The Hands of Orlac (1924 film)
| Orlacs Hände The Hands of Orlac Les Mains d'Orlac | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Wiene |
| Written by | Ludwig Nertz (play), Maurice Renard (book) |
| Produced by | Pan-Film |
| Starring | Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Kortner, Carmen Cartellieri, Fritz Strassny, Paul Askonas |
| Cinematography | Günther Krampf, Hans Androschin |
| Music by | Pierre Oser |
| Distributed by | Pan-Film Berolina-Film Aywon Film Corporation |
Release date | 6 May 1924 (in Austria) |
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | Austria |
| Languages | German, English, French |
Orlacs Hände (English language title: "The Hands of Orlac"; French title: "Les Mains d'Orlac") is an Austrian silent film of 1924. This late Expressionist work, produced by Robert Wiene, has been remade twice.
Plot
A concert pianist, Paul Orlac (Conrad Veidt), loses his hands in a railway accident. Replacement hands are transplanted onto him in an experimental procedure, but the hands are those of a recently-executed murderer. From now on the pianist is tortured by panic attacks and irrational fears. He believes that with the hands of the murderer he has also gained the murderer's predisposition to killing. Strange signs and bizarre threatening letters reinforce these fears. When his father is killed, with whom he was on bad terms, the pianist is suspected of the murder. He only finds peace by clearing up the plot.
Characters
- Conrad Veidt as Paul Orlac
- Alexandra Sorina as Yvonne Orlac
- Fritz Kortner as Nera
- Carmen Cartellieri as Regine
- Fritz Strassny as Paul's father
- Paul Askonas as Servant
Background
Orlacs Hände was based on the book Les Mains d'Orlac by Maurice Renard. It was one of the first films to feature the motif, often recurring in later films, of hands with a will of their own, whether or not attached to a body, as well as popular fears, based on ignorance, around the subject of surgical transplants, in the days before such procedures were possible. It was shot at the studios of Listo-Film in Vienna by the Pan-Film production company.
The Austrian premiere took place on 6 May 1924. Distribution was carried out by the German Berolina-Film company. The German premiere followed on 24 September 1924 in the Haydn-Kino in Berlin. The French version had the title Les Mains d'Orlac, the English version The Hands of Orlac. The film was first shown in the United States in 1928, where its promotion and distribution were undertaken by the Aywon Film Corporation.
The sets were constructed by the film architects and set builders Hans Rouc, Karl Exner and Stefan Wessely.
Critics
- "Paimann's Filmlisten", Nr. 441, 1924, p. 181: "... the presentation of the subject is extremely gripping and tension is maintained right up to the last scene: an extraordinarily well-chosen ensemble headed by Konrad Veidt makes the very most of the possibilities. The direction is taut and careful, especially in the very realistic scenes of the railway accident, the decor tasteful, the events of the action effectively emphasised. The photography is of the highest quality in every respect. An Austrian film that is the equal of the best foreign products..."
Versions
The original version was 2,507 metres long, the equivalent of 92 minutes. The reconstructed version is 2,357 metres long, which corresponds to about 90 minutes. On 11 January 2001 ARTE broadcast a version reconstructed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. This version had new music by Henning Lohner and was also given background noises and the sound effects of an interrogation scene off, which was not universally approved. Since then the film has been shown at many film festivals worldwide. The Filmarchiv Austria also plans a reconstruction and reissue based on its own copies of the fim, but no firm time has been set for this.
Censor's decisions
The film was approved for German release on 25 September 1924, but for adults only. An application was made by the Ministry of the Interior of Saxony dated 10 January 1925, urging that the film should be censored, because it "...is likely to endanger public safety and order... Based on an assessment by the Provincial Criminal Office at Dresden the Government of Saxony does not think it appropriate to make publicly known the internal arrangements and tools of the criminal police, particularly in connection with the taking of finger prints, as this would make the fighting of crime more difficult. Further, the representation of means which enable the criminal to obliterate his prints and deceive the police, is highly unsuitable."
The application for censorship was refused by the Higher Inspectorate, as an expert from the police headquarters in Berlin when questioned by them about it described the specialist content as unrealistic. There were so far no experiences across the whole of Europe of the falsification of finger prints by the use of wax impressions or similar techniques, leaving aside any other methods of falsifying prints. The Inspectorate did concede that if the film had shown a realistic method of forging fingerprints, if any existed, then it would have raised issues of public security, but concluded that what was shown in the film was pure fantasy.[1]
In 1996 the film was re-evaluated and released, still with an age limit.
Remakes
There were two direct remakes:
- Mad Love (USA 1935) with Peter Lorre, directed by Karl Freund
- The Hands of Orlac / Les mains d'Orlac (GB/FRA 1960) with Mel Ferrer and Christopher Lee, directed by Edmond T. Gréville.
In addition to these it has inspired a number of other films, Hands of a Stranger (1962) most directly, but see also The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) and The Hand (1981) directed by Oliver Stone. The 1960 film also inspired several sequels.
Notes
References
- Roland M. Hahn und Rolf Giesen: Das neue Lexikon des Horrorfilms. Berlin: Lexikon Interprint Verlag, 2002. ISBN 3-89602-507-4
- Matthias Bickenbach, Annina Klappert, Hedwig Pompe: Manus Loquens. Medium der Geste - Geste der Medien. Dumont Literatur und Kunst Verlag, Cologne 2003, pp. 243–305: Monströse Moderne. Zur Funktionsstelle der manus loquens in Robert Wienes ORLACS HÄNDE (Österreich 1924) ISBN 3832178309
