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The Hands of Orlac

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6.8/10 • 96

1924-09-241h 38m

HorrorThrillerMystery

A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he is horrified to learn they once belonged to a murderer.

Directors
Robert Wiene

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Conrad Veidt

    Conrad Veidt

    Paul Orlac

  2. Alexandra Sorina

    Alexandra Sorina

    Yvonne Orlac

  3. Fritz Strassny

    Fritz Strassny

    Vater Orlac

  4. Paul Askonas

    Paul Askonas

    Diener

  5. Carmen Cartellieri

    Carmen Cartellieri

    Regine

  6. Hans Homma

    Hans Homma

    Dr. Serral

  7. Fritz Kortner

    Fritz Kortner

    Nera

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Jun 6, 2022

7/10

This is a great amalgam of genres that shows off Conrad Veidt's skills to a tee. He portrays a classical pianist ("Orlac"), renowned throughout the world until he is involved in an horrific train crash and only just survives. His hands, however, do not. His distraught wife "Yvonne" (Alexandra Sorina) implores the doctors to do something, so eventually a pair of hands are grafted onto his arms. It doesn't take "Orlac" long to realise that these new hands have a life of their own, that their previous owner ("Vasseur") was a ruthless killer and that the hands rather enjoyed their previous work! When his father is found dead - all the fingerprints point to his errant hands, and together with the sceptical police they must get to the bottom of the mystery before the hands strike again... A small cast work well with Maurice Renard's cleverly devised novel and Robert Wiene keeps the pace moving along skilfully enough. The print I saw could have done with some more light. At times the cast began to resemble a gaggle of pandas - but that wasn't too distracting from this well executed crime thriller that I really quite enjoyed.

Media

  • The Hands of Orlac poster
  • The Hands of Orlac poster
  • The Hands of Orlac poster
  • The Hands of Orlac poster
  • The Hands of Orlac poster
  • The Hands of Orlac poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
German
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
murderpianisttransplantsilent filmtormenttrain wreckpsychological terrorgerman expressionism