The Beast with Five Fingers

In a turn-of-the-century Italian village, a famed pianist (Victor Francen) with only one hand is killed. Murders soon begin occurring, and the occupants of the pianist's house believe his left-hand is committing them.

What starts out as an average Warner Brothers melodrama/murder mystery is made memorable by the use of the disembodied hand. Robert Alda and Andrea King are forgettable leads, and J. Carrol Naish is horrible as the police inspector. Peter Lorre gives the best performance, and his scenes where he confronts the hand are great. The special effects are excellent.

Rewatch. 3/5

This is one of the scariest movies I ever saw. It really plays with your mind. I admit that I first saw this movie as a kid int the back seat of my parent's car at the drive-in, and FOR YEARS, I was very afraid of the hand coming out from under sofas, beds and anywhere dark.

It connects with something deep in the subconscious as the hand is the part of the body that does all things and in this movie it is a power all unto itself.

The black and white film makes this movie a perfect expression of the subconscious, fearful and malevolent. Definitely one that I hope would eventually make it to DVD, and one to own if you're into the classics of this genre.

In a gloomy 1900s mansion in Italy a famed pianist(Victor Francen)lives with his devoted nurse(Andrea King) and his faithful secretary(Peter Lorre). The wheelchair bound pianist is only able to use one hand to play. An antique dealer(Robert Alda)adapts a piece of music to be played with one hand to dull the musician's bitterness. Francen dies after a rolling tumble down a staircase leaving his fortune to his nurse. A couple of upset relatives arrive protesting the will; but this moves to the back burner when murder and attempted murder is committed by the dead pianist's severed hand. Plus the hand likes to play the piano which adds to the terror. Lorre nails the hand in a box; and even throws it in a fire after confrontations with the disembodied member. Local Commissario Castanio(J. Carrol Naish)investigates this creepy mystery. Lorre is outstanding in a passive demented way. His wrestling with the severed hand is hilarious. Max Steiner is responsible for the haunting score. Great black and white from Warner Brothers.

The Beast with Five Fingers is directed by Robert Florey and jointly written by Curt Siodmak and William Fryer Harvey. It stars Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Dingle, John Alvin and David Haffman. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Wesley Anderson.

Francis Ingram (Francen) is a well regarded pianist who after suffering a stroke leaves him paralysed on one side, chooses to live at an isolated manor in rural Italy. After he calls family and carers together for the reading of his will, tragedy strikes and something sinister begins to stalk the manor house...

Wonderfully weird, a blend of guignol, noir, expressionism and cheese, The Beast with Five Fingers delivers rich rewards for those not expecting a horror masterpiece.

Following the classic "old dark house" formula, plot basically sees the characters introduced, their means and motives deliberately grey, tragedy strikes and then the titular beast of the title comes into play. Cue characters getting bumped off, some shouting, some eerie scenes and then the mystery solved. All of which is set to the backdrop of a typical mansion of many rooms and doors, an imposing staircase and of course a grand piano. Florey stitches it together neatly, Anderson provides some striking photography that embraces shadows and deals in odd angles, while Lorre does yet another film stealing performance involving twitchy weasel like mania.

A stupid tacked on coda soils things a touch, and you really have to have a bent for this type of creaky chiller, but it is great fun and it "pointed" the way for other "beastly hand" tales that followed down the line. 7/10

It is very easy to critize the plot or story line of this picture, however, Peter Lorre made this film into an all time great classic along with the great supporting skills of Victor Francen and J. Carrol Naish. Lorre made his own human hand into a monster with his great acting talents, telling us all that mental illness can cause many things to happen within our very souls. The piano music pounded in my ears throughout this picture and the black and white effect made it a great thriller. Police inspector J Carrol Naish gave a great final touch to the ending of this picture, he gave us all a BIG LAUGH!