La main du diable

A desperate man escapes into a crowded inn in the French Alps and tells the hungry guests his story which the movie reveals as an extended flashback to his days in Paris as a failing artist who seemingly sells his soul to the devil to gain a mysterious left hand (a talisman) from a chef who was only too eager to get rid of it. Once in possession of the hand, the woman he has courted, who had (appropriately) worked in a shop selling gloves, accepts his marriage proposal after previously cruelly rejecting him as a talentless loser. Told in a film full of expressionistic sets, the story captures so many significant and fascinating details in the settings and the various characters, everyone of whom plays parts that interweave remarkably well to make up what must be considered a real classic.