In The Hands of Orlac, it is the latter with Orlac returning to sanity when he finds out about Nera’s plan and the fact that Vasseur himself had been framed as a murderer. A pianist who loses his hands in a plane crash receives the transplanted hands of an executed criminal but his new hands have the murderous tendencies of their previous owner. But since we know it is a conspiracy from almost the start, there is very little viewer investment in the question of whether or not the hands are controlling Orlac or if he is descending into severe mental illness. Copyright 2008-2020 by Movies Silently and Fritzi Kramer, all rights reserved. Soon they discover a secret about Vasseur. We’ve already established that studios and audiences cannot get enough of the Evil Hand trope so it was almost inevitable that The Hands of Orlac would be remade in the sound era. Conrad Veidt is interesting but the character he plays just isn’t. Taglines In 1915, the Brothers Grimm published a macabre tale entitled The Three Army Surgeons. Apparently, the Hayes office was most worried about the train wreck being too violent. Its place in the timeline is film/1924, the year Robert Wiene first made the novel into a film. I gotta say, I knew Mad Love’s not-too-great reputation going into this but I found myself pleasantly surprised. down, Mad Love is an underappreciated little horror gem. The Copper Beeches, for example, is outrageously overacted in comparison to other films of the time and is quite hilarious as a result. Actually, Nera murdered Orlac’s father using rubber gloves with Vasseur’s fingerprints. Synopsis: A pianist has a transplant operation that gives him a new pair of hands. Then he receives an anonymous note informing him of the origin of his new hands. His hands, however, have been crushed beyond recovery and must be amputated. Unfortunately, there is a mix-up and instead of their own parts, they are given the stomach of a pig, the eyes of a cat and the hands of a thief. It is an awesome acting challenge to make something like your own hands seem completely alien to yourself, as if it is some dark menace stalking you. We learn the source of Stephen’s estrangement from his father is due to his leaving the family business for music. Since I haven’t put forth nearly enough controversial opinions, let’s talk about Expressionism. Orlac awakens from surgery and sees a strange man (Fritz Kortner) staring at him through the hospital window. Thanks for another great review. And there was a big mid-century battle about whether or not Mad Love influence Citizen Kane and, to be frank, the whole thing makes my eyes glaze over and I would rather talk about other things. I believe the Murnau Stiftung release runs a bit too slow myself but if I put THAT in the review, I would probably tear a hole in the space time continuum with my controversial opinions. Orlac is not sure that he killed his father and goes with Yvonne to the police. Orlac asks the surgeon about the hands and learns that he belonged to a criminal, and Orlac decides to never touch Yvonne again with those hands. And Expressionism had pretty much run its course by 1924. I have basically nothing to add because you said it all – great direction, wonderful antihero in Peter Lorre and I really like Frances Drake’s character. He is positively gleeful at the thought of his son’s destitution and vows to not lend a single cent to the couple. Be the first to contribute! Mad Love just has so much fun with its gruesome premise that it’s impossible not to like it. I love Peter Lorre, and will sit through anything he is in. Film felt the Nazi crackdown early on and Jewish talents like Lorre, Wiene and Kortner were targeted for dismissal with far worse threatened. I personally do not think so. During recovery of his surgery, in Orlac's mind his hands aren't his own any longer, they are Vasseur's. But Orlac doesn't know that they actually belonged to a dangerous murderer. A seedy magician suspects what is happening and tries to blackmail him. Dr. Serral transplants Vasseur's hands in Orlac and when he recovers, he feels that there is something wrong with his hands. Certainly, the later years of the Expressionist art movement incorporated the horrors of the war into powerful works of art. I think the film was also far better than the other Stiller works I’ve seen. A twisted little mind. Some scenes— visiting his father’s house, absorbing the enormity of Vasseur’s crimes— are pitch perfect but others are just masses of flailing. (I truly believe there is no market for a Finnish release – even though this was a big event, probably most of the people were there because of the music, classical music is so much more popular than classic films.). | Yes, it’s not meant to be overthought, just experienced. (Naturally, I would love to hear about any earlier instances that you might find. It’s worth seeing for fans of classic horror and Conrad Veidt but it’s just lacking that special something. “Overacting” is a charge often leveled at silent films but audiences preferred a certain amount of drama with variations in taste depending on time period, culture, etc. This would have also served to balance out the rather dramatic acting style employed by the cast. Nera’s nefarious scheme also relies on a heck of a lot of coincidences. Let’s break this sucker down and see which version of the Orlac story will be the victor: Orlac: Colin Clive has less screen time as Orlac (not necessarily a minus) but he lacks the creepy quality that Conrad Veidt wore like a well-tailored suit. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it just wants to chill a few spines and make us go “eewww!” I can respect that. Technology gone wrong is also incorporated into The Thieving Hand (1908), a comedy film about a panhandler who is given a kleptomaniac prosthetic hand. The lonely mansion of Orlac’s father is a moody Dracula’s castle with medieval furnishings and the tavern where Orlac meets Nera is as seedy as one could hope for but seedy and/or gothic does not equal Expressionism. Gogol is heartbroken to find his love already married but at least he can buy underwear for the wax figure…. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide. Let’s face it, Nera’s plot to blackmail Orlac is an extremely bizarre and roundabout way to come into some cash, especially since the two men seem to have zero personal connection. His head is injured but he is likely to recover. I mean, really, really loves his horror plays. With Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Strassny, Paul Askonas. Ex-Dr. Frankenstein Colin Clive plays Orlac; John L. Balderston, who worked on the screenplays of all of Universal’s major classics from Dracula to Bride of Frankenstein, contributed to the screenplay; Karl Freund, pioneering cinematographer and director of the original Mummy, helmed the production. Fritz Kortner fares better because his character is more colorful and the villain always has a bit more leeway in this regard. The introduction of Orlac’s father and his incredibly creepy grudge against his son showed promise but the murder immediately following the character’s intro snuffed out that particular thread. They call the police and they find Vasseur's fingerprints everywhere. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer. We have a torture scene (a staged torture scene but nonetheless), a violent family row, Gogol buying negligees for his wax figure and the heroine’s father-in-law suggesting that she take up prostitution. Mad Love solves the problem of a boring Orlac by focusing instead on Yvonne and Dr. Gogol, easily the two most interesting characters in the story. I agree with you about expressionism. Specifically, he loves the lurid horror theater where Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) performs. (Think Florence Lawrence in The Country Doctor.). Frances Drake has more to do in the story but is forced into a damsel condition during the grand finale. I’m all for bonkers plotting but this all seems a bit off. Interestingly, Mad Love focuses on class and station considerably more than The Hands of Orlac. This very much reminds me of the warped stuff Lon Chaney was churning out for MGM prior to his death. I mean, it’s not like stitching on a murderer’s hands will make someone commit murder, right? Right? Plot Keywords Maybe the silent takes itself too seriously. I replied that there should be international interest and mentioned Kino Lorber because they have released some other works from Stiller. It looks like we don't have a Synopsis for this title yet. Like most women, Yvonne is alert enough to get all the creepy vibes from Gogol and does not particularly want to see him again but the train accident and Stephen’s injured hands change all that. The poor man soon finds himself in jail thanks to the hand’s predilections. ?” feel to it that I enjoy. (News of the accident appearing over the characters reacting, Orlac’s dream sequence, the row of identical moneylenders, for example.)