The Hands of Orlac
Encyclopedia
Orlacs Hände is an Austria
n silent film
of 1924
. This late Expressionist work, produced by Robert Wiene
, has been remade twice.
), loses his hands in a railway accident. Replacement hands are transplanted onto him in an experimental procedure, but the hands are those of a recently-executed murderer. From that point forward, the pianist is tortured by panic attacks and irrational fears. He believes that with the hands of the murderer he has also gained the murderer's predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears. When his father is killed, with whom he was on bad terms, the pianist is suspected of the murder. He only finds peace by clearing up the plot.
. It was one of the first films to feature the motif, often recurring in later films, of hands with a will of their own, whether or not attached to a body, as well as popular fears, based on ignorance, around the subject of surgical transplants, in the days before such procedures were possible. It was shot at the studios of Listo-Film in Vienna
by the Pan-Film production company.
The Austrian premiere took place on 6 May 1924. Distribution was carried out by the German
Berolina-Film company. The German premiere followed on 24 September 1924 in the Haydn-Kino in Berlin
. The French
version had the title Les Mains d'Orlac, the English
version The Hands of Orlac. The film was first shown in the United States in 1928, where its promotion and distribution were undertaken by the Aywon Film Corporation.
The sets were constructed by the film architects and set builders Hans Rouc, Karl Exner and Stefan Wessely.
broadcast a version reconstructed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau
-Stiftung. This version had new music by Henning Lohner
and was also given background noises and the sound effects of an interrogation scene off, which was not universally approved. Since then the film has been shown at many film festivals worldwide. The Filmarchiv Austria
also plans a reconstruction and reissue based on its own copies of the fim, but no firm time has been set for this.
dated 10 January 1925, urging that the film should be censored, because it "...is likely to endanger public safety and order... Based on an assessment by the Provincial Criminal Office at Dresden
the Government of Saxony does not think it appropriate to make publicly known the internal arrangements and tools of the criminal police, particularly in connection with the taking of finger prints, as this would make the fighting of crime more difficult. Further, the representation of means which enable the criminal to obliterate his prints and deceive the police, is highly unsuitable."
The application for censorship was refused by the Higher Inspectorate, as an expert from the police headquarters in Berlin when questioned by them about it described the specialist content as unrealistic. There were so far no experiences across the whole of Europe of the falsification of finger prints by the use of wax impressions or similar techniques, leaving aside any other methods of falsifying prints. The Inspectorate did concede that if the film had shown a realistic method of forging fingerprints, if any existed, then it would have raised issues of public security, but concluded that what was shown in the film was pure fantasy.
In 1996 the film was re-evaluated and released, still with an age limit.
In addition to these it has inspired a number of other films, Hands of a Stranger
(1962) most directly, but see also The Beast with Five Fingers
(1946) and The Hand
(1981) directed by Oliver Stone
. The 1960 film also inspired several sequels.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
of 1924
1924 in film
-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
. This late Expressionist work, produced by Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene was an important film director of the German silent cinema.Robert Wiene was born in Breslau, as the elder son of the successful theatre actor Carl Wiene. His younger brother Conrad also became an actor, but Robert Wiene at first studied law at the University of Berlin. In 1908 he also...
, has been remade twice.
Plot
A concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad VeidtConrad Veidt
Conrad Veidt was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Man Who Laughs , The Thief of Bagdad and Casablanca...
), loses his hands in a railway accident. Replacement hands are transplanted onto him in an experimental procedure, but the hands are those of a recently-executed murderer. From that point forward, the pianist is tortured by panic attacks and irrational fears. He believes that with the hands of the murderer he has also gained the murderer's predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears. When his father is killed, with whom he was on bad terms, the pianist is suspected of the murder. He only finds peace by clearing up the plot.
Characters
- Conrad VeidtConrad VeidtConrad Veidt was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , The Man Who Laughs , The Thief of Bagdad and Casablanca...
as Paul Orlac - Alexandra Sorina as Yvonne Orlac
- Fritz KortnerFritz KortnerFritz Kortner was an Austrian-born stage and film actor and theatre director.Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, he joined Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1911 and then Leopold Jessner in 1916. Also in that year...
as Nera - Carmen Cartellieri as Regine
- Fritz Strassny as Paul's father
- Paul Askonas as Servant
Background
Orlacs Hände was based on the book Les Mains d'Orlac by Maurice RenardMaurice Renard
-Overview:Maurice Renard was born in Châlons-en-Champagne.He was the author of the archetypal mad scientist novel Le Docteur Lerne - Sous-Dieu [Dr. Lerne - Undergod] , which he dedicated to H. G. Wells...
. It was one of the first films to feature the motif, often recurring in later films, of hands with a will of their own, whether or not attached to a body, as well as popular fears, based on ignorance, around the subject of surgical transplants, in the days before such procedures were possible. It was shot at the studios of Listo-Film in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
by the Pan-Film production company.
The Austrian premiere took place on 6 May 1924. Distribution was carried out by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Berolina-Film company. The German premiere followed on 24 September 1924 in the Haydn-Kino in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
version had the title Les Mains d'Orlac, the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version The Hands of Orlac. The film was first shown in the United States in 1928, where its promotion and distribution were undertaken by the Aywon Film Corporation.
The sets were constructed by the film architects and set builders Hans Rouc, Karl Exner and Stefan Wessely.
Critics
- "Paimann's Filmlisten", Nr. 441, 1924, p. 181: "... the presentation of the subject is extremely gripping and tension is maintained right up to the last scene: an extraordinarily well-chosen ensemble headed by Konrad Veidt makes the very most of the possibilities. The direction is taut and careful, especially in the very realistic scenes of the railway accident, the decor tasteful, the events of the action effectively emphasised. The photography is of the highest quality in every respect. An Austrian film that is the equal of the best foreign products..."
Versions
The original version was 2,507 metres long, the equivalent of 92 minutes. The reconstructed version is 2,357 metres long, which corresponds to about 90 minutes. On 11 January 2001 ARTEArte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...
broadcast a version reconstructed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau was one of the most influential German film directors of the silent era, and a prominent figure in the expressionist movement in German cinema during the 1920s...
-Stiftung. This version had new music by Henning Lohner
Henning Lohner
Henning Lohner is a German born filmmaker and composer. His artistic output embraces diverse fields within the audio-visual arts...
and was also given background noises and the sound effects of an interrogation scene off, which was not universally approved. Since then the film has been shown at many film festivals worldwide. The Filmarchiv Austria
Filmarchiv Austria
The Filmarchiv Austria is an organisation for the discovery, reconstruction and preservation of Austrian film record material: films themselves, literature about film and cinema, or film-related periodicals...
also plans a reconstruction and reissue based on its own copies of the fim, but no firm time has been set for this.
Censor's decisions
The film was approved for German release on 25 September 1924, but for adults only. An application was made by the Ministry of the Interior of SaxonySaxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
dated 10 January 1925, urging that the film should be censored, because it "...is likely to endanger public safety and order... Based on an assessment by the Provincial Criminal Office at Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
the Government of Saxony does not think it appropriate to make publicly known the internal arrangements and tools of the criminal police, particularly in connection with the taking of finger prints, as this would make the fighting of crime more difficult. Further, the representation of means which enable the criminal to obliterate his prints and deceive the police, is highly unsuitable."
The application for censorship was refused by the Higher Inspectorate, as an expert from the police headquarters in Berlin when questioned by them about it described the specialist content as unrealistic. There were so far no experiences across the whole of Europe of the falsification of finger prints by the use of wax impressions or similar techniques, leaving aside any other methods of falsifying prints. The Inspectorate did concede that if the film had shown a realistic method of forging fingerprints, if any existed, then it would have raised issues of public security, but concluded that what was shown in the film was pure fantasy.
In 1996 the film was re-evaluated and released, still with an age limit.
Remakes
There were two direct remakes:- Mad LoveMad Love (1935 film)Mad Love is a 1935 American horror film adaptation of Maurice Renard's story The Hands of Orlac. Directed by German-émigré film maker Karl Freund, the film stars Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol, Frances Drake as Yvonne Orlac and Colin Clive as Stephen Orlac. The plot revolves around Doctor Gogol's...
(USA 1935) with Peter LorrePeter LorrePeter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
, directed by Karl FreundKarl FreundKarl W. Freund, A.S.C. was a cinematographer and film director most noted for photographing Metropolis , Dracula , and television's I Love Lucy .-Early life:... - The Hands of OrlacThe Hands of Orlac (1960 film)The Hands of Orlac is a 1960 British-French horror film directed by Edmond T. Gréville and starring Mel Ferrer, Christopher Lee and Dany Carrel. It is based on the novel by Maurice Renard.-Cast:* Mel Ferrer ... Stephen Orlac...
/ Les mains d'Orlac (GB/FRA 1960) with Mel FerrerMel FerrerMel Ferrer was an American actor, film director and film producer.-Early life:Ferrer was born Melchor Gastón Ferrer in Elberon, New Jersey, of Catalan and Irish descent. His father, Dr. José María Ferrer , was born in Cuba, was an authority on pneumonia and served as chief of staff of St....
and Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
, directed by Edmond T. GrévilleEdmond T. GrévilleEdmond T. Gréville was a French film director and screenwriter....
.
In addition to these it has inspired a number of other films, Hands of a Stranger
Hands of a Stranger
- Plot summary :When a pianist's hands are destroyed he receives a double transplant from a murder victim. Much to the bewilderment of the pianist, these new hands decide to take control and gain vengeance for their past owner's death.- Cast :...
(1962) most directly, but see also The Beast with Five Fingers
The Beast with Five Fingers
The Beast with Five Fingers is a horror film directed by Robert Florey and with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story by W. F. Harvey first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner...
(1946) and The Hand
The Hand (film)
The Hand is a 1981 psychological horror film written and directed by Oliver Stone, based on the novel The Lizard's Tail by Marc Brandell and a remake of the 1946 film The Beast with Five Fingers. The film stars Michael Caine and Andrea Marcovicci. Caine plays Jon Lansdale, a comic book artist who...
(1981) directed by Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
. The 1960 film also inspired several sequels.