and this wild ass movie was on. I had to finish watching it
This was released where I was under the title, The Two Headed Transplant.
Lipsha Morrissey entirely different movie.
I remember watching this movie as a kid
A classic of bad movies LMAO I still laugh my ass off when they first appear onscreen w/both heads on Rosie’s body😄
That man behind them was in Uptown Saturday Night. Geechie dan and silky slim wanted to kill him for telling. Lol
I actually went to a drive-in to see this classic !
Shit freaked me out as a kid.
My son acted in a B rated movie called Stank Mouth, a horror movie that if the story line was more believable it actually could’ve been something
Saw this as a kid at the theater
One of the Craziest Cult Classics ever!😎🍿🍿🍿
The Thing with Two Heads.
The incredible two-headed transplant was better.
Good Lord! This was an AWFUL movie. Hard to believe Oscar winner Ray Milland signed on for this trash.
The trailer alone is a masterpiece