Il tirannico proprietario di una villa rinascimentale italiana, un pianista con una forte fede nell'occulto e una sola mano, costretto su una sedia a rotelle, viene assassinato.Il tirannico proprietario di una villa rinascimentale italiana, un pianista con una forte fede nell'occulto e una sola mano, costretto su una sedia a rotelle, viene assassinato.Il tirannico proprietario di una villa rinascimentale italiana, un pianista con una forte fede nell'occulto e una sola mano, costretto su una sedia a rotelle, viene assassinato.
- Clara
- (as Patricia White)
- The Hand (playing piano)
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
- Mourner
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
- Carabinieri
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
- Carabinieri
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
Trama
Lo sapevi?
- QuizThe piece of piano music played by Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) and later, his disembodied left hand, is the "Bach Chaconne in D Minor," as arranged to be played by the left hand alone by Johannes Brahms. It was selected by Max Steiner because the story required a piece of music that could be performed by a pianist with only his left hand, and Steiner, who was born in Vienna and whose family were friendly with Brahms, rather than composing his own original piece, immediately recognized its potential in underscoring such a grim tale. Legendary Hungarian-American pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi performed the music played by the severed hand.
- BlooperThe Commissario says he has found fingerprints less than a day old. Normally there is no way to date fingerprints.
- Citazioni
Francis Ingram: Hilary, do you know why you are here?
Hilary Cummins: No, I don't . Some anniversary perhaps?
Francis Ingram: No, no such thing. I merely want your testimony... that I am not insane. It's very important to me to be certain that not one of you thinks I am of unsound mind. Bruce, you are an artist, a musician, You've been with me a long time. You've been with me constantly; therefore you are in a position to speak. Are you convinced that there is nothing wrong with... with my mental balance?
Conrad Ryler: Your mental balance is equal to mine, and while I consider that a tribute to your sanity, there are certain people in San Stefano who consider me... slightly eccentric. Perhaps they're right.
- ConnessioniEdited from Il dottor X (1932)
- Colonne sonoreChaconne in D minor BMW 1004
(uncredited)
Composed bt Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged for the left hand by Johannes Brahms
Pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi
("Played on the screen by Victor Francen)
The Beast is set in an Italian village, home of the successful pianist, Francis Ingram, who resides in a sumptuous villa. Ingram is wheelchair bound as his entire right side is paralysed, and is forced to play piano using his single left hand. His style is suitably heavy and melancholic. He is a haunted figure, heavily reliant on his young nurse to the point of obsession, and fixated on his own death. Therefore, he summons his companions to dinner to witness the signing of his will. Amongst them is his personal secretary Hilary (Peter Lorre), a man with his own obsessions; astrology and the occult. It is not long before the Grim Reaper arrives as a belated dinner guest.
The film's most prominent actor is Peter Lorre. Lorre's career in horror fare has seen a slight regression over the years, though not as profound as some of his contemporaries such as Bela Lugosi and John Carradine. In the Thirties, Lorre starred in Fritz Lang's classic M and the rather good Mad Love. However, by the Sixties he was resigned to playing second fiddle to Vincent Price in horror-comedies The Comedy Of Terrors and The Raven. These two films are reasonable enough but eclipsed by his formative work. The Beast makes a fitting mid-point between these two eras.
Lorre is an engaging actor, his childlike physique and strange manner always invoke some degree of viewer sympathy no matter how heinous his crimes (cf. M). J. Carrol Naish who plays the affable police inspector (yep, never heard of him before) is also notable but his more comedic moments do lessen the film's impact.
The special effects used to animate the hand are impressive for their time, although as the film is in b&w this helps mask its inadequacies somewhat. The rubber hand in Dr. Terror's House Of Horror is pitiable in comparison, and that was made twenty odd years later. The interplay between Lorre and the hand as he alternatively soothes and struggles with it are reminiscent of Ash's plight in Evil Dead II.
*spoliers*
The majority of the players seem primarily motivated by avarice. It is somewhat surprising then that the final bodycount is so low. A modern horror would have casually knocked off such sinners' with glee. Perhaps, this highlights a rift between vintage' and modern horror. The vintage film has a more human approach to its characters, although they do suffer in terms of danger and scares, they do not die. The usual modern approach is to emphasise the killings, the characters are just fodder for the killer's and the audience's whimsy. Of course this reasoning parallels the change in audience expectation and tolerance with time, and also what the changes the filmmakers could get away with in terms of censorship and decency'.
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- Tempo di esecuzione1 ora 28 minuti
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- 1.37 : 1