Mad Love (1935)

An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist's hands with the hands of a knife murderer which still have the urge to throw knives.

Director:

Karl Freund

Writers:

Maurice Renard (from the novel: "Les Mains D'Orlac"), Florence Crewe-Jones (translation and adaptation: novel "The Hands of Orlac"),

Stars:

Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Peter Lorre	...	Doctor Gogol
Frances Drake	...	Yvonne Orlac
Colin Clive	...	Stephen Orlac
Ted Healy	...	Reagan
Sara Haden	...	Marie (as Sarah Haden)
Edward Brophy	...	Rollo
Henry Kolker	...	Prefect Rosset
Keye Luke	...	Dr. Wong
May Beatty	...	Françoise
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Davis	...	Chauffeur (scenes deleted)
Billy Dooley	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)
Harold Huber	...	Thief (scenes deleted)
Isabel Jewell	...	Marianne (scenes deleted)
Leo White	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

Storyline

In Paris, the great surgeon Dr. Gogol falls madly in love with stage actress Yvonne Orlac, and his ardor disturbs her quite a bit when he discovers to his horror that she is married to concert pianist Stephen Orlac. Shortly thereafter, Stephen's hands are badly crushed in a train accident- beyond the power of standard medicine. Knowing that his hands are his life, Yvonne overcomes her fear and goes to Dr. Gogol, to beg him to help. Gogol decides to surgically graft the hands of executed murderer Rollo onto Stephen Orlac, the surgery is successful but has terrible side-effects...

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Plot Keywords:

hand | actress | pianist | obsession | surgeon | 

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Taglines:

A new, a strange, a gifted personality comes to the screen!

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Genres:

Horror | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las manos de Orlac

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$257,502 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A torn poster of this movie, with its Spanish translation "Las manos de Orlac", appears in Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano, as a symbol for the intricate novel's plot that subsumes as dissension between mind and body of its anti-hero protagonist.

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Goofs

When Rollo goes to the guillotine, the device is shown against the sky. The "sky" has seams in it, revealing it to be a backdrop.

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Quotes

Doctor Gogol: There's blood on your cheek, Galatea. So it seems that wax can bleed. Galatea! I am Pygmalion! You were wax but you came to life in my arms!
Yvonne Orlac: Let me go, Gogol! Please!
Doctor Gogol: You speak! You speak to me! My love has made you live! Galatea, give me your lips!
Yvonne Orlac: Let me go! Let me go!
Doctor Gogol: Why are you afraid of me? I love you! I love you! You came to life for me! Don't you know me, Galatea?
Yvonne Orlac: Yes. Yes, I am Galatea. But let me go now, please! I promise to come back!
Doctor Gogol: You are lying. You wouldn't come back. You hate ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the opening credits, the titles are painted on a glass window pane, which is broken when a fist punches through it.

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Connections

Featured in Monster Mania (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Phantasie Impromptu"
(1834) (uncredited)
Music by Frédéric Chopin

User Reviews

Lorre's entry into classic horror filmdom

Excellent, morbid story of a brilliant sureon's (Lorre) obsessive, fetishistic love for a Grand Guignol style actress. The early scenes are perhaps the best film evocative of actual Grand Guignol sadefests. Lorre manages to procure a perfect waxen statue of his love object, thus introducing doppleganger horror, a relatively rare treat in American horror. The main plot focuses on Lorre's attempt to implicate Drake's husband in a series of murders by convincing him that the hands he grafted for him are acting of their own will (as in "Hands of Orlac"). Many subtle moments (which critics have not credited the film for), some garishly out-of-place slapstick humor is the only negative aspect. Fantastic photography.

This is Lorre's entry into classic horror stardom: Karloff has his Frankenstein monster, Lugosi has Dracula (forever, folks), Chaney Jr. has the wolfman, and Lorre's got this lesser-known but equally classic film to recommend him as one of the major horror stars of the classic era. This film represents MGM's entry into the early 30s horror film sweepstakes as well, and they did well to associate themselves with solid hands like Freund's and Lorre's. Hands..... hmmmmm unintended pun. Anyway, if anyone out there is a fan of classic horror films and has not yet seen this one, put it at the top of your list.