Daniel Bubbeo
. Who can doubt that a bodiless hand leaping around on its errands of evil has a menace that a complete six-foot frame could not duplicate? You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. The change in the will disinherits Arlington and Cummins, and Cummins tries to expose Holden's affair. Directed by Robert Florey. The hand attacks Cummins, but he is able to assuage the hand's quest for vengeance by returning to the hand Ingram's signet ring. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand. The Beast With Five Fingers [Part-1] Black & White Series. View production, box office, & company info. Search for "The Beast with Five Fingers" on Amazon.com, Title: In 1945, a strange mix of Germans, military personnel and civilians, pro-Nazi and anti-Nazi, celebrities and escaped prisoners, converges at a lavish hotel in heavily-bombed Berlin. The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor. The brilliant and scary "The Beast with Five Fingers", is the first entry in this mammoth collection of strange and chilling short stories by W. F. Harvey, an unjustly neglected author of supernatural tales. Volcanic activity frees giant scorpions from the earth who wreak havoc in the rural countryside and eventually threaten Mexico City. Peter Lorre (Casablanca)… Film icon Peter Lorre turns in yet another memorable performance in this eerie classic set in a small town in Italy. Rent $2.99. The Beast With Five Fingers takes place in an Italian village where the locals believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place. Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) is a noted pianist who lives in a large manor house near a small, isolated Italian village. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Someone watching The Beast With Five Fingers today will surely wonder how it was done, in the pre-digital era and The Beast With Five Fingers (1946)Director: Robert FloreyStarring Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre Cummins (now completely mentally unhinged) tries to burn it in the fire, but the hand crawls out and chokes him, fading out of existence after he dies. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand. It is a horror/mystery and a film noir. The audience now begins to see a disembodied hand moving around the manor house. [7] The Beast with Five Fingers by W.F. That night, everyone hears Ingram playing the piano in the main hall, but when they go to check no one is there. The Beast with Five Fingers (click to read! This includes the uncle's very large library and a box containing something that used to belong to his uncle. Description. [4] The piece much played throughout the film is a slightly modified version of Brahms' transcription for left hand of the chaconne from Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Partita in D minor, performed by Warner Bros. pianist Victor Aller. IMDB: Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place. The Beast With Five Fingers ( 1946) by Robert Florey. He locks the hand in a desk drawer, but when Conrad and Holden appear to see what has happened — the hand has disappeared. There are a couple of things I like … The Beast With Five Fingers Synopsis. The Beast with Five Fingers Synopsis: Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place. Andrea King Julie Holden. The Beast with Five Fingers is a weird, Grand Guignol-ish conconction that puts the customers strictly on their own. Castanio begins to investigate. A few days later, Donald's father Raymond Arlington (Charles Dingle) arrives, determined to ensure that his son gets the inheritance. The Beast With Five Fingers When I was a little boy I once went with my father to call on Adrian Borlsover. The Beast With Five Fingers is a rather indiscriminate collection for a 'Mystery & Supernatural' imprint, with only a third of the tales qualifying as horror (several of which are psychological rather than supernatural) and only one real mystery tale. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand. One waits for the big scenes, which do not disappoint, but the story overall is poorly developed, and there's no one to care for or identify with. Distributor Warner Bros. Robert Florey directed and Curt Siodmak wrote it, but Luis Bunuel’s fingerprints (heh, heh) are allegedly all over the concept for this earliest and best of the crawling hand movies. [3] Robert Alda was cast instead. The movie has solid acting and nice production values for a movie that is almost 75 years old. [citation needed], The film was released on Laser Disc by MGM/UA Home Video on March 16, 1999 and released on DVD by Warner Brothers on October 1, 2013. The Beast with Five Fingers. At the moment, let's spend a moment with what amounts the the last big studio attempt at horror in the 1940s: the 1946 Warner Bros. production The Beast with Five Fingers, which premiered at the tale end of that year (on Christmas Day, in fact), and had most of its run in 1947. Bob Mastrangelo from Allmovie gave the film a positive review, calling it "effectively eerie", and praised the film's special effects.[8]. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film two and a half out of a possible four stars, calling it "[an] Intriguing, if not entirely successful mood piece". Director Robert Florey tries his best with the material, but fails to create the right pace and feeling for the film. p.262 "Curt Siodmak Interview" by Patrick McGilligan, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) – Robert Florey", "The Beast With Five Fingers (1946) – Rotten Tomatoes", https://web.archive.org/web/20091231170928/http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/beast.html, The Life and Death of 9413: a Hollywood Extra, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Beast_with_Five_Fingers&oldid=1003911412, Articles needing additional references from October 2017, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017, Articles to be expanded from October 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 31 January 2021, at 08:12. In a turn-of-the-century Renaissance Italian mansion, its tyrannical owner, a one-handed, wheelchair-bound pianist, with a strong belief in the occult, is murdered. A house cat sees her mistress murdered by two servants under orders from her husband , and becomes ferociously bent on revenge. I played on the floor with a black spaniel while my father appealed for a subscription. But Julie is secretly in love with Conrad. Meanwhile, Donald remembers the combination and location of an old safe in the house, and Castanio and his father accompany him to the room where it is located. Ingram falls down the stairs, breaking his neck. Teenagers from a rural community and their high school science teacher join forces to battle a giant mutant spider. Was there also an alternate ending to this movie? The Beast with Five Fingers is a rather classic Gothic tale: you get the curse, the star-crossed lovers, the creepy guy obsessed with the supernatural, and a set of motives that make everybody both a suspect and a target in what turns out to be a series of homicides. Julie isn't sure she wants the money, but most everyone else responds selfishly. Frankenstein isn't just about its set pieces,--the lightning storm, the murders, the burning windmill--it's a story rooted in a time, a place and a community, that concerns credible characters behaving in ways that make sense (even if one doesn't subscribe to their values or care for their motivations). Robert Florey Director. He comes to his senses, and is not harmed. 0:31. (1946). Turner Classic Movies Unveils It's Halloween Movie Schedule, May 30th Blu-ray & DVD Releases Include The Blackcoat’S Daughter, The Hearse, The scariest horror movie poster with a hand as it's main feature. After a famous pianist’s murder, his hand returns to wreak vengeance. The film's score was composed by Max Steiner. Peter Lorre and Andrea King star in “The Beast With Five Fingers.” Warner Bros., 1946. They discover the old will...and the disembodied hand. PDF 13 STORIES OF HORROR AND SUSPENSE THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS AUGUST HEAT ACROSS THE EBook. Was this review helpful to you? The ending to that movie is very grim, and straight out of director … “The Beast With Five Fingers” was released in 1946 and was directed by Robert Florey. Ingram, outraged at the slander on his beloved's good name, tries to choke Cummins to death. The Beast with Five Fingers is a 1946 mystery horror film directed by Robert Florey from a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story written by W. F. Harvey and first published in 1919 in The New Decameron. These include his nurse, Julie Holden (Andrea King); his secretary and astrologist Hillary Cummins (Peter Lorre); a friend, Bruce Conrad (Robert Alda); and his sister's son, Donald Arlington (John Alvin). One of the most effective touches with this particular narrative is the way the author allows the reader to be one jump ahead of the protagonist. The Beast with Five Fingers is a 1946 mystery horror film directed by Robert Florey from a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story written by W. F. Harvey and first published in 1919 in The New Decameron. 42:04. Since the script is mediocre, and the actors, aside from Peter Lorre, not at their best, the movie is quite a letdown, but for two things: excellent special effects of a disembodied hand running around and committing mayhem; and Peter Lorre's bulging eyed performance as a deranged bookworm-astrologer with a, well, disembodied hand fixation. In a fit of madness, Donald flees the house with Conrad in pursuit. The film was Warner Bros.' only foray into the horror genre in the 1940s and was Peter Lorre's last film with the studio. who had helmed THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, had earlier directed Lorre in the 1941 crime melodrama-horror hybrid THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK, for Columbia. Dracula, similarly, has a certain sweep, beginning in the remote Carpathians of central Europe, then moving to England, as we get a sense of how Dracula stalks his prey, the way he treats people, and why. Written by Curt Siodmak . The film's score was composed by Max Steiner. The wealthy, partly paralyzed Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) surprises his family when he announces that he's changed his will to leave his large villa and fortune to his nurse Julie Holden (Andrea King). Later that night, Ingram is awakened by the howling wind from a storm outside. Since Florey and Lorre were both highly gifted men, this is all the more frustrating, as there are flashes of real brilliance in the film for all that is wrong with it. Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place. Use the HTML below. The Beast with Five Fingers is set in a studio-created Italy. Publication date 1946 Topics peter lorre, robert alda, andrea king, victor francen. “We absolutely hated the title,” says Andrea with a sigh. Overview System Requirements Related. [citation needed], Graham Baker was reported as working on a script for Warner Bros in 1945. We decided to upload old Monster Madness videos to Cinemassacre Plays this October. Only Julie's arrival (after meeting Conrad in the garden) saves him. The Beast with Five Fingers ★★½ 1946After a pianist mysteriously dies and leaves his fortune to his private nurse, the occupants of his villa are terrorized by a creature that turns out to be the pianist's hand which was severed by his personal secretary (Lorre). The Beast with Five Fingers The Arlingtons try to search for the old will, while suspicion falls on Cummins after he tries to remove several expensive old books from the manor house. 22 of 33 people found this review helpful. He has retreated to the manor house for the past few years—seen by only a few close friends. This won't do. ), for example, is typical of Harvey’s smooth and deceptive style, incorporating as it does sly moments of gentle humour amongst the dark and sinister shadows. 42:00. Duprex (David Hoffman), Ingram's attorney, is "persuaded" (by the agreement of his getting a third of the estate) into helping Raymond overturn the new will in favor of the old one, telling him that there is evidence indicating Ingram was of unsound mind. Written by [1] Robert Florey was assigned to direct with Andrea King and Paul Henreid to star. I first saw it some70 years ago and remembered an ending where as the Doctor drove away for the last time, the light in the mausoleum came on and a piano could be heard playing.If it wasn't 'The Beast With Five Fingers', is there another horror flick of the same period with an ending like that?Having just re-seen it, my grandkids were just as impressed with Peter Lorre, who they had never seen before, as are all the other reviewers here. Donald is attacked and almost choked to death by a hand and witnessed by Castanio. Castanio and Conrad discover a hidden record player with a recording of Ingram's piano playing and conclude that Cummins had been playing it to scare people. Robert Alda Bruce Conrad. “The Beast With Five Fingers” was released in 1946 and was directed by Robert Florey. The Beast with Five Fingers is a 1946 film about a one-handed, wheelchair-bound pianist, with a strong belief in the occult, who is murdered. The hand of pianist Victor Aller is shown playing the piano and throughout the movie. The Beast With Five Fingers. Available on. The Beast with Five Fingers, for instance, has a loathsome horror that a complete skeleton or conventionally equipped wraith could not achieve. An escaped convict uses miniaturized humans to wreak vengeance on those that framed him. Among his best-known stories are "August Heat" and "The Beast with Five Fingers", described by horror historian Les Daniels as "minor masterpieces". In a turn-of-the-century Renaissance Italian mansion, its tyrannical owner, a one-handed, wheelchair-bound pianist, with a strong belief in the occult, is murdered. By that point, his mind had snapped, making him believe his own fabricated plot. Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place. When an errant bomb unearths the coffin of a vampire during the London Blitz, a gravedigger unknowingly reanimates the monster by removing the stake from his heart. Ingram suffered a stroke which left his right side immobile, and he has to use a wheelchair to get around. Among his best-known stories are "August Heat" and "The Beast with Five Fingers", described by horror historian Les Daniels as "minor masterpieces". In Paris, a demented surgeon's obsession with a British actress leads him to secretly replace her concert pianist husband's mangled hands with those of a guillotined murderer with a gift for knife-throwing. Drama, Certificate: Passed Read in English by Phil Chenevert A well off English bachelor receives a legacy from his uncle. LibriVox recording of The Beast With Five Fingers by W. F. Harvey. QuintonSam. Certificate: Passed Julie realizes that Cummins, who is now firmly convinced that the hand is out for vengeance and even sees it playing the piano, is responsible for the attacks and confronts him; he tries to kill her, but she is able to escape by claiming to believe his claims about the hand. The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness. He climbs into his wheelchair, makes it to the top of the stairs, and calls out for Julie (who never comes to his aid). But it seems impossible for anyone to have gotten in or out. Number one is Peter Lorre. [2] The screenwriter Curt Siodmak had originally written the film for Henreid, who turned it down. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Commissario Ovidio Castanio (J. Carrol Naish) of the local police investigates the death, but finds little sign of murder. Robert Florey. Released 1946. [5], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 18 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.6/10. Check out our editors' picks for the best movies and shows coming this month. THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS 45 was a similar movie by Oliver Stone called The Hand in 1981, but Stone had the advantage of digital technology to animate his murderous beast, which belonged not to a musician but a cartoonist.) Directed by Robert Florey . [6] An evil hyponotist/ventriloquist plots to gain an heiress' millions. The movie is an interesting experiment, and worth watching once, yet never lives up to its promise, and is a terrible waste of its brilliant star, who's in very good form throughout. The Beast With Five Fingers strains credibility from the outset, then goes swiftly downhill. Crawling hand chases pianist's secretary (Peter Lorre) around villa. There are a couple of things I like about a movie like this. The Beast With Five Fingers still holds up pretty well in my opinion. Whether you watch weekly or want to join in for the big finish, get ready for these big Spring TV and streaming finales. HoloLens PC Mobile device Xbox 360 Trailer. He discovers that someone has broken into the Ingram mausoleum and that Ingram's left hand has been cut off. The Beast With Five Fingers [Part-2] Black & White Series. (The audience does not see if Ingram was pushed or if he fell.) The film stars Robert Alda, Victor Francen, Andrea King, and Peter Lorre. The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. This one could have been a minor classic but got butchered by the studio in the editing room. Cast and crew. Harvey Posted on December 14, 2009 by skullsinthestars I’ve been trying to keep up with my weird fiction reading while I’ve been working on my physics textbook, though it’s been pretty hard to read a major work considering I spend most of my evenings doing research for the text. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. The film stars Robert Alda, Victor Francen, Andrea King, and Peter Lorre. It is a horror/mystery and a film noir. I sense that Florey was so intrigued by the idea of a horror based on a the image of a severed hand that he forgot to make the rest of the movie work. Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA. An endocrinologist in a dysfunctional marriage with an aging, alcoholic wife journeys to Africa seeking a drug that will restore youth. [citation needed], Filming started 27 November 1945. In 1946, Andrea King stepped reluctantly in front of the cameras at Warner Bros. to make what is now probably her best-known film. With Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen. That night, Duprex is strangled by an unseen assailant. A mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding. Ingram has fallen in love with Julie Holden, and has changed his will so that she receives the vast bulk of his enormous estate when he dies. All this goes to show that a good horror movie, like any other kind, has to be built from the ground up. Horror. He theorizes that Cummins cut off the hand, killed Duprex, and tried to kill Raymond. Teacher join forces to battle a giant mutant spider who wreak havoc in the main hall, but fails create! 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Editing room point, his hand returns to wreak vengeance on those that framed him ] Black & White.! For instance, has to use a wheelchair to get around ending to movie... Manor house near a small, isolated Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a deceased.